Media and Values

A few nights ago, I received an unexpected call from a young lady. She was asking for advice in behalf of her friend. The boy, according to her has gotten his girlfriend pregnant. Both are afraid their parents will find out. Boy and girl (both minors) are contemplating abortion. They will not listen to advice. Worse, he is thinking of committing suicide.

Sounds like a trite story line of a movie script? No, it’s not.

Indeed so much has changed in our society today. Global technology has left us susceptible to western influences. So readily we absorb western practices and culture. Western and local media feed us with values wrongly founded on consumerism. This societal change has a lot of impact upon our young generation today.

Much of what media feed us are values that do not resonate well with Christian values that have been taught us in the family or in school. We are bombarded left and right with messages that glorify promiscuity. Media tell us it’s cool and you are definitely in if you engage in pre-marital sex. Anyway, almost anybody you know is doing it. Media personalities on the other hand who inevitably become role models to the young send wrong signals by flaunting their own permissive lifestyle.

Sometime ago, there was a survey conducted among Filipino teen-agers regarding their views on pre-marital sex. This survey showed there was a high percentage among our youth today who are practicing pre-marital sex.

It is indeed a stark reality that is confronting our permissive society in this present time. Parents nowadays are perhaps having nightmares on how to make their children understand the evil consequences of engaging in pre-marital sex. Some will even give wrong advice to their children. Once I heard over the radio about this mother saying she is so concerned about her young daughter getting pregnant out of wedlock so the best she can do (according to her) is to advise her to take pills for protection. That, to state the obvious, is the wrong answer to the problem.

Tom Ehart in his book Dating, Sex, Me and God, remarks that “we live in a society that tells us that if we are not sexually active, we are missing out and our life is a drag.” He stresses “that we need to see that lie for what it is, a lie and nothing less, and look for the truth in why saving sex for marriage is such a great thing.”

It is a fact that media have taken its niche in many aspects of our life, both personal and societal. But still it is up to us to allow it to take control of our lives. The decision lies on us.