Addressing the Techno Generation Issues

Caring for the Techno Generation: Addressing the New Generation of Adolescents was the focus of the second biennial convention of the Society of Adolescent Medicine of the Philippines (SAMPI) September 16 and 17 at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel.

    Far from being a purely medical conference, the event was comprehensive in discussing the state of the Filipino youth today and covered such topics as family dysfunctionality, giftedness vs. the mentally challenged, cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, and youth exercise regimens.

    Health Undersecretary Dr. Antonio Sabino Lopez gave an overview of the youth's health status and the government's programs to address increasing risk behaviors among the youth such as smoking, drug abuse, increased sexual activity, and intoxication. He cited preliminary results of the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS) 2001 as basis for this increasing trend.

    Dr. Grace Cruz and Corazon del Mundo of the University of the Philippines Population Institute, which carried out the nationwide YAFS, noted increasing sexual activities-premarital sex, commercial sex, and homosexual practices-among the youth.

    Dr. William Blum of the University of Minnesota presented a global view of "Trends in International Adolescent Health."

    According to Dr. Blum, youth health trends are taking a turn for the worse despite a general decline in deaths over the past 20 years among adolescents. Evidently, the primary causes of present-day deaths are related to juvenile behaviors such as vehicular-related deaths, unintentional injuries, unintentional homicide and war, and suicide. For females, maternal mortality still posed problems in developing countries.

    Dr. Blum said factors that influenced suicide include rising incidence of unemployment, divorce, homicide, alcohol use, and secularization of society.

    In another talk on "Chronically-Ill and Disabled Youth," Dr. Blum also showed that the American youth with disabilities-whether emotional, physical, or mental-were three times more likely to have problems like poor school performance, early pregnancies, higher levels of stress, and separated parents. He added that adolescents with chronic disabilities were concerned about their social relevance and whether they would ever find love. Chronically ill and disabled adolescents become alienated because doctors or people around them often overlook these concerns.

    A symposium on adolescent immunization, entitled "Fighting Teen Infections in the 21st Century: State of the Art Immunization" accompanied participants over the second lunch as Dr. Josefina Cadorna-Carlos of UERMC discussed the efficacy of new vaccines in battling certain viral and bacterial strains prevalent among Filipinos.

    The most practical talk was that given by Dr. Ma. Isabel Dionisio on "Emotionally Disturbed Youth and Youth in Dysfunctional Families." Whether or not one's family was living by family rules or boundaries either too loose or too rigid (definition of dysfunctionality), the family scenarios elicited several reactions from the audience.

    Dr. Dionisio identified seven acts of misbehavior among the children. She explained the child's goals for each misbehavior and advised parents on how to appropriately deal with attention getting, power scheming, revenge, displays of inadequacy, excitement, peer acceptance, and superiority.

     "Basically, when kids can't get your attention the positive way, they try seeking it in a negative way… If you want to have influence on your child when he is older you must spend at least 20 minutes a day of quality time with him when he is below eight [years old]" Dr. Dionisio said.

    SAMPI seeks to promote a comprehensive health program and delivery of services for adolescents. SAMPI's officers for this year are: Dr. Rosa Maria Nancho, president; Dr. Agnes Bretana-Teotico, vice president; Dr. Leoncia Olonan, secretary; Dr. Ma. Jocelyn Quidlat, assistant secretary; Dr. Regina Cailao, treasurer; Dr. Rosalia Buzon, assistant treasurer; Dr. Belen Bonus Santiago, auditor; Dr. Cornelio Banaag, international affairs officer; and Dr. Virginia Irene Santos, public relations officer. SAMPI's founding president is Dr. Alicia Tamesis. Nicole Tigno