OPINION

Youth Empowerment
Jude Pelipog

Within dealing our future generations, every one of us had possibly experienced
being given homework by our teachers in every subject, may it either be in a public or
private setting of schooling .This may be an individual or group based type of
assignments, but does not change the fact that these tasks help us have a better
understanding of a topic that some may be having a hard time on and due to the
assignments that is given to the students, they are able to catch up with everyone else.
A new Senate Bill is proposed to be added to our system of education that
surrounds the removal of home works in private and public sectors of school that the law
is only limited for the weekends. Furthermore, the Senate Bill or RA 966 proposed by
Senator Grace Poe states that the teachers are allowed to give home works to the
students which can be done in the weekends, provided that the time allotted for the
accomplishments of these tasks is only four hours overall.
No homework may improve our system of education due to the main reason of
why this law was proposed in the first place, the proposed law gives much opportunities
for the student to have spare time for themselves, their family and sometimes, their
friends. Much like Finland, their system of education solely depends on the learners
experience outside of school because they only have few hours of school with absolutely
no home works. Finland is known for its good quality and system of education and its
schools shapes the students to competent and assertive employees. This may be able to
happen in the Philippines because the students would gain their knowledge from day to
day experiences as an individual and not as a student.
This shows that education is not only limited to the school and can be brought
outside because their experiences always teaches them something new that they explore
further on their own. One of the effects of no homework policy may result to the individual
having time for their duties at home, especially the students who need to work to continue
to support their family and schooling at the same time. A lot of responsibilities may be
forced or given to the students’ hand when they grow up and the parents have belief on
their capacities unlike the time when they were just children.
Students may also experience issues as they go through their lives and due to the
many responsibilities and expectations, they need to meet that piled up situation in their
lives, some may be pushed through further issues for themselves such as anxiety or
depression. Although, sense of responsibility may be removed for some students as they
may become more comfortable with no assignments and goals to accomplish outside of
school. Few may only experience this, but youth in the future may be pushed to addictions
and committing crime because they are not taught or they are not learning within
themselves regarding about the proper values they need to adapt in their everyday lives,
even simple respect to elders may go a long way for their development. A lot of students
depend on home works for their final grade in academics and by removing this, it will
reduce opportunity for students to catch up with missed lessons and the creativity they
express through these home works. Majority of people may focus more on the fact that
the law proposed may only hinder the students’ learning, but I prefer to stand that the no
homework policy may improve our system of education.
There are many strong points to consider that the proposed policy may improve
our system of education. Evidences are pointed out through the country of Finland that
shapes students into effective, responsible and assertive workers in their respective fields
that supports the idea of integration of knowledge through the persons experiences and
not just by the traditional school setting, Change should always be considered and must
be imposed in our government and our daily lives and not just our system of education.
The state of humanity now may not even come to be if they did not even dare to explore
and find other alternative solutions to insisting problems, issues and concepts.
As Dr. Jose Rizal once said,” The children are our future and hope of our nation”,
that when the adults now are already old and unable to do anything anymore, new
generations come to continue the legacy they have entrusted unto them.
 The Media and Discrimination and Injustices
Jude Pelipog
All sorts of injustices and discrimination is a very common issue that surrounds
everyone in the real world and has taken a huge role in the media. These may include
the persons overall identity and even physical features, ranging from their social life, their
clothes choice, appearance. This also includes a person sexuality whether they are part
of the lgbtpq community, straight or an asexual person and is made fun of just because
they are. It may be true that the asexual people are only 1 percentage of the whole world,
making it very rare, but they are misjudged for what they really are. How about the racial
and color discrimination that people face?
Well, this is my only message for those people that are experiencing this type of
injustice, remember you are not alone and yes, there may be people that may judge you
just because of how you look, but also consider the people that matter to you the most
and loves you no matter what is your appearance, then those are the people that you
should always be with and to think of when you are thinking to take your life on the line.
Injustices and discrimination may be two forces working together depending on the
situation. Some people may experience injustice because of what they are as a person
or their track record or criminal record. I am not saying that all criminals that are a threat
to the society are experiencing this kind of issue, but there are some criminals who have
changed and bailed, but they are arrested or even killed just because of their record, but
in truth, they have really changed their ways and is happy with their life and the authorities
ruined it for that person.
There are many people out there in our world, not just in our school who needs our
