One of the challenges faced by our volunteers during the February 2019 Love Walk is when a pedestrian presented an idea that distributing condoms to young people on the streets of Manila is synonymous to encouraging them to participate in sexual intercourse. Are we actually enabling the younger generation to be more promiscuous or are we facing a greater challenge when it comes to sexual education and awareness? Yes, these questions are hard to answer, but the real question we should be asking ourselves is how open are we to face the challenges we have in our culture when it comes to sex.
Sex itself is a word not openly discussed in the streets, at least in the presence of a parent or a guardian. Reality on the other hand says otherwise. Younger people are now experimenting sexually either on the Internet or in broad daylight. Access to potential sexual partners through social media is easier now through the use of mobile applications. So let’s ask ourselves if we are really encouraging them to participate in sexual intercourse by giving them free access to information and condoms or are we just doing our part to give awareness on preventing the consequences they’ll be facing in the future.