NEWSFLASH 

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SPECIAL FEATURE FOR PINOY TEENS ON-LINE
(From Philippine Star By Ching M. Alano)

Manila, April 16, 2000 - Going site-seeing this summer? Okay, dudes and dudettes, so vacation's here, you've been surfing and you're tired of the usual so-so sites. Ever visited the newest, and probably the hippest, hangout in cyberspace -- www.teenfad.ph -- today?

Buckle up, 'cuz this site's got every button every teen will ever need -- research information, music, arts, entertainment, fashion, sports, health, free e-mail and now, online counseling.

Now, if that rings a bell, it's because this new online counseling called E-Mail-A-Friend is the cousin of Dial-A-Friend which has been on for sometime now.

Fact is, the Foundation for Adolescent Development, Inc. (FAD) has been around since 1988. "We're just a small division of this big foundation," say young and very hip moms Marilen Concepcion and Lizette Cojuangco. "We're putting up fresher, more youth-oriented activities that are more in tune with the times. The computer being the youth's medium, going online is one way to reach out to young people, which is how this whole thing came about. We have to be where they are."

Caught in a huddle one afternoon, FAD members are happy to share this cool news over hearty merienda at the house of Bernie and Marilen Concepcion in Makati: "We have a virtual magazine button for every teen's enjoyment. This button, designed for their pleasure, features the coolest stuff, from entertainment to self-improvement tips. It contains articles, both light and serious, sometimes even hush-hush. We also deal with sensitive issues of drugs, gender, and sex. Our archive's got studies, papers and researches on sexuality, health and adolescent issues and concerns. We understand that being a teen is never easy, especially in this age of technology and multimedia. So we devised this website to cater to all the teens' growing-up needs. And who would best know their problems and concerns? Who else but teens themselves! That's exactly why this button is made by teens themselves. The writers we tap for the website are teenagers themselves, we don't have professional writers. Great! A button for teens by teens."

Rob Rubina, 23, who helps design the website of Design and Architecture, elaborates: "So that it would appeal to teens, we made it more dynamic, it's so far the only one of its kind in the country today. The topics are really youth-friendly. Like we did some features on Ecstasy with testimonials from young people who have used this very popular drug. After the Holy Week, we will talk about drugs, depression and lighter stuff like summer -- the what, where, and wear. We will review films, books, albums. We feature athletes and sports. For this issue, we have billiards which is gaining quite a following among young people. The contents are very varied -- after all, teenagers have a wide range of interests."

Says Billy Villareal, a true-blue cyberspace guy: "Actually, youth activities are seasonal. So now, because it's summer and kids are out of school, we'll help them get a summer job. We'd like to help teens through the different stages of their lives."

Rob reveals with ecstasy: "Since October, when our website was launched, to April 12, we've had 55,826 visitors."

And now, the FAD people are inviting all young site-seers out there: "Want to talk to a professional regarding some personal concern you are hesitant to disclose to anyone? Simply click the resource button and a list of organizations and professionals will appear, with their addresses and contact numbers. This button gives you access to your problem's first solution -- where to go."

It's a lot like Dial-A-Friend but the medium is a whole wired world, not the telephone line. It's much like chatting (and who doesn't chat these days?) but there's a lag in terms of response. Oscar "Bam" Halgueña explains: "After you've filled in an info sheet (you can use an alias and you'll be encoded as such), and written in your question, the collated data are analyzed by the counselors who will farm them out to whoever has the right expertise to address the problem. We have a multilevel counseling system which includes peers (in the same age bracket as the sender), clinical psychologists, and academicians, Like we have Dr. Vicente Rosales, a well-known expert on sex, and Dr. Honey Carandang, a psychologist. Some of our consultants are parents themselves."

"But some parents can get too authoritative and this might scare the children away," Lizette clarifies. "We'd like them to know we have young people who are open-minded to listen to their problems. In the foundation, we have students who are peer counselors to their classmates because there are not too many counselors in schools. We train these students to become a conduit."

Marilen agrees and adds: "Likewise, if our counselors are all doctors, it'll be too clinical. Kids can relate more when they hear young people who've been through the same experience they are going through."

FAD has tied up with schools like the University of the East, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Systems Technology Institute College, Manuel L. Quezon University and Arellano University. "We link up with other schools on a more informal basis, like we get requests for lectures and symposia from San Beda College, San Sebastian College and Philippine Normal University," says Cecille Villa.

"These are the students who don't have access to guidance counselors, there's not much venue for them to air their problems," Lizette notes with concern.

