Post Elections 2022:
WHERE CANVAS STANDS

The past quarter was marked by the Presidential elections, arguably the most consequential for the country since 1986. Two things are clear:

First, despite the overwhelming mandate handed by the electorate to Bongbong Marcos, the country remains divided. A major challenge for CANVAS is to contribute and help in the monumental task of bringing people of all persuasions back together in a meaningful, sensitive, and just manner.

And second, three themes are of primal importance to CANVAS: climate change, human rights, and dealing with technology-driven disinformation. It is perhaps not surprising that these three issues, much like the elections, are extremely divisive ones that arouse passions, and more concerningly, are prone to fake news.

Empathy and independent thinking suffer as users tend to hear only those views that they wish to hear. Technology (particularly social media) is such that alternative viewpoints are filtered out. Preexisting biases are thus reinforced. Respectful conversation becomes nearly impossible, and polarization has become the norm.

The dangers these trends create are not abstract, even for CANVAS. As recent events have shown, even publishers of children’s books have been red-tagged and branded as anti-government, and harassed simply for publishing books about historical facts like martial law.

If we are to create a more just and humane world, we all - but especially our children - have to become more empathetic. We all have to know how to question, and think for ourselves. Ironically, the new technologies that now provide us with unprecedented access to information are also making it extremely challenging for everyone to practice empathy and independent thinking.

This then, is the challenge that CANVAS has set for itself. Moving forward, we will use art and books to shine our light on the three big issues of our times: climate change, human rights, and online safety.

We will continue to give away our books by the tens of thousands each year, unwavering in our belief that children who learn to love books provide the greatest hope for our collective future.

And, we will march deliberately toward building our envisioned children’s museum of art and human rights designed to provide experiences that enhance the skills of children in empathy and independent thinking.

It will be curated to be highly interactive, and focused on play and hands-on manipulation, and social interaction – elements that enhance learning for very young children. They will reflect CANVAS’ belief in the power of storytelling, and the cross-cutting nature of human rights as central to children’s rights, as well as the other big issues of our times – climate change, and internet safety.