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A growing number of youth are engaging in risky behavior without understanding the consequences

Being young, they say, involves a process of knowing, and later, of liking.

Perhaps this explains the youth’s penchant for new pursuits, even if they know that these are discouraging. It may be because they often hear grown-ups wonder why it seems exciting to do things that are prohibited, so they think it is acceptable. Or it may be due to their thinking that there are adults around them who, in their raw judgment, are worthy to imitate.

In an adolescent’s time of uncertainty, disturbance and experimentation, there is always this desire to be initiated into something that makes him or her belong. It may be to a group, to an idea, or simply, to a fad.
The 2003 State of the Philippine Population Report, a document published by the Commission on Population and the United Nations Population Fund, explained that the rush to hurry up to the here and now of adolescence happens at a crossroad where young persons start acquainting themselves with activities that are considered risky while they also begin distancing themselves away from parental control. The SPPR2 is the second document that discusses the situation of Filipinos, and the current report tells adequately the life situations of young Filipinos today, especially their susceptibility to risks.

Young, said the Report, view problem behaviors as acts of defiance against authority, and these often take place in in-group settings or among peers, barkadas and circles of friends and acquaintances. The figures of authority may be their parents.

Savoring the promise of freedom and the excitement of discovering the unknown, however, has its daunting threats to young lives.

The Report gathered that in 2002, researchers said almost half (47%) of young people smoked; 70 percent drank alcohol. A rising trend of drug use was seen in 11 percent of boys and girls, and it is rampant in high school and college. Two out of 10 young persons (23%) had premarital sex.

From what they observed, the researchers noted that risk-taking behavior is not usually done in isolation of each other, but rather, they are interlinked — those who smoke, drink and use drugs are more likely to have sex. On the other hand, having sex is most strongly linked to drug use, than with smoking and drinking, and later, to thoughts of suicide and violence. Researchers call this multiple risk-taking behavior.

In risk-taking, boys exhibit a stronger tendency of involvement than girls. It would always be the boys who start first, or that more boys are into an activity than girls. This is explained by the socialization practices of parents and adults, who still give more freedom to boys than girls in their traditional way of raising children.

Adults do not know how to communicate openly about sexuality with young people

A parent once admitted that he has never brought up the subject of sex with his 15-year-old daughter. “I was afraid she would roll her eyes and tell me she already knows what I’m talking about,” he said. “Or that she would wonder why I wanted to talk about it with her. Either way, I would be embarrassed by her reaction.”

This father’s fear is proof positive that there is neither a crash course in parenting nor are there hard and fast rules in raising adolescents, especially when it comes to a subject that is not easy to confront.

Parents and adults watch every move of young people who are under their care, and they can be ever-present if they wish to, but when it comes to the subject of sex and sexuality, they are nowhere.

The 2003 State of the Philippine Population Report, in emphasizing this almost universal observation, argued that it is not that parents, guardians and adults don’t have much to recommend. The problem is they don’t know how to talk about it. The SPPR2, which is the second document published by the Commission on Population and the United Nations Population Fund that gives a situation on the life of Filipinos, discusses at length the relationship of the youth and the adults who take care of them and watch them grow.

The Report said the adults only find themselves so surprised when their sons and daughters, nephews and nieces start being cozy with the opposite sex, or start having girlfriends and boyfriends. Most often, they are not even aware of how the young enter into and handle relationships.

This is the moment parents ask and wonder about what transpired from the time their children were kids to the time they became adolescents. Weren’t these boys and girls the babies they carried a few moons ago? When did the girls become women and the boys men? Too bad they ask these questions at a time when they are supposed to talk about sex – a pivotal phase of communicating about sexuality and reproductive health.

But why is this so? Parents and young people may live in one family and under one roof, but they live in different worlds. Today’s parents know that they, too, were the youth of their generation who had their own fun and absurdity, and they find themselves now living with a generation with its own oddities. They may be of the same age, but their times were totally different. This explains why it is difficult for two such generations to connect.

The SPPR2 said that despite their rich experience and their powerful and lasting influence on adolescents and the youth, “most parents and guardians still do not fully understand the situation of the young, have inadequate communication skills, and are limited in their ability to give meaningful counseling on sexuality and reproductive health.”

What aggravates this problem is the fact that while the traditional form of parenting is still existent in some families, it has changed in many households such that parental disposition of youth behavior is becoming apparent. The daily activities of young people, which used to be.

Health and development policies, programs and services ignore the youth’s needs

The debate provoked by the issue of reproductive health continues in the country’s political environment, and it remains just that – an exchange of arguments. While opposing views never fail to rake up the contentions, they forget the people who are at the center of the debate.

