As technology progresses, our behaviors also change. Our lives are now being connected through the latest devices and the internet. We can just find about anything on the internet now. From the latest shows, games and you can even find books on the internet. However we should also not forget the fact that just as easily we can find the good stuff, we can also find the bad stuff. Teenagers and even young children learn about sensitive information like sexuality through the internet.
Children and teens nowadays have no trouble in watching graphic and sexual information. They are not even restricted from accessing it. There are many types of movie restrictions like MTRCB or MPA film rating system where it shows which movies are not allowed for audiences below a certain age. However, people can just pretend to be 18 online, they can just click "Yes, I am over 18" and be able to watch graphic or sexual movies. Because of this, teenage pregnancy and child marriage are now more common than ever before. According to statistics, 1 in 4 young women today are married in their teens compared to 1 in 5 in the early 1980s.
It's not all that different here in the Philippines, we have great value on family and religion, which is why the Church has a great role in how we live our lives. Even so, the Church is having a hard time controling the teen's exposure to graphic presentations. Many different priests are also trying to raise awareness about child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
The media also plays a role on how they affect the youth. Here in the Philippines one of the major themes in their shows or teleserye are love affairs. Like "Two Wives", "The Legal Wife" and many more. Many Filipinos are intruiged as to watching these, it's like they are making light of illicit affairs and infidelity. Moreover, the main character is usually the cheating one, it makes audiences especially teens think that its ok to have an affair and its normal.
Overall we have to change how the media portrays such things, and they should regulate how these things arrive at our computers and televisions. We should take a look at how these affect us in the long run. Child marriage and pregnancy robs girls of their childhood and threaten their health. We should take a stance to prevent this as our children is our country's future.
Reference list:
Sarikas, C. (2015). 3 Strong Argumentative Essay Examples, Analyzed. 3 Strong Argumentative Essay Examples, Analyzed. https://blog.prepscholar.com/argumentative-essay-examples.
List Of ABS-CBN Drama Series - Wikipedia. (2015, January 25). List of ABS-CBN drama series Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ABS-CBN_drama_series.
Holly, R. (2019, March 7). Child Marriage UNICEF. Child marriage UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage.
Cogtas, J. (2015, June 18). MEDIA, ADOLESCENCE, MARRIAGE. jcogtas: MEDIA, ADOLESCENCE, MARRIAGE. https://jeanillec.blogspot.com/2015/06/media-adolescence-marriage.html.
