- This paper reports on a national survey, done in 1996 by Social Weather Stations for the Philippine National Youth Commission, in order to evaluate in detail the attitudes, values, needs, aspirations, and problems of Filipinos within ages 15 and 30.
- The survey found that the youth feel very proud to be Filipino, easily declaring willingness to defend the country in case of war. They put great importance on marriage and family, friends, education, work, religion , society, and money, but not much importance on recreation, hobbies, or politics. They are very sensitive to how parents and children make personal sacrifices for each other. Not only are they personally religious, but they actively participate in religious organizations very regularly. They are generally satisfied with the government's performance in the areas of their own needs.
- Comparative analysis with surveys of American youth indicates that Filipino youth have more self-confidence and more satisfaction with life. They get along better with parents and neighbors.They get together with friends less often, and yet are as satisfied with these relationships as Americans are. They are more content with their educational opportunities, their standard of living, and their jobs. Filipino youth get less exercise, however, and are less exposed to television and movies.
- A comparison with surveys of adult Filipinos shows that the youth consider the economy as the country's most pressing problem area, but think that they themselves can do little about it. They smoke and drink less, regard their health as good, feel happier, and are more optimistic. Yet, at the same time, the 1996 survey found unexpectedly high incidences of youth involvement in criminality, illegal drug use, and illicit sex.
| http://www.sws.org.ph/youth.htm Paper presented at the 14th World Congress of Sociology, Working Group 3 / Sociology of Childhood at Montreal Canada on July 26 - August 1, 1998. Mr. Gerardo Sandoval is Senior Survey Research Specialist of Social Weather Stations (SWS), Dr. Mahar Mangahas is President of SWS, and Ms. Linda Luz Guerrero is SWS Executive Vice-President and Manager for the Projects and Survey Group, and Gerardo Sandoval, Mahar Mangahas, and Linda Luz Guerrero Social Weather Stations
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- Table 15. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FILIPINO TRAITS
Philippine Youth, April 1996
| Philippine Youth April 1996 | |
| (Responses above 5%) | |
| Positive Filipino Traits | |
| Hardworking | 17% |
| Friendly | 14 |
| Charitable | 13 |
| Hospitable | 13 |
| Creative | 8 |
| Respectful | 8 |
| None/Can't say | 24 |
| Negative Filipino Traits | |
| Lazy | 20 |
| Negative thinker | 8 |
| None/Can't say | 36 |
- Table 18. RESULTS OF THE SEALED-ENVELOPE QUESTIONNAIRE
Philippine Youth, April 1996
| Philippine Youth April 1996 | ||
Percent | Projected Count* | |
| Ever participated in illegal and/or socially undesirable activities | ||
| Watched pornographic movies | 18% | 3,726,000 |
| Trouble with police | 13 | 2,691,000 |
| Engaged in jueteng | 13 | 2,691,000 |
| Shoplifting | 11 | 2,277,000 |
| Earned a living by begging | 10 | 2,070,000 |
| Undergone hazing | 8 | 1,656,000 |
| Drug use | 7 | 1,499,000 |
| Drug pushing | 6 | 1,242,000 |
| Armed robbery | 6 | 1,242,000 |
| Gang membership | 3 | 621,000 |
| Ever experienced ... | ||
| Pre-marital sex | 13 | 2,691,000 |
| Having sex against own will | 8 | 1,656,000 |
| Being paid for sex | 5 | 1,035,000 |
| Paying for sex | 5 | 1,035,000 |
| Forcing someone to have sex | 4 | 828,000 |
| Ever became victim of ... | ||
| Natural calamities | 39 | 8,073,000 |
| Insurgency | 7 | 1,449,000 |
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
- Philippine government statistics on the youth mostly pertain to their characteristics and do not include information regarding their attitudes, values, needs, aspirations, and problems. Also, the government data do not encompass the 15-30 age range specified to be the legal definition of the youth, resulting to gaps in available data on the youth.
- The Social Weather Stations' survey of the youth in April 1996 was the first representative nationwide study in the Philippines targeted to obtain, aside from their characteristics, the youth's attitudes, values, needs, aspirations, and problems. The respondents of this survey are the newly-defined youth or those belonging to the 15-30 age bracket.
- Among other things, the survey found that the youth feel very proud to be Filipinos and are willing to defend the country in case of war. To them, marriage and family, education, work, religion, friends, society and money are important, but not much importance is given to recreation, hobbies and politics. They are also very religious and perform religious activities like praying and attending religious services regularly, although they are only moderately involved in religious organizations. They are generally satisfied with government's performance, especially on areas of their own needs. They consider Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero, as the male role model and mothers as the female role model for them. A few, however, want to change their present gender.
- Compared to the American youth, the Filipino youth have more confidence and satisfaction with their life. They get along better with their parents and neighbors. Although they get together with friends less frequently, they are as satisfied with these relationships as the Americans are. They are more content with their educational experiences, their standard of living, their jobs, and their life in general. Filipino youth, however, get less exercise and are less exposed to television and movies. Furthermore, they read books, magazines or newspapers less regularly than the American youth do.
- Comparing the surveys of average Filipino adults with the Filipino youth reveals that both consider their health as good, feel generally happy, and are very sensitive to how parents and children make personal sacrifices for each other. Both also consider the economy as the most pressing problem area in the country, but the youth think that they can do little about this. More youth feel less poor, consider their quality of life to improve over the past year and are more optimistic of the coming year than adults. They also smoke and drink less, although for both youth and adults, females do these less frequently than males. The survey also found high incidences of youth involvement in criminality, illegal drug use, and illicit sex.