Young people, who make up half the population, are forgotten.

The same is true with legislation and policy-making, as well as in information dissemination and health service delivery.

The 2003 State of the Philippine Population Report said the Philippines has been acknowledged for advancing new approaches to good health development skills and encouragement of youth participation in various programs of government and the private sector, even though there is still lack of specific laws for adolescent reproductive health. Government and non-government organizations have also made use of their advantaged position because of their wider reach and resources in providing programs for the youth.

Published jointly by the Commission on Population and the United Nations Population Fund, the SPPR2 is the second of a series of documents discussing the life of an estimated 82 million Filipinos. The current issue talks about the situation of adolescents.
The Report deemed that there is a need to reassess existing laws and create better health facilities, educational incentives, employment opportunities and youth reproductive health programs.

The most pressing need these days is for government to straighten out its priorities. “Despite evidence presented in policy documents and recent research studies, most health services in the Philippines continue to target adults, often failing to meet the special needs of youth in terms of confidentiality, privacy, accessibility and cost,” said the Report. It also observed that health workers are rarely trained in understanding adolescent sexuality and there are a few health services that cater especially to the youth.

It also asserted that the government also maintains a family planning program that excludes adolescents and unmarried couples from the services. “This is a major barrier,” the Report stated. “As a result, there is a low level of health utilization despite a high prevalence of reproductive health problems among the youth. There is also a need to tailor-fit reproductive health services according to their lifestyle and need.”

It explained further that few services address the specific health concerns of this segment and most are provided by NGOs. There is a problem of coverage and of accessibility and availability.

It suggested that efforts must continue to mainstream adolescent reproductive health by putting in place culturally sensitive, high quality, accessible and user-friendly services. Moreover, these services must respect the right of adolescents and the youth to privacy, confidentiality and informed consent. Health care providers need to be trained and oriented so that they are competent and sympathetic in how they relate to adolescents seeking reproductive health-related preventive and curative care services.

A special approach should be developed for sexually active youth, which includes information on safe sex and on where or how the youth might obtain the services that they need. Programs should provide related counseling or guidance services to convey the interest in youth.
Another program approach should be developed for the majority of the youth who are not sexually active. The messages should also be clear since some programs appear to encourage the youth to engage in safe sex rather than refrain from sex.

Most importantly, political commitment – matched with resources and sustained over time – is crucial for the success of programs addressing the often-sensitive issues related to youth sexuality.

The media are playing a bigger role in young lives

“Got smoke?” The message on a huge billboard showing a trendy young couple, one of them holding a cigarette stick, said it straight. So did a TV commercial that featured a boy who boldly ordered beer, impressing a girl at the bar. “Kaya mo na ‘tol!"

Cool?

Each and every day, media bombard young people with teasers and calls to try something or to be someone.

“Are you one of us?” asked a cellular phone ad.
Be it the news media, entertainment, film, advertising or any other form, the mass media are now the new surrogate parents, according to the 2003 State of the Philippine Population Report, as they are fast becoming the main information guide of young people on what is right and what is wrong, or, to put it in today’s language – “what’s hot, what’s not.” Coupled with the fast turnover of new technology, media are increasingly getting more space in the lives of the young. Some carry good ideas from which the youth can pick up, but sadly, more time and effort are given to less substantial and less wholesome concepts.

The SPPR2, the second of a series of reports on the conditions of life of Filipinos that is published by the Commission on Population and the United Nations Population Fund, considered the media as powerful social forces to reckon with, especially because they are read, viewed, used, consumed and patronized by the youth.

A result is an outburst of varying messages that actually give a false and fleeting dichotomy of only two things – the “cool and the not cool” – with utter disregard for what must be relevant, and what should matter.

The fast changing social environment has given young people greater freedom and access to information that influence the way they think and act, reinforced by their peers who are also patrons of media and are therefore into a similar behavior and mindset.

For the young who are reached by all kinds of media, the world is a miscellany of television, magazines, movies, tabloids, the Internet, and even pornographic material that dictate to them how things must be done – from wearing clothes to stubbing out cigarette ash in style to even uttering a pick-up line to get a date.

Citing a survey in 2000 by the giant advertising firm McCann-Erickson, the Report said “media have become the source of authority regarding what is right, what is wrong, what is important.” No wonder most of the print and broadcast advertisements that the ad company produces target the young; and this is also being done by other media entities doing creative work. In 2002, the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey of the University of the Philippines somewhat validated this finding when it noted the “mass media as the new surrogate parents” of the youth.

The voice of the youth must be heard in all youth-related efforts

A youth manifesto that emerged from an international conference stated, “Young people must make their own decisions free from external pressure, dictates and coercion.”

