Disco frequenters not all bad

Disco frequenters not all bad

JAKARTA (JP): The majority of young people who frequent
Jakarta's discotheques are not as bad as the local media often
stereotype them, an official survey says.

Most are there for the atmosphere, to meet acquaintances, or
to make new friends, have a few drinks and listen to the music.
They also find discotheques a place for self expression that help
them find an identity.

The survey, the result of which was published in a book by the
Ministry of Education and Culture on Tuesday, even found that the
majority of young people who go to discotheques frequently are
actually quite religious.

These findings run counter to the media's portrayal of the
discotheques flourishing in Jakarta and other metropolitan
cities. Media reports tend to classify discotheques as rife with
prostitution and drug deals.

Early this year, for example, the local media ran extensive
coverage of alleged transactions of the Ecstasy hallucinogenic
drug at some of Jakarta's favorite discotheques.

The survey Minat Remaja pada Musik Disko -- Profil Remaja
Pengunjung Diskotek (Young People's Attraction to Disco Music --
Profile of Youth Disco Goers), was presented before a large
audience on Tuesday, including no less than Minister of Education
and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro.

Wardiman, who confessed to visit discotheques regularly in his
younger days, said the tendency to go to discotheques is common
among urban youngsters whose parents both work.

The survey was a joint effort by the Center for the
Development of Children and Youth, a unit of the Directorate
General of Culture at the Ministry of Education and Culture, and
the Research Center for Society and Culture of the University of
Indonesia's Research Institute.

Questionnares

The finding was based on returned questionnaires from 288
people, aged between 14 and 21 years old, selected from among the
frequent visitors of 12 discotheques in Jakarta. Of the
respondents, 127, or 44 percent were men and 161 women or 56
percent were women.

"The young disco goer appears to have strong personal
characteristics; they seem to be extroverts and risk takers, who
are impulsive, reflective, self confident, fun loving, dogmatic,
reactive and apparently religious," reads one of the conclusions
of the survey.

Other characteristics found among the frequenters of
discotheques, although with less intensity, are expressiveness,
responsibility, aggressiveness, a desire for sensation and
patriotism, according to the book.

Sensation

"These characteristics apply equally between men and women.
But there are marked differences between the two sexes in
relation to two particular characteristics -- the tendency to
seek out sensation and to take responsibility seriously was
stronger among men."

Some 58 percent of the respondents said they go to a disco
once a week, 22 percent three times in a week, another 14 percent
said four-to-five times a week, eight percent said they go
irregularly, and seven percent said they go every day.

The majority of respondents, 71 percent, said that what draws
them most to discotheques is the atmosphere, 22 percent said the
music, three percent cited the crowd. Only two percent said they
were attracted by the erotic moves of the dancers.

Another startling finding in the survey was that most disco
fans do not visit just one place, but rather change from one club
to another. Some 81 percent of the respondents said they don't go
to the same discotheques all the time. Only 17 percent said that
they frequent only one place.

Their spending also varies. Of the 288 respondents, 71 percent
said they spend between Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000 during each visit
and 11 percent said they spend more than Rp 50,000. Most spend
their money on drinks, although the survey did not say what
percentage of the drinks were alcoholic beverages.

Some 53 percent of the respondents said they get their
spending money from their parents and 27 percent from their own
income.

Wealth

The majority of the respondents come from wealthy families, at
least by Indonesian standards. The classification of their wealth
was based on income, possessions and home environment.

Of the total respondents, 54 percent said they go to discos
with their parents' knowledge, 35 percent said their parents
don't know, seven percent said they told their parents that they
had gone somewhere else.

In response to the question as to why one particular
discotheque is preferred over another, the majority cited
atmosphere as their chief criteria, followed by the disco's state
of the art, music and price.

What does going to the discos mean for these young people? The
four most commonly cited answers were socialization,
entertainment, relaxation and filling in the time.

The young people also cited what they viewed as the function
of discos. The four most commonly cited functions were catharsis,
as a form of self expression, identifying oneself and association
with peers.

On the negative effects of going to the discotheques, the
survey cited increased materialism, consumerism and anti-social
attitudes among the young people questioned.

The results were presented in a book that was prepared by
Anggadewi Moesono, Cecep Eka Permana, Supriyanto Widodo and Tito
Adonis.

The objective of the survey, according to the team, was to
obtain a profile of young Indonesians who frequent discotheques
and their characters, given the increasing propensity among young
Indonesians to visit such night spots. (05/emb)