Are Filipino teenagers emotionally ready for sex? Are we?
First, what does it mean do be emotionally ready? Teenage years bring young people in the most crucial era of their personality development. This is the time where they search their character, identity and directions they want to take. This is also the time when they are most vulnerable and sensitive to their environment.
Being emotionally ready could mean being able to handle and control emotions. Individuals should know when, where or to whom they should put these emotions to. In the case of teenagers, while they are still at the time when most of them feel at their lowest or highest points of their lives and when emotions are strong and sometimes unpredictable, readiness to engage in mature matters like sex is not yet attainable. Teenagers might have the tendency of investing emotions to something or someone too much and may neglect others aspects of their lives.
Second, what does the Filipino culture offers to teenagers? Filipino culture, as diverse as it has been, brings the diversity of young people alive. However, the presence of new and fast phased technological advancement makes it even more complicated. There are so many choices that they could have and most of the time, they want them all. Our culture also establishes media’s portrayal to everything as examples to young people’s minds. It seems everything the media shows are neither good nor bad until you try it yourself. So since teenagers are at search of something that could make them feel better in any plight that they have, they so often want to try everything without thinking much of the consequences.
Teenagers in the provinces are no exemption, too. More and more young people are caught in early marriage situations because the girl is already pregnant. Why? Provincial culture invokes to teenagers, especially those out of school, a culture of closer bonding among them. Since there is not much diversity compared to the cities, boyfriends-girlfriends could segregate themselves from others. Along the way, the temptation to have sex sets in. More so, the ultraconservative side of the province having teenagers with boy/girlfriends as a wrong idea, sometimes, drive these youngsters to be more rebellious of the tradition.
Third, what has become “sex.” The context of “sex” as interaction between (even among) young people of the opposite sex (even same sex) has already become a fad, a pop culture.
It is one, if not the most, intriguing subject and experience to curious young people. More so that the media intensifies the gratification of love through sexual interaction.
Young people sometimes test the faithfulness of their partners through having sex. Some last for long but in the long run will end up to ruined future, like most of them. Some parents even disown their children because of their misfortunes. Other than that, peer pressures sets in. [Sex] experienced young people could easily convey to their peers the excitement and “happiness” sex has momentarily given them. Then convince the others to do so. Though they are aware of the consequences, because of emotional endulgence, teenagers easily forget them while in action. Then they could only realize what they have done if the consequences of their actions could almost spank them on their faces.
Though talking “sex” in public is still a taboo, it is already slowly becoming a norm starting with teenagers and older young people. Given our society existing between the ultraconservative traditions of Filipino culture and the liberalism of Western-imbibed fashion, teenagers are also given much choice or no choice in engaging in sex.
Given the factors above, in conclusion, we could easily evaluate that Filipino teenagers are not yet ready for sex—emotionally, physically and responsibly. At the height of their search for themselves and their development of their identities, most of them are still afraid of responsibility and may not handle the consequences of mature matters like sex. Sex may bring young people an unending chain of consequences, which teenagers still not ready to handle.
Engaging in sexual interaction requires maturity in all aspects of being.