The manifesto, contained in the 2003 State of the Philippine Population Report, called attention to one of the rights that the young participants identified in their recognition that reproductive health initiatives must be promoted among adolescents, and that this right may also be stated for adults as well.

The youth pronouncement said a lot and it reflected the reality that policies and reforms are most often made by adults, and are forced on young people. Do young people want to break free from this set-up?

Whether or not their voices come in the form of a manifesto, the young people’s statement was more of a protest against the power relations in Philippine society – probably one of the structures and systems that they want to change because they perceive it as flawed.

The SPPR2, published jointly by the Commission on Population and the United Nations Population Fund, said young people and adults view the world with different perspectives. “Adults tend to see young people through the lens of their own interests and concerns,” the Report said. The document is the second of a series that provides a view of the status of life of Filipinos, and this issue specifically discusses the socio-political situation of adolescents on matters concerning their sexuality and reproductive health.

Definitely, the Report said the youth have a lot to say, and they may have enough rage to make government and institutions concerned to pay attention, but that is, if adults in their capacities as individuals or members of institutions, learn to listen to them more.

Because of the overwhelming nuances of youth, there is a need for families and society to have a full grasp of what it means to be young today. For government as well, there is an urgent need to pay attention.

Government programs, complemented with the efforts of non-government organizations, have provided venues for the young to understand things that affect them, the most crucial of these is their conduct on concerns about sexuality and reproductive health.

But adults, who may tend to see young people through their own interests and concerns, too often see the youth as invisible and subordinate to them simply because they are young and dependent on adults.

The challenge is for adults to know and understand the situation of adolescents in order to address their unique experiences and needs as a generation and as individuals. Awareness of what is happening to young people can tell adults what to do. Since they are expected to contribute to efforts of improving the conditions of young people, adults must create an environment that is conducive for developing young people’s lives, and must make extra effort in narrowing the distance between adults and youth.

There is no other way to be successful in doing this than in exerting efforts to enlist the youth and involve them in creating and implementing policies and programs. Information to guide public policy must be appropriate and relevant. Information and education campaign must be intensified to strengthen advocacy for adolescent health and development.

The health systems need to be strengthened to improve the services for the youth.

The Youth are OK

They could be anything they dream they could be.

While trying to figure out how to live and understand life in a country confused with the oftentimes-clashing realities of religion and sexuality, old values and liberal information through media, young people present the toughest demands on families, institutions and government.

But they have their own idea of themselves, and are trying to help in their own ways as individuals in building a world that could be better than today’s. The youth believe that their consciousness of their vulnerability to risks is their only chance to know the responsibilities that go with being young. And to an overwhelming majority of young Filipinos, this is becoming a reality – they are living rather than just surviving.

The 2003 State of the Philippine Population Report noted that “a common aspiration among adolescents and youth is to finish their education. They see schooling as a key to all the other things that they aspire for” – a successful career, financial stability and perhaps a harmonious family life in case they get married and found families later. But for now, they want material benefits so they and their families can live comfortably, which is not difficult to attain if they are educated and skilled.

Published by the Commission on Population and the United Nations Population Fund, the SPPR2 is the second of a series of documents discussing the status of Filipinos, and this current issue talks about the risks, choices and hopes of the young. The Report noted with alarm and caution the risks that young people face, but it also raised hopes in saying that majority of them are well.

In their choices, males want to get married and have families although they want to be financially secure first before they get married. Females are more concerned about self-fulfillment and contributing to society. They want to graduate and succeed in their career and repay their parents and families.

Young people continue to look positively on marriage and consider the ideal marrying age for women to be 25 and two years older for men. They like to have three children, the first coming one year after marriage, the others following three years apart. The value of family planning will have a future in this country.

Ninety-five percent are against abortion, and still hang on to their values in making sure it is not done for as long as it is still possible. As to becoming parents early, they still prefer that they must be married if they have children because they want children to grow up with having parents around.

They regard religion as an important issue that adolescents are interested in and deal with today, because they see their age as a period of questioning religion not for its being imposed on them but for it to have a meaning in their life. The practice of religion is also one reason why many young people abstain from having sex.

The youth today are also receptive to social and economic involvements, although they think that self-respect and discipline are areas to be improved among the youth.
If an increasing proportion of their population are into risk behaviors, it must be noted that there are more of them who are not into any of these practices, or may be trying to initiate themselves too but still keep reason and sanity above their risk-taking adventures.

Young Filipinos live in an environment that continuously stimulates their eager minds and souls. Every day of their young lives, they thrive on social impulses while at the threshold of discovering their bodies, their sexuality and their place in society. Fortunately, they are OK.