Saturday, December 23, 2006 Roperos: Unexpected gifts By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
ONE of the little disappointments I have as a media man is the fact that none of my blood kin appears to have the yen to take up the pen and “battle” with life and all those troubles that we are heirs to.
Some of my peers in Manila have children writing columns in various dailies or are heads of editorial sections, other have made a name as creative writers. My eldest, Mafette can write, but no amount of coaxing could make her continue to do so.
The other day, she presented me with two pieces written by the eldest boy and the eldest girl of my nine grandchildren. She and Maes, the mother of the girl, said that now I don’t have a reason to gripe.
My eldest grandson, Leon Philippe Roperos, has been putting his thoughts in the “Friendster” website and Euka Roperos Beloria in their school paper at the Cebu City National Science High School called the “Scholar’s Voice.”
Leon Philippe, 19, (now on his second year in Chemical Engineering at UP in Los Banos), from “My Thoughts On Creativity”:
“I remember a time in high school when I would write my thoughts in notebooks. They would range from short statements to longer ones, like essays. They were a rickety avenue for my thoughts, questions and yearnings. Sometimes they would even become a form of displacement to appease my ego. The short collections were usually private…
“Time and time again, I tell myself that spontaneity is the mark of a creative writer. Nowadays, however, I am beginning to think otherwise. You see, just as communication is a two-way process, so is creativity. A work of art can only be as beautiful as how much society dictates it to be so. A painter paints a picture but it is society that measures its beauty. The painter, then, as an artist, has two sides---both of the same coin…”
Euka Roperos Beloria, 13, (now a sophomore) who published a poem in Weekend when she was 12, from “‘Little’ Violence”:
“Children nowadays are exposed to many forms of violence. They hear about it. They talk about it. They even watch it. It is always there. Take the Internet cafes…They have video games that show a lot of violence. Their bestsellers show various forms of killings and mutilating. Virtual enemies on screen fight amongst themselves to death…
“It is a fact that most children imitate this virtual stuff in the real world. Various forms of maiming or even killing people are now inculcated in their minds. A bloody fight in class wouldn’t be that shocking any more. Hazing and other acts of torture among members of fraternities have mushroomed in the news. Gang wars are not uncommon…
“Why do we allow the culture of violence and death to pervade in our society? Are today’s generation breeding future ‘terrorists’ rather than peacekeepers? It’s high time for everybody to do something for the good of our children and the youth. They are the future of our nation…”
Truth to tell, until I read their pieces the other day, I did not realize that they already have their own thoughts about what’s going on in their world. What delights me, though, is that this Yule, I received two unexpected gifts from my grandchildren, something I did not expect their young minds to be immersed in already.
