A YOUTH violence incident reported last March revealed a group chat with talks on extreme violence on Roblox, which surfaced anew following the Ateneo de Zamboanga shooting.
A school is meant to hold notebooks, friendships and dreams, not gunfire. On Aug. 18, a Grade 9 student at Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s junior high school fatally shot another student, wounded two others and livestreamed the attack before he also died. It came less than two months after the Tacloban school shooting that killed three students and injured many more. These are children we are burying, children we are treating and children we must still protect. Our grief must be matched by clarity, courage and care.
Because the latest violence was broadcast online, it is tempting to draw a straight line from social media or violent video games to the shooting. We must resist conclusions ahead of investigators. The American Psychological Association says there is insufficient scientific evidence for a causal link between violent video games and violent behavior. In Tacloban, authorities examined the game “GoreBox” and harmful online communities; that inquiry was necessary, but an inquiry is not yet a verdict.
Still, rejecting a simple explanation does not mean ignoring the digital world. Research on American mass shooters found that some studied earlier attackers encountered radicalizing content or used social media to seek notoriety. Another American study found patterns consistent with a temporary contagion effect after heavily publicized shootings. These findings do not prove that an American template crossed borders and caused either Philippine attack. They tell us where to investigate — not what to presume.
Legislators such as Sen. Robinhood Padilla have renewed his call for legislation regulating minors’ social media use. Importantly, he also acknowledged that the complete circumstances were not yet known. His proposed “Children’s Safety in Social Media Act” seeks age verification, parental consent and greater platform responsibility. That direction deserves serious consideration, with safeguards for privacy and children’s rights.
But no single ban can carry the whole burden. We must secure firearms in homes, strengthen school threat assessment and confidential reporting, address bullying, expand psychosocial care and require platforms to remove violent footage quickly. Newsrooms and ordinary users should avoid turning perpetrators into celebrities by repeating their names, images and videos.
As a Muslim woman and peace advocate, I return to the Quranic teaching that saving one life is like saving all humanity. We protect young people not by shaming their distress, but by listening before despair hardens into harm. Protection is not only a wall around a child. It is also a hand extended in time.
