Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Background of the Study

Internet cafés are said to be a venue wherein it caters services to the users

such as research as well as browsing via World Wide Web. Surfing the internet,

playing games and hanging out on social networks are important for teen

development. However, for all of its advantages, electronic communication carries

with it several dangerous aspects. Privacy and security have been concerns of the

users of electronic communication since the days of the telegraph. Nowadays,

internet cafés can also cause problems like online gaming addiction which, in fact,

considered as one of the serious issues that the local government of Tangub City is

now facing. This has prompted the city council of Tangub City to implement the

City Ordinance No. 2007-08-459, an ordinance regulating the operation of Internet

cafés in Tangub City.

Internet addiction is a relatively new phenomenon in which social workers

and psychologists are unaware of and are thus unprepared to treat at present. Mu

(2006) points out that some of the main symptoms of Internet and online game

addictions, including the decrease in friend and face-to-face interactions with

others, become infrequent while the member of friends in the virtual world

exponentially increases. However this is mostly unsuccessful as it almost always

ends up failing. Zhang (2007) and Zhou (2007), who also researched on the same

topic, reported different results on the online game addiction and the finding
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supported the same symptoms. With regards to undergraduate students who were

addicted to the Internet or online games, Zhang (2007) indicated that most of these

students had bad grades in their universities. From here it is not too much of a

stretch to see the academic training of our young and impressionable players going

haywire.

Since year 2007, Tangub City Implemented the City Ordinance No.2007-

08-459 also known as an Ordinance regulating the operation of Internet Cafes. At

some point, the concept of the Ordinance is to prohibit all proprietors in allowing

students/minors to operate/play online games during school days and yet, still

many parents are complaining about their children being addicted to online

gaming and almost always can find their children inside the internet cafes instead

of being inside the school during school days and even during school hours.

Despite of having this City Ordinance No. 2007-08-459, why the said problem still

exists.

It is the aim of the researcher to mend the problem by reviewing the

Tangub City Ordinance No.2007-08-459, to know the level of awareness of the

respondents and that the intended outcome of the study will be of help to

strengthen the effectiveness of the ordinance.

Conceptual Framework

This study is anchored on the concept of Tangub City Ordinance No. 2007-

08-459 which further elaborate the objectives of this study.

Excerpt from the minutes of the regular session of the city council of

Tangub held on July 31, 2007 at 9:45 A.M at the barangay office, Catagan,
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Tangub City. Ordinance No. 2007-08-459 an Ordinance regulating the operation

of Internet Cafe in Tangub City, in session it is assembled, that Sec. 1 Operation of

Internet Cafe by private rooms or enclosed cubicle is strictly prohibited in Tangub

City. Sec. 2 Inspection of compliance of section 1 herein shall be made before the

issuance or renewal of business permit by the city treasurer`s Office or its

Authorized representative. Sec.3 Owner/Proprietor or operator of Internet Cafe

shall put/place their computer units in a room accessible to the public and shall not

allow any minor, elementary, and secondary students to operate/play during school

days from 7:30 AM to 12:00 noon and 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM. Jason (2010) stated

that when there are advantages in Internet cafes, there are also disadvantages,

same goes for everything. Nowadays, students are absenting school classes to go

to the internet cafe to play online games; this will result in the student failing their

exams and have terrible result. Plus, parents will blame the school for not teaching

the student well enough. Besides that, this can also cause the student to spend and

not knowing how to save their money because all the money is being used for

playing games in the internet cafe and even at young age they are facing money

problem. Even worst, many students can easily get access to pornography websites

and downloading it through the internet. This small issue can cause big problems

which are many teenagers now having sex and young girls getting pregnant and

other horrible things happened. This will increase the number of rape cases in the

future. Moreover, privacy also can get corrupted due to the internet cafe. Sec. 5

Any person or concern citizen shall report immediately to the Philippine National

Police, KPART, and Barangay Official and any person in authority of this city for
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violation of this Ordinance. Sec.6 Person mentioned in section 5 hereof shall

report the minor elementary and high school students to the City Social Welfare

and Development Office (CSWD) and to the school of the minor for appropriate

action by the school concerned with the proper coordination of the CSWD. Sec. 8

Fine shall be paid to the City Treasurer`s Office or its authorized representative.

Chris Wong (2011) There are advantages of implementing the café ban. Firstly, it

prevents the youth from making friends with gangsters. Many teenagers enjoy

playing games with different net friends in the internet cafes. They feel relaxed

and entertaining killing time with peers having the same interest. However, triad

society members also love to loiter in those game centres. They gathered there

since it is easy to recruit new members, especially in the evening as others cannot

discover their activities easily. The café ban can prevent teens from meeting bad

company and going astray, and hence reduce youth crimes.

In this research, the researcher wants to assess the effectiveness of the

implemented City Ordinance No.2007-08-459 and the goals are to know the level

of this implementation and to see if the respondents are abiding the said ordinance.
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City Ordinance No.

2007-08-459 Basis for Policy Review
Assessment

Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Study

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Statement of the Problem

This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of the implemented City

Ordinance regulating the operation of Internet Cafes in Maloro, Tangub City.

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of implementation of the City Ordinance No.2007-08-

459?

2. What is/are the views and sentiments of the respondents towards the

implementation of the City Ordinance No.2007-08-459?

Significance of the Study

The study will mean slightly different things for different people depending

on the position they hold in society:

Students. The integrity of the whole educational sector hinges on its

willingness and ability to transfer constructive knowledge to its

proponents. Through this and other similar studies, students will

develop a keener sense of awareness into the City Ordinance

No.2007-08-459.

