'No visit to Internet shops during class hours'

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) has prohibited elementary and high school students from going to Internet cafés, shopping malls, and moviehouses during class hours.

Education Secretary Mona Dumlao-Valisno said she issued the directive to address the “prevailing situation” wherein elementary and high school students have been observed crowding Internet cafés, shopping malls and cinemas when they should be in classrooms.

She said the student ban on these places was issued to shield schoolchildren from the “adverse effects” of loitering in such establishments.

“Undoubtedly the said situation has (an) adverse effect on the students,” she said.

Valisno, in her DepEd Memorandum Order 86 issued last Friday, said that “under the principle of ‘parents patriae,’ which literally means parent of the country and which refers traditionally to the role of the state as sovereign and guardian of persons under legal disability, the Department has to take the necessary steps to address the situation.”

To enforce the ban, she said DepEd regional, division and school officials throughout the country should coordinate with local government units (LGUs) to monitor these public places.

Valisno urged LGUs to enact and implement appropriate legislation to enforce the DepEd order.

School officials, on the other hand, “are enjoined to provide their students with worthwhile and productive activities during their free time in school, particularly those that will enhance their creative and communicative skills like dramatics, debate, theatrical programs and other activities,” she said.