help just because of these discriminations and injustices that they are experiencing.
These people may even hide it just because of fear of being judged or mistaken for as a
person. I believe for once and I think that we should have all this kind of mentality that we
should all work together as a community and as a family, despite of our differences to
make a change to the community and maybe even the world, if we just pause and thought
for a second, a minute, an hour or day and reflect of the reason on why we discriminate
or make fun of these people, then I think the world may be a better place for all the people
to live in and maybe all conflicts may cease to exist or decrease a lot if we do this certain
thing.
 Social War on Gender Equality
Jude Pelipog
Social media has played an important role on Gender Equality, most of us are not
even aware of what’s going on right now in our present time. We might think that Gender
Equality rights are over and that man and women are equal, but you are very wrong. First,
let’s start off on what is the rights that women nowadays deserve.
First and foremost, they need the respect that just because they are a woman
doesn’t mean that they can be tough and it does not mean that they are a woman does
not mean that they need to be dependent always on men to do all of their work. For an
instance, someone is doing an excellent work in their job and they have a chance to
become an employee of the month, but the only thing that is hindering them is the fact
that their gender is that of a woman.
See, isn’t it unfair when you cannot get something that you worked so hard for just
because of your gender? That is very much of how the reaction of the woman are on this
issue brought by the social pressure that they are involved to.
This issue does not only apply to woman, but it also applies to the gender of man
also. Some men get discriminated when they get to be the caregiver of the family and not
the breadwinner of the family. We get our pride and ego stomped on when the woman
volunteers to be the breadwinner of the family and the men automatically becomes the
caregiver of the family which brings discrimination to both sides of the family.
How does this relate to media do you ask?
Well, these two words: "Gender Discrimination", even though it is not about gender
equality, it still shows the other gender discriminating the other gender. Cyber bullying
takes up the space of the gender discrimination on media, it is kind of two "forces" or
issues taking part as one. We can also use media as a term of help to the people who
are facing this issue. We can do this by spreading awareness to the people in terms of
telling it to them personally or posting or using media as a term to fight off this issue.
There are many ways that we can extend help from this issue by the use of media
and it is only up to us whether or not that we want to use media as a term for helping the
people in need. No matter what issues that we all face in our lives, it also adds up to the
burden of the community and it also depends on us what we do or how we react to the
certain issue when we look upon it. Are we the people that makes the problem worse by
being unaware of it or are we the people that makes a big change to the community and
extends help to the people who needs help to this issue?
No matter what side that we are in, we should always choose what we stand up
for or what we think that is right for ourselves, for the people and for the community.
 Ethiopia world
Sophia Mae B. Mañalac
The use of media literacy could be deposited in a negative or positive way
depending to the way social media is being interpreted to them. It is also one of the
contemporary issues that is happening nowadays. Not all media literacies are harmful to
people, it is just the way they are using it. If a person is not guided or being apprehended
by the bad usage of it, many will get influenced that may even cause them danger
because they find it safe and fun. Both sides have an undesirable and a progressive
impact towards the society.
From the word itself “literacy” is the ability to read and write, while Media literacy
itself is the ability to understand and identify different types of media to understand the
messages that they’re sending. Media only shares one thing: Someone created the media
for a reason that could be considered as the basis of media literacy. Nowadays, kids could
even create media through the digital age or the advancement of technology. People find
it easier to create media because media literacy is an essential skill in the alpha numeric
phase of this generation.
Different benefits could be gained through the use of Media Literacy. It contains
the way an individual learns how to think critically. A person would be able to evaluate the
messages they have read if it contains certain information or not. They could also be a
smart consumer of products and information and even learn how to use media
responsibly that results to an effective communication. However, some people use media
literacy to block mail someone or steal their identity. In the teenagers’ phase, media
literacy could also be used to bully or intimidate someone. This is where bullying also
comes into play specifically cyberbullying that is inclined with the topic.
Cyberbullying is using technology to hurt or to harm someone. It is also one of the
contemporary issues happening in our society at this time. Bullying was never okay or
unacceptable because no one deserves to be bullied. It is now the task of the school also
to spur their students with the proper use of skills in correlation with the media literacy
because they lack the understanding to know or identify if the information that they are
reading through media are credible or biased. The students must also have a deeper
understanding between the comparison of the fake news vs the real news because media
consumption became the norm rather than the exception of today’s youth. One way to
address this growing issue is by improving the literacy curricula of the school.
 Dealing with Depression
Sophia Mae B. Mañalac

