Lacson: Paradigm shift

OVER the weekend, news about a famous young couple admitting they almost had an abortion for the sake of their careers broke out. Apparently, the captured lines came from an interview with the young male actor who said that he instead chose of keeping their baby amidst another issue of him being a minor at 16 years old then. Thank God, he and his girlfriend, who is five years older than him, changed their mind and thought that aborting their baby would be the "biggest sin" they will be doing in their life. Further in the interview, the young actor also recalled the difficulties that he and his partner went through after having a child at a young age.

I remember when I was still a teen, the advocacy then was to keep chaste until you get married regardless of your gender. Back then, we were taught to respect the sanctity of marriage and not engage in pre-marital sex. The number of teenage pregnancies during that time was minimal and once news of a woman bearing a child before getting married becomes talk of the town, there seems to be discrimination against the woman for being "easy" giving in to the sexual demands of her boyfriend.

However, that is not the case anymore. Unfortunately, as young as ten to twelve years old, some youth are already sexually active due to many reasons. As usual, topping the list of these reasons is the pressure felt by women to give in to their partners to prove their love to them. There is also the peer pressure and of course, the exposure to modern and "westernized" views on engaging in relationships because of social media are also included in the motivations why younger people engage in PMS.

This fact leads me to believe that maybe, we should have a change of perspective on how we should address these problems. Instead of advocating among our youth not to engage in PMS, maybe we should start advocating responsible sexual behavior. This means that we should make them aware of the consequences of their actions, and if they choose to engage in such acts, they should take preventive measures and if they are young and not yet ready for the responsibility of being parents, then they must use contraceptives to avoid pregnancy.

At the same time, parents and also guardians must be able to explain carefully to their children about the possibilities of such sexual activities and they must be able to provide clear directions to their children. Let us always remember that the most important lessons should be taught at home, and parents should remain authoritative with their children. They should also be vigilant as to who their children are befriending and what they are doing along with their classmates and friends. Learning always starts at home.