On Being Dumb

“Have you heard of the latest news? Jenny gave birth the other day!”

“Really? I haven’t heard about that. So, was it a boy or a girl?”

“A boy! He is so like his father, John. And yes, you should have seen John. He was so happy. As a matter of fact he was leaping for joy a minute ago in the classroom.”

“Good luck to them. I hope their happiness would last long. It isn’t easy to be a parent, a young parent at that age.”

Is the dialogue above an all-too-familiar scenario that happened maybe to a neighbor, a bestfriend or a high school classmate you haven’t seen since graduation?

Who would ever want a family when the only problem you seem to know at this very point of your life is how to convince your mommy or daddy to have an increase in your allowance in order for you to survive a week-long of lakwatsas? It’s like picking up a stone to shit your own head.

As a teenager myself, I would never deny of experiencing such scenario, when I seem to want to succumb to that moment, thinking nothing undesirable would happen. It is a normal thing, isn’t it? Sexual instinct is very human especially to us teenagers, for we are greatly swayed by our emotions at this age of our life.

But the question is, DO WE REALLY HAVE TO BE DUMB?

Why? Because, my goodness, you can always delay that urge to quickly buy a ten-peso TRUST classic condom (strawberry or chocolate?)! You can always be afraid, afraid to get a sexually transmitted disease or be afraid to commit sin (as what the church preaches) in engaging in pre-marital sex. Or can always bring back your senses and be sensible! Remember that you really don’t have to do this. It isn’t time yet. You are not yet prepared.

I tell you, a spur of the moment when not properly handled can lead to things that are beyond our capabilities. You just think of the consequences when you get there: to abort the child and let your conscience take the guilt for as long as you live or let it be and prepare your self to the things that even your mama and papa haven’t fully mastered yet-parenthood.

Everything comes down to this: it is just a burst of mixed emotions, of which most of them are uncontrolled, happening at a time when we think of ourselves as invincible, ready to face anything but we have to restrain ourselves. The effects are greater in magnitude than benefits derived from the process (that is, sexual activity).

That is so true. But again, we don’t have to be dumb. We usually hear them say when news of an obvious unwanted pregnancy break: “Tangaa pu uy! Wa man nagbantay!” That’s it! We don’t have to be dumb, dili ta kinahanglan magtinanga!

So, when you feel like doing it, please my friend, think, think and think. Think of it a hundred times, if not enough, a million times. You have choices, and one of them is for you not to be dumb.