Sex and character education expert coming to Iloilo
Hundreds of delegates from family organizations around the world will meet in Manila's Shangri-la Hotel from November 19-22 for the 2nd International Congress on Education in Love, Sex, and Life. They will share their experience of educating young people about love, respect, strength of character, emotional intelligence, empowerment, responsibility and life goals, including marriage. Congress participants will have a chance to listen to research on these subjects, and listen to young people themselves.
The Philippines is a developing country with a young and increasing population. It is therefore of great interest to the international population control movement. The prospect of a supply of free contraceptives drying up by the end of next year has sparked a vigorous campaign among family planning groups.
However, a study to be presented at the congress, undertaken with the help of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Navarre in Spain, shows that young people are concerned about much more than contraceptives. Conducted by the faculty's deputy director, Dr Jokin de Irala, the study combines a survey of 4000 high school and college students and focus group discussions among parents, teachers and students in seven regions of the Philippines.
The research has gathered information on three subjects: the perceptions, values and motives of adolescents regarding relationships, love and sexuality; the influence of the home and external forces such as school, peer groups and the media on teens' perceptions of sexuality; and parents' assessments of existing efforts at forming young people's attitudes to sex.
Results from the study, says Dr de Irala, show that the vast majority
of adolescents in the Philippines (75 per cent) have not had sex and are more interested in learning about other aspects of relationships, such as how to manage their emotions and sexual impulses. "They want to know how to be able to date someone without having to have sex, and this has more to do with character education than with the biological information that is emphasized in the programs of international family planning agencies." More results will be presented at the congress.
Character education authorities such as Thomas Lickona and Kevin Ryan will be delivering papers, alongside veteran chastity educator Colleen Kelly Mast, Heritage Foundation family research fellow Patrick Fagan and a variety of other experts.
Luckily, Iloilo parents and students will have the opportunity to hear Dr. Lickona, a developmental psychologist and director of the Center for the Fourth and Fifth Rs (Respect and Responsibility) in New York, who has guested on Larry King Live, The Today Show, etc. He will be in Iloilo on November 22 and 23 for a mini-congress organized by the Educhild Foundation and Westbridge School. The affair on November 22 for parents and educators will be held in The Amigo Terrace Hotel from 6-9pm. On November 23, the congress for students will take place in the San Jose College auditorium from 9-11 a.m. These events are open to all interested parents and students. For more information, call Mr. Pierre Prudente, Westbridge School, 320-7442.