Chapter 1: Context of the Project: Introduction

Chapter 1
CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT



Introduction

Unfold, oh timid flower! Lift up your radiant brow,This day, Youth of my native
strand!Your abounding talents showResplendently and grand,Fair hope of my
Motherland!

- To the Philippine Youth, Jose P. Rizal

No less than our national hero declared the youth as the “hope of our future”. So much is expected of the youth that it is crucial that they are prepared for the role they have to undertake in nation building. It is of great importance that young adults are prepared, well adjusted, responsible and well educated before they embark on this role. Before they can take on any role, it is imperative that an individual is aware of him self and is able to evaluate his capabilities, dreams and limitations.

In the book “Filipino Youth in Transition”, Josefina Natividad and Joseph Puyat emphasized the importance of preparing today’s adolescents for these transitions:

“…today’s youth appear to face far more complex challenges brought about by such
developments as the rapid pace of innovations in technology, resulting in the
multiplicity of sources of information, opportunities for social interaction and
alternatives for leisure, sweeping lifestyle changes, radical changes in sexual
and gender related norms, a markedly changed market and highly competitive
economics, a liberal and at times even anarchic mass media.”

Natividad and Puyat put emphasis on how advancements in technology are affecting how adolescents are getting information, processing them and applying them in their social and personal lives. Indeed, technology is playing big part in the Filipino adolescents’ life. In an article for iReport, Alecks Pabico pronounced that technology has “redefined the barkada” and mentioned that the Filipino youth are a “high tech generation” that relies on technology to keep in touch. He further asserts that:

“They use new media as the venue for exploring and defining their own identities
and establishing their independence. It provides several ways for young people
to communicate with each other, interact with what is on the site. They can
create their own content. Relationships are characterized and even built on text
messages and electronic mail.”

In a study conducted by McCann-Erickson, it has been concluded that “media has become surrogate parents” to todays youth with the television taking the lead in terms of consumption. The television is more than just a source of information and entertainment for them; it is their “kapuso”, “kapamilya” and “kabarkada”. In a society that has been heavily permeated by the mass media, it should be considered that “mass media do not simply reflect but significantly construct realities” (Applebaum and Chambliss 1997 cited in Page, 2004). Page, further stresses that due to the growing importance the television plays in shaping the youth’s choices of role models, it is of imperative that we go beyond the family and also consider the other agents of socialization that assert influence on today’s youth (Page, 2004).

Arizona State University’s Hans Sebald points out how television gives human beings “a constant barrage of stimuli that bear significantly on personality development”. Human beings need not only rely on actual presence of people or objects to form views of themselves or the world when the television provides them with a “window to the world”. Mass media, particularly the television, offers adolescents with a vast assortment of characters, from role models to best friends to dream boys. In the research conducted by Natividad et al, they found out that although the youth still look up to their parents and teachers as role models, a significant number surfaced declaring movie and television personalities and characters as their role models, mostly because of their looks, fashion sense and popularity (Natividad, 2004). It was suggested by George Gerbner that television’s influence lies mainly in its ability to convey ideas about social behavior, social norms and social structures (cited in Cumberbatch, 1995).

With the ever changing yet very crucial role the television is playing in the lives of adolescents, it is necessary that television program producers step up and assume responsibility in presenting educational programs that the youth can identify with and learn from.