Monday, June 23, 2008 Editorials Starting ‘em young
THE CASE of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) leaders who get pregnant out of wedlock may have no direct and clear bearing on immorality, gross negligence and the efficient performance of public duties.
But it may still have implications on governance.
Liberals may view the pregnancy of the unmarried 17-year-old SK chairperson of Barangay Bacayan on humane, not moralistic, terms.
However, the frequency of pregnancies among officials in two SK Federation (SKF) administrations, that of the present president Rengelle Pelayo and her predecessor, Glena Bontuyan, can signal the SKF to address an area of pressing relevance to their constituencies: education on sexuality.
Peer influence
Family life skills or family life education is imparted to pre-teens and adolescents as integral for their normal psychological development. Education on sexuality is a component of this program. Despite contentions of traditionalists and moralists, the exposure to family life skills has not resulted in premature sexual activity or promiscuity, studies show.
In light of alarming health statistics in the country, family life skills are even crucial to introduce to youths.
Many young people, even younger than 18 years, figure prominently in the estimated seven million women that yearly face high risk of unplanned pregnancies. From 300,000 to 400,000 illegal abortions are carried out each year, putting one of six women in an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy at risk of sepsis or death when she resorts to illegal abortion. Due to high risk behaviors like illegal drug use and lack of correct information, many youths contract and spread sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Family life skills are channeled to in-school youths through their parents, school mentors, faith-based counselors, and school- or group-based peer educators.
However, out-of-school youths, who may even be more vulnerable to social settings and practices that lead to unplanned pregnancies or STIs, have to be reached through community-based approaches. The SK is thus a potential as peer educators and youth leaders whose mandate is not limited only to schools.
Leading by example
Studies support the importance of peer influence in bringing about the two main objectives of education on sexuality: delaying first intercourse or, among the sexually active, using contraception or preventing the risk of STIs.
Fellow youths are not only influential but they are often the only “acceptable” influences to their peers during the interval between the first date and the first sexual intercourse.
This is according to “Before First Sex,” a study by Ushma D. Upadhyay, Michelle J. Hindin and Socorro Gultiano. Published in the September 2006 issue of the “International Family Planning Perspectives,” the study looked into the precoital activities of 2,051 adolescents, aged 17–19, in Cebu.
According to this study, young Filipinos and Filipinas progress through the same sequence but vary in the timing and tempo of their emotional relationships and physical behaviors: first, crushes; followed by courting, then romantic relationships, dating and sexual intercourse.
Generally, males engage in precoital physical behaviors and first sex at younger ages than females. Among those who reported having had sex, 97 percent of females and 52 percent of males reported that their first time was with their boyfriend or girlfriend. On the other hand, 39 percent of males and fewer than one percent of females said it was with someone with whom they did not have an emotional relationship but whose sexual favors were not paid.
From these findings can be inferred the influence of boyfriends on the decision of females to engage in physical intimacy and sex, while barkadas (peer groups) exert the same encouragement and validation of the sexual initiation of males. Other researches support the findings of this study that adolescents must have access to the correct information and guidance to negotiate the sensitive transition from having a crush to having sex for the first time.
Because adolescent sexuality is beyond pat moralizing, youth leaders, such as the SKF, must initiate life-changing thinking and behavior among themselves and their peers to avoid unplanned pregnancies, illegal abortions and STIs.
