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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo called on Wednesday for the issuance of stricter regulations for television programs and improved filtering of TV shows that could potentially have a bad influence on children to curb bullying and other forms of violence against children.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) received 369 reports of bullying between 2011 and 2014, while there was an increase in all forms of violence against children.

The commission recorded 485 cases of violence, including physical, psychological and sexual abuse in 2012, with the number of cases increasing to 632 in 2013 and 970 in 2014.

Jokowi said cases of violence against children were still underreported and called on all parties, including the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), to play roles in preventing such violence.

'€œI also want the KPI to issue stricter television regulations so TV shows not suitable for children can be filtered,'€ Jokowi said during a limited Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Jokowi invited KPAI chairman Asrorun Niam Sholeh and other relevant ministers to Wednesday'€™s meeting to discuss ways to prevent child bullying.

The President also instructed Culture and Education Minister Anies Baswedan to initiate better anti-bullying campaigns in schools, including in Islamic boarding schools.

Asrorun argued that TV shows and games portraying violence had a bad influence on children, deeming them external factors that contributed to the growing number of bullying cases.

He later expressed his appreciation for Jokowi'€™s quick call, urging the KPI to follow up on the President'€™s instruction.

Responding to the call to review regulations on television programming, KPI deputy chairman Izy Muzayyad said on Wednesday that the commission would follow up on the KPAI report.

'€œWe will strengthen the monitoring [of TV programs] especially those viewed by children and teenagers,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Izy said all TV shows targeted at children should be required to get a stamp of approval from the Indonesian Censorship Institute (LSI) before they aired.

'€œSo if you want to make monitoring stricter, then it [TV shows] should be screened by the LSI first,'€ he said.

KPI commissioner Bekti Nugroho said that the commission had done a good job in making sure that there was no violent content in TV shows catered toward children.

'€œWe already stipulated such a rule in the 2012 Broadcasting and Program Standards Guideline. We are very strict about it. When there'€™s indication of a violation, we immediately issue sanctions,'€ he told the Post on Wednesday.

Furthermore, the KPI has banned adult content from being broadcast before 10 p.m.

'€œAdult shows have to be broadcast after 10 p.m. because between 5 and 8 p.m., people [including children] tend to watch TV,'€ Izy said.

That said, the KPI has not allocated a special time slot for TV shows catered toward children.

'€œWe don'€™t have a specific time for children'€™s shows to be aired. But we are heading toward that, because I have received recommendations from civil society saying that some developed countries have a protective mechanism in the form of a broadcasting time for children, such as from 3 to 7 p.m.,'€ Bekti said.

He added that the instruction to set a time slot for children'€™s shows might be included in the revision of the Broadcasting and Program Standards Guideline.

'€œHopefully this year we can finish the revision,'€ said Bekti.

According to Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Jokowi will also issue a presidential regulation to prevent violence and bullying in schools and has ordered relevant ministries to study the possibility of issuing a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to introduce chemical castration as a form of punishment for those found guilty of child-sex abuse.

Last year, the country was rocked by the murder of 8-year-old Engeline Margriet Megawe, whose body was found buried in her backyard in Denpasar, Bali; and the rape and murder of a 9-year-old whose body was found in October inside a cardboard box in Kalideres, West Jakarta.

The public has called for better child protection to put an end to violence against children.
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