MANILA, Philippines — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is urging Filipino parents and grandparents to look beyond screens and strengthen the human connection children need, as the country reels from another deadly school shooting involving minors.
Speaking during Mass at the Parish Church of the Holy Sacrifice at the University of the Philippines Diliman on Wednesday, August 19, Tagle called on families to help children develop compassion, conscience and a sense of humanity.
His message came just one day after a student at Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City shot a fellow student before taking his own life, authorities said. The incident has triggered renewed national debate over school safety, minors’ exposure to violent online content, social media and access to firearms.
“For grandparents and parents, please show children a heart that is humane,” Tagle said during his homily.
The cardinal did not directly blame smartphones, artificial intelligence or video games for the Zamboanga shooting. Instead, he used the tragedy to ask a broader question: How are children being formed at home, and what influences are shaping the way they think and act?
When families are together—but not really together
Tagle warned that physical proximity does not necessarily mean genuine family connection.
He pointed to a familiar scene: parents and children sitting around the same dinner table while everyone is focused on a cellphone rather than on one another.
For Tagle, technology can connect people across distances, but it cannot replace the emotional guidance, empathy and personal example children receive from the people closest to them.
The cardinal also cautioned against allowing video games and artificial intelligence to become substitutes for human formation.
“AI has no heart, games have no heart. Only human beings have hearts,” he said.
His remarks come at a particularly sensitive moment for the Philippines, where authorities are already examining the possible roles of social media, online activity and firearms in the latest school attack.
Zamboanga shooting puts technology and gun access under scrutiny
The August 18 shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga left two students dead, including the suspected attacker. Two other people were wounded, according to Reuters. Authorities have been investigating the circumstances surrounding the attack, including how the student obtained firearms and his online activity.
Reuters reported that the student livestreamed the attack using a body-worn camera, adding another dimension to concerns about how violent material can rapidly spread online. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian has called for legislation that would prohibit children under 16 from using social media, while Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla has pushed for tougher accountability when minors gain access to firearms.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara, meanwhile, stressed that preventing school violence cannot rely solely on physical security measures such as fences, closed-circuit cameras and metal detectors.
He said schools and communities also need to reach out to young people and recognize potential risks before they escalate.
That point echoes part of Tagle’s message: protecting children is not only a matter of controlling technology or tightening school security—it also involves relationships, guidance and the values children absorb from the adults around them.
UNICEF: Protect children before violence happens
The United Nations Children’s Fund has also called for a broader, coordinated response following the Zamboanga shooting.
In a statement released Wednesday, UNICEF said children should never have to fear for their safety at school and urged the public and media not to circulate images, videos or personal information that could further traumatize affected children and families.
UNICEF also highlighted the importance of preventing children from accessing firearms and other lethal weapons, including through responsible storage and safeguards in homes and communities. It called for stronger coordination among schools, social welfare and child-protection services, health and mental-health providers, justice authorities and other agencies that work with children.
The agency emphasized that adults and institutions must be able to identify warning signs early and connect children with appropriate support before risks develop into violence.
The bigger question behind Tagle’s warning
The Zamboanga tragedy has raised difficult questions that go far beyond smartphones.
How much access should minors have to social media? How should violent content be regulated? How can firearms be kept away from children? Are schools equipped to recognize warning signs? And perhaps most importantly, are families spending enough meaningful time listening to and guiding their children?
Tagle’s message does not offer technology as the sole culprit.
Instead, it places responsibility on human relationships.
The cardinal urged families to examine the “heart” behind their words and actions and to remain close to what he described as the heart of Jesus so that compassion can reach those who are struggling.
That message is now resonating amid a national conversation that has become much more urgent: when children are growing up in an increasingly digital world, who—and what—is teaching them how to become human?
For Tagle, the answer begins at home.
Families—not phones, algorithms or machines—must remain at the center of a child’s formation.
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