• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Lifestyle

Philippines’ 20 month lockdown of children sparks creative playtime

6 November 2021, 11:04 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Children play at a public park, as the country's capital region loosens coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, November 2, 2021.

Children play at a public park, as the country's capital region loosens coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, November 2, 2021.

Image: Reuters

Children play at a public park, as the country's capital region loosens coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, November 2, 2021.

For the first time in her young life, two-year-old Nathania Ysobel Alesna was playing outside her house in the Philippine capital after 20 months of being kept at home by government coronavirus restrictions.

At a department store east of Manila one recent day, Nathania giddily rode a scooter and a bike as her mother, Ruth Francine Faller, looked on.

Later, Faller shared her elation with a Facebook group dedicated to helping fellow parents find places where kids can be outdoors or in public places without trouble from police enforcing the Philippines’ stay-at-home orders for children, among the strictest in the world.

“Her joy was overflowing. She looks innocent at the same time amazed at what she saw,” Faller told Reuters.

For many of the 40 million Filipinos under the age of 18, the pandemic has been a continuous lockdown because the government classifies children as a particularly vulnerable group for COVID-19, though few other countries do so.

Now, after 20 months, hundreds of thousands of parents are turning to social media to find safe hangout places for their children, as they worry about the impact of prolonged time indoors on the mental health of children.

Finding creative ways to classify play as exercise – and public spaces where enforcement is looser – is the goal of the private Facebook group Kids Are Allowed.

Hershey May Avillo-Parcarey, 37, in March set up the group with other parents to exchange tips on where they can bring their children outdoors, and word has quickly spread.

Parcarey said she gets up to 5,000 requests a day to join the group, which now has around 200,000 members.

Similar online groups have also sprouted up, allowing parents to share information on public places like shopping malls, restaurants and parks accepting children.

Some restaurants caught accepting kids have been temporarily shut down in recent months, but authorities in some areas, wary of restriction fatigue, sometimes overlook violations.

While many countries imposed total lockdowns at the onset of the pandemic early in 2020, the Philippines has maintained President Rodrigo Duterte’s policy of banning minors from outdoors and public spaces, although it can be unevenly enforced and has exceptions for exercise.

The Philippines is one of just 17 countries where schools have been closed for the entire pandemic, says the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF. A two-month pilot test of face-to-face classes in low-infection areas starts this month.

This is despite only 12.5 per cent of the Philippines’ 2.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases being people aged 10 to 19 years, with deaths at only 1.7 per cent of the country’s nearly 44,000 deaths.

The presidential palace spokesperson reminded the population late in October that vulnerable groups – including children – are still under stay-at-home orders.

Nevertheless, Mica Canete recently visited a Venice-themed mall in Manila with her husband and nearly three-year-old daughter, their first family outing in 20 months.

“I already have many spots in my bucket list for the kids, so I am thankful for ideas in the Facebook group,” Canete said.

Mental health experts say such groups provide support for overwhelmed parents and for children who have become anxious, confused and irritable after prolonged time indoors.

“In a time when we are all stuck at home, these virtual communities help inoculate parents from feeling isolated,” said Anna Cristina Tuazon, a clinical psychologist for children and their family, and professor at the University of the Philippines.

Around the world, depression and anxiety rates among children may have doubled since the start of the pandemic, said a report in JAMA Pediatrics in August.

Parcarey of Kids Are Allowed said she screens up to 300 posts a day, and does not approve posts like hiding kids in the driver’s seat to avoid checkpoints.

Her own eight-year-old son, Railey Samuel, said he misses visiting malls to watch movies.

“Now, it’s hard for me to go out,” he said. “I pray for the coronavirus pandemic to be gone.”

The Philippines has fully vaccinated just a quarter of its 110 million population and a nationwide vaccine roll-out for children above 12 began this week, prioritising those with existing medical conditions.

Share article
Tags: COVID-19Philippines
Previous Post

LGE 2021 | Close to 600 000 spoilt ballot papers recorded

Next Post

Empty roads and closed stations: Haitians struggle for fuel

Related Posts

Nigerian artist Olufela Omokeko sets up an exhibition of fresh pepper motive at a gallery in Iwaya, Lagos, Nigeria January 30, 2021.

Nigerian artist’s exhibition showcases food preservation methods

27 January 2023, 10:44 AM
Director Steven Spielberg and cast member Michelle Williams attend a premiere for the film "The Fabelmans" during the AFI Fest in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 6, 2022. REUTERS

Oscar contenders court box-office bounce as drama audiences dwindle

26 January 2023, 1:44 PM
[File image] Michelle Williams, best actress nominee for her role in "Blue Valentine", arrives at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 27, 2011.

Michelle Williams on playing Steven Spielberg’s mother

25 January 2023, 5:45 PM
American rapper Kanye West poses before French fashion house Christian Dior Autumn/Winter 2015/2016 women's ready-to-wear collection show during Paris Fashion Week March 6, 2015.

Australian minister says Kanye West could be denied entry

25 January 2023, 12:28 PM

TIMELINE | Deaths of prominent figures in 2023

25 January 2023, 11:11 AM
[File Image] : Angela Bassett attends the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles

Angela Bassett becomes Marvel’s first actor nominated for an Oscar

25 January 2023, 11:04 AM
Next Post
Fuel

Empty roads and closed stations: Haitians struggle for fuel

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • Remedial programme reinstated to fight Hyacinth plants at Hartbeespoort Dam
  • Northern Cape’s Kakamas to be exempted from blackouts
  • Zuma joins AmaZulu King in commemorating the Battle of Isandlwana
  • Scorcher predicted in Northern Cape for two weeks
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Babes Wodumo breaks her silence at Mampintsha’s funeral
  • AG’s report points to billions of irregular expenditure in City of Tshwane
  • Diepsloot residents block N14 highway
  • Joburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse voted out of office
  • Phalatse refuses to comment on DA’s sabotage allegations
  • LIVE: City of Joburg Council elects new mayor

LATEST

The union members will picket outside Makro stores across the country for ten days.
  • Business

SACCAWU workers down tools at Makro stores nationwide


People work at the site after the announcement of the discovery of 4 300-year-old sealed tombs in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, in Giza, Egypt, January 26, 2023.
  • Sci-tech

Archaeologist hails possibly ‘oldest’ mummy yet found in Egypt


[File Image] : Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp before the match
  • Sport

Disciplined defence key to beating Brighton: Jurgen Klopp


  • South Africa

KZN farmer fines R1.5 million for unauthorised water use


Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts during his semi final match against Tommy Paul of the U.S.
  • Sport

Djokovic pounds Paul to reach 10th Australian Open final


  • South Africa

ActionSA reports Ehlanzeni Municipality to Hawks for alleged corruption


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous LGE 2021 | Close to 600 000 spoilt ballot papers recorded
Next Fuel Empty roads and closed stations: Haitians struggle for fuel