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)