We ask Cecille, "What questions do these kids ask, what are the problems of kids today?"

She sifts through her files and tells us: "There's one girl who suffers from inferiority complex because she can't speak English well. She's scared when she's called on to recite because her classmates, who are all very good in English, might laugh at her. She can't sleep when there's a scheduled recitation the next day. Then there's another sender who says she still feels strongly about a former boyfriend."

You can ask anything and everything -- from pimple breakouts to relationship breakups. "Questions on relationships, crushes, love and sex (sexuality and gender confusion) are on top of the list," says Billy.

Happily, teenfad has not received any suicide note to this day. "Like we do in Dial-A-Friend," says Cecile. "And always, we treat the suicide problem as a real suicide problem, hindi 'yung we suspect baka hindi nila itutuloy."

But how soon can anyone expect an answer to his/her question?

"We promise senders they will receive a response within three to five days through their e-mail address," replies Cecille. "The more serious cases like child abuse, domestic violence, incest, and rape would be referred to the authorities concerned. Everything is treated in strict confidentiality."

Times are indeed a-changing. Teens then and teens now are a whole world different. "My 17-year-old daughter Erica is more outspoken than I was when I was her age," says Marilen with a faint smile. "Kids now are not as timid, which I think is good. When I was a teenager, I was always dyahe to talk to my parents. No, I didn't tell my mother my problems; I'd talk to my sister. Now, my daughter opens up to me, or so I hope."

The way they were was so different from what teens are today. Looking back and looking ahead, Marilen sighs and says: "I feel some of them are a little more ambitious, they are more driven, and they probably could achieve more compared to what I thought, when I was a teenager, I could achieve when I got older. Erica wants to get into business. She's also politically-minded. Me, honestly I thought I would just end up being a housewife and mother (which I did) which is a career by itself. But I didn't think in terms of a career outside of the home. I finished psychology, got married at 21, and never got a job because I had kids right away."

Maybe it helped that Marilen married early. "Now, I'm enjoying my kids (Erica, 17, and Carlo, 16) who are both grownups," she rationalizes. "Now, I can do things I probably couldn't do when my kids were small. Most of all, being a young mother, I'm in touch with what's going on among young people today. I have young friends and I socialize with younger people so I know the good and not-so-good things that are happening. So when my kids go out to party and they come home, I can look at them and judge them better. But their ways are always gonna be different, there will always be problems. For me, as a parent, I feel I always have to be a step ahead, rather than be caught off-guard and not know what's happening."

Though she loves her mother dearly, she wouldn't be the mother her mom was. "When I was young, I was not allowed to date," she reminisces not-so-fondly. "I think when my daughter is about 18 I'd let her date alone, but she hasn't tried asking. But I think it's always safer when you're in a group."

Yes, kids now are more sexually aware, too. But Marilen notes, "Despite their advanced knowledge, there are still a lot of misconceptions about pregnancy, birth control, drugs. What they learn in school is not enough."

"Teens get into sexual intimacies without thinking of the consequences of their actions," Cecille observes. "Basta lang nangyari, as one 16-year-old put it. Based on studies, first-time sex gets to be repeated with the same partner. Some think they have to do it many times before they get pregnant."

Marilen declares: "The reason I got involved in this is I feel that information is the best way we can equip our kids for life, when they go out into the world. Parents can't be there all the time."

Of course, young parents Bernie and Marilen Concepcion try to be there all the time for their children. Precious and many are moments spent watching TV or a movie together, doing something together, like surfing the Net or maybe cruising down the countryside.

"But my kids are in that age where you just can't pull them to go wherever," Marilen points out. "You can't tell them, 'We're going somewhere for the weekend.' They'll say, 'Mom, we have a party!' They don't wanna miss out on those things. So you leave them behind and do what you have to do. Most of the time, I give them space because if I don't, they'll do it behind my back. Times now are more challenging. Kids now are faced with more distractions."

"Before the age of computers, there were only the movies and parties," Bam recalls.

"What do young people do now?" Billy repeats a question. "Well, there's Dance, Dance Revolution. There's Starbucks. There are the rave parties. And still the biggest thing is texting. Did you know that if you don't have a phone, you can now text through the computer?"

"You'd be a dinosaur if you didn't know how to use the computer these days," says Lizette. "But we don't want teenfad.ph to just end in the website. Through it, we want to lead our young people to live responsible lives and help other people in the process, too."

Meanwhile, simply click www.teenfad.ph for the latest and the coolest on the teen scene. Enjoy your visit, guys!

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