One massive problem that teenagers face is dealing with depression. It is not
one of the intriguing issues happening nowadays but it is considered as a part of the
contemporary issues. This does not only happen in our society, but it could also be felt
in this whole universe. Everyone has to deal with it on a day to day basis like in their
everyday life depending on the things that bothers them. A lot of factors may contribute
to the insulting possessions of depression, whether it is within friends or family, it is just
that everyone normally knows a person experiencing this kind of depressive disorder. In
tackling depression, it is a common but serious mood disorder. It causes severe
symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping,
eating, or working. People that experience depression looks at others, wanting to be
more like them, more like someone that they’re not, somewhat not contented. It is just
like someone that God did not create as them as their real self. All human beings should
not ever think that way. This cause is important because teenagers should feel happy
and contented about themselves, and not to drop into a level of feeling unwanted or
discarded.

Everyone one of us should be happy and grateful in no matter what situation we

have been through. Depressed people may feel anxious and at the same time have
thoughts of suicidal attempts which should not be practiced as a habit. These feelings
may cause them lose interest in outside of school activities, friends, appetite,
teammates etc. Which all of these only cause a person to be more depressed that
he/she cannot get out under his/her dark shadow. Depression is a mental illness that
can occur in teenagers in much the same way that it manifests itself in adults. An
important difference is that teens are dependent on their parents or other medical
therapist to provide the medical attention they need. Lots of teens feel that they don’t
have enough importance in the society that they live in that leads to the fact that they
somehow wish that they were different people that could go back to the start of their
lives but that is not how life goes. Stating that depression is a mental illness. A mental
illness that is very serious and needs to be treated as soon as possible to prevent
people to experience depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or
low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. If this
would not be treated early, the teens may go as low as cutting, anorexia, or even
committing suicide.

Before handling the treatment, you need to make sure you know what is going on
and why you feel depressed. It is not definitely always easy to find the spot in where
depression will actually come. With all the dramatic changes that they experience as
they go through the extensive shift to adult hood, it can be difficult for them to tell if they
are in between a foul mood, and actual depression. Some teenagers show such
behaviors such as violence, irritability, and indignation rather than sadness it is always
important to keep these in mind, so you can plug teens that you deal with every day, to
get and give them some help. Once you know someone who is suffering depression,
seeking a suicidal attempt and simply prescribing antidepressants (not good enough as
a standalone treatment) please do so stop them as early as possible. Many mental
health professionals strongly recommend therapy or natural treatments. Anyone should
help someone out knowing when they are in depression, even by just doing some of the
little things. Things that would make them feel better about themselves, listening to their
problems at the same time giving advice to them, or anything you are willing to do so.

Depression is a dangerous and difficult situation that any teenager would go

through. It needs to be stopped or avoided right away. Think about the thoughts going
through their minds, and how they feel without anyone there showing support for them.
Talk to them, give them a friend, even an advice. Just let them know that our God is
always there for them and would never leave us alone in the dark. Saving a person in
depression is saving a life. Saving a life can change the world and could make it as a
better place of living. You could serve as a living instrument to save others from
drowning within their own depression.

Divine Radiance
Sophia Mae B. Manalac
Up to this year 2019 suicidal incidents pop out through the headings. It leaves
everyone with some sort of penitence and unrequited questions. Even the Catholic
Church, they were alarmed with this kind of issue because it is diffusing around our
country nowadays that even surrounds the entire world. It is also an influential indication
that affects every individual’s way of thinking, that our Christian life has absolutely no
importance at all, that directs them to do suicide after having depression, which is severe
and life-altering. It has been very relevant these days but no one from the government
reached out the advocacy to stand up and tackle about it. Several people nowadays, lack
of sensitivity towards other people. The response present is not being tolerated; it is just
left behind. Even the richest people specifically the billionaire ones, are usually attacked
with this kind of depressive state that leads them into being tempted to commit a suicidal
response. Due to lack of happiness, considering that they may find happiness within
material things but they can’t be genuinely happy because they are not able to experience
and realize that simple things also matter. They may have all the wealth in the world but
they can’t be consistently happy because material things are just only temporary.
This could be one factor that weighs others down. Just like the incident that
happened, where a man jumped to his death from the highest floor of the burning World
Trade Center. Depression is not announced however it is dangerous. It just comes at a
glance without you even noticing it. The prime matter here is for each and every individual
to learn on how to help others in need.
When you receive calls from a friend who seemingly looks anxious and had hinted a
desire to die, you must not ignore it. Even for the shortest time, even if you’re busy you
should learn how to listen. Everyone should not be judgmental because as Christians, we
are made in God’s image and likeness. We should have been in touch with the depressed
as soon as possible. Imagine for a little time of spending and listening to them, you may
save up billions of life and even influence the spiritual enlightenment within themselves.
Some people just wanted the attention and care from other persons depending with their
acuities towards the usual people they encounter. But mostly, they just want to feel that
kind of affection in which they would feel their worth within this world. A simple act of
sacrifice would not be such a big deal to save a life.
If one has given his/her priority to different people nothing like this would have
happen. Also, if one had considered their stories as urgent, nothing would have
happened. As Christians we are opt to have the proper response towards this kind of
issue, we should be exposed to different lifestyle changes and stress management
techniques to prevent or avoid depression. A Christian should remember that God, in his
own mighty and power is way more encompassing that no one could ever imagine. It
could even touch the most hardened of hearts. Because, God’s love cannot descend,
also, there are no private hells, no depressions and bitterness. There are also no locked
doors that God cannot open. One Christian should also remember that these problems
or mistakes will not define who they really are. Instead, this is the way of God making us
stronger despite of this entire tragic downfall in life. They should not blame their selves
even though it can serve as an antidote to release the false sense of guilt. All must have
faith and trust in God’s goodness for he has infinite love for all. We must learn how to
pray to our Lord and seek for guidance and protection to prevent us from temptation and
the pains of hell because “A good person will always be a good person; nothing would
change it even suicide.”