When our children see us laughing at the discomfort and misery of others, more so a child, what are we teaching them?
IF IT were only humanly possible to turn back the hands of time and enter my television screen that very moment, as a mother, I would have done so. But that happens only in cartoons. So there I sat, frozen, heartbroken and immobilized by what I saw.

Here was Jan-Jan, a young boy, all of six, holding onto a microphone looking nervous as he talked about his reasons for being on the show. His father owned a salon and cut hair for a living, he said, and it was his mother?s birthday. Perhaps he needed the money to buy her a gift. He said he was going to do a dance and he did. This was when it started to get ugly.

Jan-Jan, all of six, took center stage and?horror of horrors?began to gyrate to the music of a Snoop Dog rap song, like a little macho dancer. It was obvious from the look on his face that he was terribly uncomfortable and upset. Soon enough, he broke down?warm, hot tears flowing down his chubby cheeks. But he continued to dance on cue, as the music played on.

My heart began to break as I watched this. I wanted to scream ?Stop!,? to rush in and rescue little Jan-Jan from further humiliation. But what took place next further enraged me.

The host of the show, Willie Revillame, began to laugh as he described the scene before him. ?Umiiyak pa. Ganyan ang hirap ng buhay ng tao. Gagawin lahat para sa pamilya niya?? You would think it would stop there, that Revillame, a father many times over and a grandfather, would come to his senses and end Jan-Jan?s torment. But, hey, no. He played to the crowd, who unfortunately was also immensely enjoying the scene, and the torment Revillame was foisting on the boy.

Reward

By this time, Revillame had ?praised? Jan-Jan and given him P10,000 as a reward for his efforts. Jan-Jan took the money unsmilingly and stuffed it in his pockets. You?d think the torment would stop there, that Jan-Jan had suffered enough. No, folks, apparently Revillame was not yet satisfied and the crowd seemed hungry for more. On cue, the music was played over again, and Revillame once more egged on Jan-Jan to dance.

I felt much worse when Revillame likened the scene to the Vilma Santos ?70s hit ?Burlesk Queen.? What a sick analogy.

How low would Revillame go to please his audience, and how pathetic and desensitized have we become as a people to allow a grown, middle-aged man to torment a poor, helpless child?

I?m all for entertainment. After all, that industry money put me through college after my father passed away, through the efforts of my mother who has been a part of that same industry for the last 50 years of her life. But I draw the line on entertainment at the expense of others, most especially a child.

Jan-Jan is six years old, a child fully dependent on those who care for him?for his emotional and physical well-being. He is at that age when he is able to remember vividly experiences or images of joy, love, but also torment and pain. These are images that will stay with him for a long time, and may affect his behavior later on.

I?m not saying Jan-Jan will be totally damaged by what had happened. But when he looks back on this moment and remembers the feelings that came with having to gyrate in front of a crowd and being tormented by a popular television host, what feelings will rise to the surface?

I wonder if television shows such as ?Willing Willie? have set in place measures or restrictions on the type of entertainment numbers that children are allowed to perform before the viewing public. What standards do they keep? Or are there any standards at all in determining the type of song, dance number, costumes used?

Precocious

Children can really be precocious and are such naturals. However, gyrating lewdly to music meant for a much older dancer is totally uncalled for. Jan-Jan obviously had talent. Why did they not just ask him to do a different type of dance number? There is also something to be said about those who screen the numbers that are to be performed on the show.

What I found deeply disturbing as well was the way the frenzied crowd did not even mind at all that the child was already crying and uncomfortable. It wasn?t very different from being in front of a lynch mob. Perhaps that was part of the reason Jan-Jan was crying?he was feeling so small and embarrassed by doing what was being asked of him. One could sense the fear in his eyes as he looked out at the crowd.

Even more disturbing was the response by Jan-Jan?s father to those who found the video offensive. ?Kaya ba nilang pakainin ang pamilya ko?? Sir, is it your son?s responsibility to feed your family? Parents are supposed to be guardians of their children. Children must be allowed to be children, to enjoy all the rights given to them under the law.

What have we become as a people that we did not even see beyond the sexy moves and realize it was a six-year-old child in front of us squirming uncomfortably with tears running down his little-boy cheeks? What was so entertaining about that? When our children see us laughing at the discomfort and misery of others, more so a child, what are we teaching them?

Inexcusable behavior

As for Revillame who had it in his power to control the situation, I have no words for his inexcusable behavior. It could have been another host, and not Willie Revillame. Unfortunately, he has had quite the track record. Many things have been written and said about him in the past but they all involved women or adults fully capable of defending themselves.

Bullying or tormenting a hapless six-year-old in front of a wide audience is senseless. This is a lesson not just for Revillame, but for all other hosts who seem to be clueless about the effects of bullying. Majority of bullies were at some point in time bullied themselves, in the same manner that many sexual offenders and abusers were once abused.

Perhaps, that?s what Revillame and everyone else involved in perpetrating this tragedy needs to do?to stop for a while and really take a serious look at how they have contributed in bringing television to this new low.

I love the entertainment industry. I grew up under its wing. While, admittedly, there are many faults, there are many decent and good human beings who work there as well. So let?s go beyond personalities, because the main issue here is child abuse. Everyone guilty of perpetrating it must be held accountable. Let?s hope and pray that the laws protecting children have teeth, and that the agencies tasked to protect the rights of the child will do what is expected of them so that this kind of incident will never happen again.

Let this not be a clash between social classes. Let?s use this incident to change for the better.