Thursday, November 13, 2008 Oledan: Cornerstone By Radzini Oledan
THE family is the first and enduring crucible within which the values and character of our young people are formed. It is the cornerstone upon which society is built but it is also changing and often, it is unable to cope with the challenges of time.
Forty percent of families are below the poverty line. While the majority of the youth grew up with both natural parents, there is a rise in young people being raised by one parent with another partner.
Recent study shows that four out of ten young people -- especially females -- are living away from home, either because of work or study. For those who still reside with parents, two thirds of their waking hours is spent either in school or with their peers in various settings. Parents are also increasingly leaving their families to work overseas.
And when parents, especially the mother works overseas, grandparents assume most of the childcare and childrearing responsibilities. Consequently, the large intergenerational gap between young people and the elderly and the missing middle generation is likely to be strenuous.
While family members are willing to step in as caregivers, not all of them are equipped to provide the care and services that children and older relatives require.
Consequently, a recent study found that youth who were not raised by both parents, or those who have lived away from home exhibit greater likelihood to be sexual risk-takers than those who were not. At present, almost one out of four young Filipino already had pre-marital sex.
Glaring too, that even in intact families, parents are no longer the main sources of information of adolescents, especially regarding health, sexuality and the various changes taking place in their minds and bodies.
In a global review of successful adolescent sexuality and reproductive health programs, it was revealed that effective programs motivated young people to delay the onset of sexual activity or their sexual debut, stay faithful to one partner, or protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases.
Education programs appear to have greater impact if they are given prior to the onset of sexual activity. It may be easier to establish the desired patterns of behavior from the beginning of sexual involvement, rather than trying to change pre-existing habits.
Programs could also be explored to assist youth to clarify their individual and family values; assist youth to develop skills in communication, refusal and negotiation. It is also high time to dispel the myth about providing life skills and adolescent reproductive health education through the secondary school curriculum.
Within the framework of World Health Organization's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life.
Reproductive health, therefore implies that people are able to have a responsible, satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so.
Implicit in this are the right of men and women to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of fertility regulation of their choice, and the right of access to appropriate health care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth, and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant.
Families are evolving and as they cope with the changes, reproductive health information would enable them to make informed choices.