The Instructors, Professors and Staff. In times when the go-to

implements in modifying overly aggressive, counter-productive

behaviours manifested by students falter, studies such as this that

remain on the fringes of the policy-making body’s purview can

provide useful bits of interpretation that may aid in the correction or

abatement of consequences detrimental to their students’ carriers and

lives.
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Parents and other Stakeholders. Just like the college faculty and staff,

parents and other stakeholders in the society at large will benefit

from this study regarding the effectiveness of the City Ordinance

No.2007-08-459. Though the focus of this study the student

population of GADTC, application of its insights can very easily

find its utility in other working environs. From here it will be very

difficult for the parent-to-child relationship not to prosper as well.

College Administrators. College administrators are really professors

charged with more power and responsibilities. They determine the

direction of the college’s future, and as such must draw the most

from studies like this. Understanding and insights do not just fall

out of the skies. The learning rate for people in power can be

surprisingly sluggish than what most people are ready like to allow

themselves into. If this default is successfully assayed the college

will advance its students’ academic performance in ways that is

more attuned to these information-leaden times.

The Local Government Unit. It is said that information is the new oil, and

most of it now comes straight from the Internet, which needs to be

regulated. Thus this study will help shape policies concerning the

operations of Internet cafés and other WIFI spots in the city of

Tangub.

Proprietors. Advantages to all Internet Cafe owners/operators is that they

can religiously exercise their authority and rights in prohibiting

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students and minors renting their computer units during school hours

admitting minors from 7 :30AM to 5:00 PM during school days.

Researcher. Like the respondents and the rest of the student population

much can be gained from hands-on work in areas where social,

religious, and emotional lines criss-cross. It is set to be quite an

experience. Processing the data as they begin to come in and

attempting to interpret it through the most significant studies of its

cult-like literature will be nothing short of exhilarating.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study will be conducted at Maloro Tangub City and will determine the

effectiveness of the implemented City Ordinance No. 2007-08-459 and the level of

awareness of the respondents. GADTC students, Parents and Internet Cafe

proprietors will be the respondents of the study.

This will be conducted in the first semester of the Academic Year 2018-

2019.

Research Methodology

This chapter presents the research design, research setting, research

respondents, research instrument, and research validation of the instrument, data

gathering and statistical treatment.

Research Design. This study will use a descriptive-quantitative type of

research that assess the effectiveness of the City Ordinance No.

2007-08-459.
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Research Environment. The study will be conducted at Gov. Alfonso D.

Tan College in Maloro, Tangub City, Phillippines. This is where we

assess effectiveness of the City Ordinance No. 2007-08-459.

Research Respondents. The respondents of the study will be the students

of GADTC, proprietors, out of school gamers and parents..

Research Instrument. The study will use modified questionnaire as the

instrument in gathering the information from the respondents. The

questions were based on the objectives of the study that indicated the

level of implementation of the city ordinance. The researcher

personally handed the instruments to the authorized correction

officers to administer the questionnaires to the respondents.

Instrument’s Validity. The research adviser, the school statistician, and

the research editor will correct and polish the content of the

instrument to assure that the objectives of the study were met.

Data Gathering Procedure. The researcher will prepare a letter of

request addressed to the administration of Gov. Alfonso D. Tan

College asking the permission to conduct the study. When it will be

granted, the instruments will be distributed to ten GADTC students,

ten parents and ten internet proprietors. Then, the gathered data will

be treated statistically.

Statistical Treatment. The researcher will use the following formulas in

quantifying the data.

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1. Weighted Mean

∑(code × frequency)
Weighted mean =
number of respondents

For this last reason the factor of peer group can be omitted as well, since

the study will actually delve into a group of college students who possess the same

social awareness with very little deviation, the selection process should guarantee

this.

The study will run for the entire school year of 2018-2019.

Definition of Terms

A good deal of difficulty besets any researcher who tries to understand the

elusive and often times daunting subject of online gaming. Much of this confusion

precipitates from the inadequacy and sometimes outright lack of convention to

unify the meanings and functions of the words used by players. Thus, this study

will define the following terms as:

Ordinance. It is a law or regulation made by a city or town government

Implementation. It is to make something active or effective

Policy. It is a high-level overall plan embracing the general goals and

acceptable procedures especially of a governmental body.

Review. It is an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or

condition of something.

Online Gaming. It is referred to as Internet Gaming or Electronic Gaming.

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Video Game. It is a digital programs designed to maximize the user’s

entertainment experience.

Proprietor. It is a person who owns a business or property.

Internet Café. It is a café that provides Internet access to the public.

Minor. It is a person below 18years old

Cubicle. It is a small room, compartment or partitioned area

Private rooms. Separate closed room

Enclosed Cubicle. It is those with covered curtain for privacy purposes.

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REFERENCES

Boy Jason (2010) Internet and its Advantages and Disadvantages, retrieved on
November 21,2018 from http://www.boddunan.com

Chris Wong (2011) Internet Cafe Ban retrieved on November 21,2018 from
https://www.carmelss.edu.hk/buddingwriters/archives/871

Tangub City Ordinance No. 2007-08-459, excerpt from the minutes of the regular
session of the city council of Tangub City held on July 31, 2007 at 9:45
A.M. at the barangay office, Catagan, Tangub City. This ordinance also
known as regulating the operation of internet cafe in Tangub City.