3 Infuriating Myths About Family Life In The Philippines And Why They Need To Go

It looks like multiple contributors, commenters, readers and hapless bystanders are having a field day regarding the recent articles about HIV, the RH bill, contraception and, most importantly, sex. In that case, here’s a little something else to think about. See, one of the biggest problems in Philippine society isn’t that people don’t have values, it’s that they perceive values in the wrong way. That’s right, while majority of us have a sense of right and wrong, trouble occurs when we put a different meaning to what we see as “right” or “wrong”. Indeed, morality fails when its very definition is twisted by selfishness and foolishness.

They say that family is the basic unit of a community. The Philippines is certainly strongly adheres to this concept and goes out of its way to emphasize that Filipinos are indeed “family oriented”. However, over the years, I’ve come to notice the way we regard the idea of family and the things we all too often get wrong. Look, I don’t want to stick my nose in other people’s business but, if we really take things into consideration, I think it’s time we overhaul a few erroneous notions we have regarding the word “family” and how we view it in our society.

To Be A Man Or Father One Must Have As Many Children As Possible

Well, who doesn’t like children, eh? Indeed, as I’ve said before, one of my biggest inspirations for writing are the numerous kids in my neighborhood who like to play outside and pretend that they’re the various heroes of their favorite anime from Naruto, to Ichigo all the way to Bubu Chacha. It’s just all too bad that kids these days prefer just playing games on smartphones or tablets and majority of anime is now replaced with nothing but dumb teleseryes but I guess that’s a discussion for another day.

Anyway, there’s really nothing wrong with kids and, while I don’t have any of my own, I still think that they’re blessings in their own right especially when we taught the right values. However, is it right to make so many of them? It gets to the point that a considerable number of men out there even practice extramarital affairs just to make even more children!

Look, I know it’s not my business to tell anyone how many children they should have but come on! Do you really want to have as many as twelve or more children inside your house? Worse yet, it’s not the wealthy or even upper classes who like to make many children, it’s usually the poor who can barely support themselves as a couple who produce children by the dozen. I mean, these are often people who can barely afford a roof over their heads yet copulate on a regulate basis as if their very lives depended on it.

My goodness!

All I will say on the matter is that it’s really up to parents to decide on how many children they want. However, they should also consider if they can provide properly for their children so they can live well and grow up to be productive members of society. I think that the moment you find yourself having budget issues with your children, then perhaps you should reconsider adding more.

One Should Always Be Suspicious Of Their Spouse’s Activities

I blame the local media and their promotion of infidelity, promiscuity and general immorality. However, just like my point with anime, I suppose it’s a discussion for another day. But hey, I’m just putting it out there for some of you who seem to think that they have better lessons to offer than anime.

Now, before I begin, I will acknowledge the fact that infidelity is indeed becoming a big problem in our society. The truth of the matter is that every marriage has had its difficult times and temptations are present in all things. However, the problem occurs when a lot of people out there become outright paranoid of their spouses or partners and go through the trouble of regularly checking their significant other’s phones, computers and social media accounts to look for any suspicious messages or activities. While this is quite popular with women today, it is somehow doubly woeful when men get in on the paranoia as well.

Truth be told, as I already mentioned, it’s almost impossible not to have suspicions all along the course of one’s marriage, but I have to ask if it’s actually necessary to violate your significant other’s privacy just to prove your suspicions. Of course, I will admit that suspicions can sometimes be true and that marriage does indeed encourage transparency, it by no means allows one party to have the right to invade the other’s personal space.

So while I’d really prefer not to interfere with couples and their activities, I still don’t think that violating your spouse’s privacy out of paranoia is a sign of a healthy relationship…

Let Kids Learn About Sex On Their Own Or Leave It To The Teachers

Ahem… Excuse me for a moment…

WTF!?

Are you guys serious?

Honestly, I only wish I was joking about this but I’ve met my share of parents who seem to adhere to this idea. They seem to think that “sex comes naturally” and that their children should learn it on their own. Now that I think about it, it may be less about letting their kids discover sex on their own and more about them being too cowardly to have the “talk” with their children.

Seriously, WAY TO GO IRRESPONSIBLE PARENTS!

I can’t even begin to describe how irresponsible this negligent approach to parenting is. I mean, really? You’re going to let your kid explore their sexuality on their own? If your kid ends up impregnating someone or getting impregnated themselves, are you willing to help them take care of their own kids? What if your kid gets raped for his or her troubles? Worse yet, what if your kid contracts HIV in exploring his or her sexuality?

I don’t know who came up with this stupidity but, as long time GRP commenter Robert Haighton put it, nothing beats good parenting. Nothing can prepare a child better for the rigors of real life than good parental guidance. You can’t really rely on teachers and the education system to teach your kids much about sex as some things are best taught in the privacy of one’s home.

Stop slacking off and chickening out irresponsible parents!