Teen phobia

PINOY KASI
Teen phobia

By Michael Tan
Inquirer
Last updated 00:48am (Mla time) 09/27/2006

Published on Page A15 of the September 27, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE cover of the latest issue of Scientific American Mind had "TEEN BRAIN" in big bold letters, showing a young man with several items orbiting his head: A cell phone, junk food, comic books, a guitar, strips of film and a pack of cigarettes. His eyes were blocked out by a Play Station control and what looked like false teeth and his mouth was open in a silent scream.

Let's face it, societies everywhere suffer from teen phobia, an irrational fear of young people. We see them as unthinking, unfeeling (in Filipino, "dedma") automatons, driven by raging sex hormones, their MP3 players and, if we are to believe the growing literature around teen brains, a confusing tangle of live wires in their skulls ready at any time to short circuit and explode.

Growing up

Many societies seemed to have recognized some kind of transition period between childhood and adulthood. As early as the 13th century, the French were using the word "adolescent" which was derived from the Latin "adolescere" (to grow up). Adolescent meant "growing up."

But most societies also saw this period as quite brief, children practically forced into adulthood after a brief interlude. I did a bit of research to prepare for a paper delivered last week to the Society of Adolescent Medicine of the Philippines and found that in the Spanish Civil Code's provisions for marriage, which we used from 1889 to 1929, the
minimum age of marriage was 14 for males and 12 for females.

During the American colonial period, a new Marriage Act was passed in 1929 that raised the minimum age limit for marriage to 16 for males and 14 for females. Those provisions were in force until 1989, when we adopted a new Family Code that pegged the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both males and females.

We see in the earlier lower ages of marriage a tacit understanding that once puberty had been reached, people were practically adults. The Spanish Civil Code even allowed 14-year-olds to draw up wills!

We don't have indigenous words in the Philippines corresponding to the adolescent, "binata" and "dalaga" referring to people who have reached puberty but who are still single.

Perhaps it made some sense in the past, this brief period of "growing up" given that the world was simpler then. During the American colonial period, if you finished Grade 6, you could teach one of the lower grades. These days I wouldn't trust some of our doctorate holders with a Grade 1 class.

I've been reviewing folklore anthologies from the Summer Institute of Linguistics and am amazed at all the advice given by older people in communities to the young ones, before and after marriage. What's striking is that the communication lines were there, adults exhorting adolescents to pick up practical skills and attitudes.

Teenager

Where are we today? The English word "teener" dates back to the late 19th century, but "teenage" and "teenager" come into use only after World War II, referring to the ages thir-teen to eight-teen. Western society had created a very specific period that recognized puberty as a coming of age, but also imposing a prolonged period for social learning, mainly in terms of college.

While wary and even fearful of the teenager, Western societies have generally been more liberal, pushing their young to become independent and assertive. The baby boom after World War II meant millions of teenagers coming of age in the 1960s, a chance for businesses to cash in, urging teenagers to spend for their own distinct fashions, music, even food.

More traditional societies, like our own, have had more difficulties dealing with this new human subspecies. It doesn't help that they're maturing more rapidly now, in physical terms. One of my friends wept while telling me "daddy's little girl" was now menstruating at the age of 9.

Rightly so, we've raised the minimum age limit for marriage knowing it takes much more now to become a spouse and a parent. But we sometimes end up being overprotective. We want teenagers to become independent, but continue to decide for them, from their clothes to their choices of college courses. We want them to be assertive, but reprimand them when they speak their minds. And on matters of courtship, marriage and sex, we
impose a culture of silence, terrified that they might "do it."

This ambivalence is dangerous, given that the world has become so much more complicated. Large numbers of young teenagers, girls in particular, are moving from small rural villages to the big cities to become domestic helpers, factory workers. City-wise kids know many of them are being prepared to be exported overseas. Thousands have already joined the armies of the night as call center employees dealing with the woes of the world.

It's a highly sexualized, highly competitive, highly commercialized world out there, and what do we have to offer? Moralistic advice, a list of prohibitions and their weekly allowance, thank you, but sorry, mom and dad will have to leave and work overseas so listen to your "lolo" [grandfather] and "lola" [grandmother].

I'd like to return to Philippine laws to show how our views of the young are changing. Until recently, a young person who violated the law was thrown into jail with hardened adult criminals. At one point, we even had minors in death row. It was a major scandal, yet it spoke of the harsh realities of adolescence in the Philippines.

A few weeks back, we passed a new Juvenile Justice Law that reflects a more modern view of adolescence. Sen. Francis Pangilinan, the principal author of the new law, sent me a note recently noting, with alarm, that there have been rumors going around to the effect that anyone below 15 would not be held liable for any offense. He emphasized that the young, no matter what their age is, will still be responsible for whatever offense
they've committed, and may even be required to make amends to their victims.

At the same time, the new law recognizes that the adolescent, the teenager, is still growing up and should not be thrown into jail with adults. There will be youth rehabilitation centers, giving young offenders a new chance at life.

Our laws are actually quite progressive, changing in response to new times and new needs. The question now is whether our educators, our physicians, our religious, and, most importantly, our parents can keep pace, too.

I am sure that in the past, parents and elders also harbored many of the uncertainties and doubts we have today about our young, but they did seem to have more trust in the ability of young people to face up to life. We might do well to follow those models, waiting at the sides and watching from a distance, yet assuring the young that we're always ready to come to their side, with a listening ear, an open mind and a generous heart.