Church must transform education of children

The Filipino children sat silent, teary-eyed, and mesmerized watching little "Angel Annie" explain why she was always late for school. She couldn't sleep. She had nightmares and was scared that her house would be burnt down and then she began to cry and tell her beloved teacher, "Miss Naty" the big bad secret about the bad thing that her "Uncle Ben" did to her. Miss Naty, was then shown calling the police and the children broke into loud cheers and clapping when the police woman "Josie" popped up waving a baton to bonk Uncle Ben and chase him off the scene. These scenes are from the famous Preda-Akbay Puppet Show operated by a group of young teenage students who are defenders of children's rights in the Philippines.

The puppet show ends when "Buff", the shaggy eared wide-eyed dog explains to the children that there are god hugs and bad hugs and they don't have to keep the secret and be afraid, they must tell someone they trust about any bad touches done to them. The teenagers are the most effective educators of the children using the puppets.

Puppetry is an ancient form of dramatic storytelling by manipulating puppets, either dolls on strings, in shadows, or hand puppets held over the edge of a screen with the puppeteers hidden behind it. It is underutilized today and overshadowed by television soap and telenovelas, most of which are damaging and destructive, promoting or glamorizing gangsterism, drug use and violence, and justifying immoral behavior. Television portrays little that is encouraging, inspiring and educational for youth.

The Akbay Puppetry Group entertains and educates at the same time. They go to elementary schools and teach the children through puppet stories how to protect themselves against all forms of abuse using the puppets in a way that every child can understand and yet not be shocked or traumatized. Somehow, children can understand that there are good and bad people, including parents and relatives.

What they don't know is that what is being done to them is wrong and criminal and the puppet teaches them how they can get help to stop it. The Preda-Akbay puppet show is the first step in human rights education. The puppeteers also distribute a full colored comic with five stories that educate, inspire and encourage the students to make a commitment to human rights, to serve and love others. It also explains the child protection laws and gives a hotline number where children can report abuse.

Victims themselves need to know how important it is to have a trusted friend they can tell when abused. They know the pain of not being believed by their own parents when their brother or uncle or a trusted neighbor or family friend abuses them. Child defenders know that the shock of a child revealing acts of incest drives mothers to cover it up out of fear and shame. It is the culture of silence and having the power over children that causes so much abuse to happen and go unreported and remain hidden. That is why speaking the truth and finding ways to reveal it are so important for every one of us. We know too that government tolerance of the sex tourist industry corrupts the local population and puts children at grave risk of trafficking and abuse.

The puppeteers and the Preda comics assist the teaching of moral values, the dignity and rights of every person to children and adults alike. Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu, has told Catholic school directors and teachers to teach Christian values and evangelize and not to concentrate on making money. Evangelization is the purpose of Catholic education he said. What is destroying Catholic education, he said is that it is an education of the rich, who see themselves as culturally elite, superior and all others are inferior. What we need, the Cardinal said is to advance a "relevant yet prophetic education" that promotes social transformation.

Student Unions are all but crushed in most Catholic schools and it is through groups like the Preda-Akbay Puppeteers that students find a way to speak out, promote moral values, educate children and defend human rights. More puppeteering and less profit-making is what we need.

Rev. Shay Cullen is a Catholic priest who serves the people of The Philippines. He is a co-founder of PREDA - an organization dedicated to ending the sexual abuse of children. See:  www.preda.org