RI youth learn the hard facts of adulthood

RI youth learn the hard facts of adulthood

The Indonesian Coalition for Health and Johns Hopkins
University's Center for Communications Programs invited 200
advocates, policymakers, donors and young activisits to a
gathering in Kuta, Bali, from May 14 to May 16, to devise
programs and policies to help young people deal with their
problems and achieve their dreams. The Jakarta Post's Rita A.
Widiadana discusses the results of the gathering in the following
articles.

"Kadek Tina", a high school student in Singaraja, Buleleng
regency, North Bali, was shocked when she found out that she was
pregnant.

"I did not understand how this happened. I only had sex with
my boyfriend once. My friends told me I wouldn't get pregnant if
I just did it once," she said.

Her teachers discovered that she was pregnant in the middle of
last week's national final examination (UAN).

The school reacted harshly to the news. Teachers and school
employees treated the girl as if she was contagious. And the
local education agency made it clear she was no longer wanted.

"She must be expelled from school and banned from taking part
in the UAN. Her behavior could have a negative impact on her
peers and, most of all, tarnish the image of the local school
system," a high-rank official at the Buleleng education agency,
who refused to be named, said.

And last Monday, two junior high school students in Badung
regency were kicked out of their exams after their teachers found
out that they were pregnant.

Dr. Okanegara from the Kisara youth group in Bali said
youngsters rarely received support from parents, teachers or
other adults in positions of authority when going through such
difficult times.

The majority of Indonesian parents, teachers, government
officials and religious leaders are quick to judge and condemn
teenagers when dealing with pregnancy problems.

"Rather than finding solutions, adults put more pressure on
these troubled teens," he said.

For Tina, it never occurred to her that she would be forced to
quit school. "I feel like the earth has stopped moving."

Tina is not alone in her ordeal. Hundreds of young girls with
little or no knowledge of sexual reproductive health end up with
unwanted pregnancies.

In the small town of Klaten, Central Java, five students were
banned from taking their final exams after it was learned that
they were pregnant.

From Banda Aceh and Medan in North Sumatra to Jakarta,
Bandung, Surabaya and Jayapura in Papua, dozens of female
students have had to quit school because of unwanted pregnancies.

"These young girls often lack the knowledge of their own
reproductive health because nobody told them.

"When they are pregnant, they are suddenly faced with the most
difficult choice of their lives: whether to continue going to
school or to become a mother," Okanegara said.

Leaving school to raise their babies often prompts the girls
to shun the world of knowledge and friendship for good.

"They are still unprepared physically and emotionally to
become parents," Okanegara said.

Abortion is not an attractive option as the girls are afraid
of the pain and the consequences of such a step, he said.

"But abortion seems to be a better option than having to bear
the burden of being excluded from society and being too young and
unprepared for motherhood," he said.

Unwanted pregnancies and premarital sex are just two of the
problems faced by teens. Other pressing issues are the rising
number of student brawls, street violence, juvenile crimes,
alcohol and drug-related problems and the spread of sexually
transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS among young people.

A recent study on teen behavior conducted by the University of
Indonesia's Demographic Institution, which covered the youth
between 15 to 24, indicated that 4.9 percent out of 2341 male
respondents had had sexual encounters and 6 percent of them had
agreed to engage in premarital sex.

The study, conducted from 2002 to 2003 in several cities in
Indonesia, showed that 0.7 percent out of 1815 female respondents
had sexual experiences, while 2.5 percent of them had involved in
premarital sex.

While some experts doubt the validity of the results, they
generally agree that teen sex is a pressing problem.

According to Barbara Kemp Huberman, director of outreach
programs for the Washington-based organization Advocates for
Youth, dealing with teen problems requires a change in the mind-
set of adults.

"The majority of adults are only focusing on black-and-white
issues, not the complexities of today's teens," said Hubberman,
who gave a three-day workshop and skill-building course at the
Kuta conference.

She said parents blamed globalization, the media and the
Internet as the cause of teen problems, while the truth is that
parents just feel insecure with the rapid changes taking place
around the world.

"While we (adults) tend to resist change, youth, on the other
hand, are more responsive. But we often see those youth as
deviants and having social disorder problems.

"Youth of every generation have their own way of
expression ... globalization has accelerated everything, so the
gap is more prominent," she said.

Whereas other nations view youth as a potential resource,
Indonesia, with its 44 million teenagers, or 20 percent of the
country's 220 million population, seems to perceive the young
more as a potential problem.

In truth, Indonesian teenagers are no less versatile than
teenagers everywhere. There are a lot of young people who excel
at school, who are talented and committed to sports, music and
other activities, as demonstrated by the young participants at
the three-day gathering.

Hundreds of youngsters were able to share their experiences
with their counterparts from across the country.

Adi from the Cemara youth organization in Padang, West
Sumatra, said the meeting would help young people with a better
understanding of various issues, including sexual reproductive
health and drug-related problems.

"Also, I can set up a network with other youth organizations
across the country," he said.

Since the meeting was also attended by advocates and
government officials, many of the young participants took the
opportunity to speak their minds.

"We are tired of being an object of rage for most adults. We
are always being blamed for everything. They never understand,
they never listen or talk to us. We have to show those (adults)
and the world that we are not as bad as they think we are," said
a participant from East Java.