Saturday, November 26, 2011

“No Apologies” programme aims to help troubled teens

What say you on the issue below?

ADOLESCENCE is possibly the most vulnerable stage in a person’s life. Identity confusion, low self-esteem and raging hormones are just a few of the challenges teenagers have to experience prior to becoming a young adult.

In today’s world where values are often times blurred or compromised, it is vital that teenagers receive proper guidance, counsel and advice.

It is distressing to learn that surveys show that 1 in 3.5 teenagers in Malaysia say that it is acceptable to have premarital sex.

Additionally, the number of unwanted pregnancies among teens is escalating at an alarming rate. In the year 2010, there were 111 such cases from Jan to April alone and these were only the reported cases.

Listen up: Workshop facilitator Tommy Ting talking to the teenage participants.

Curriculum manager for Focus on the Family Malaysia and master trainer for No Apologies Joshua Liong said it was against this backdrop that the “No Apologies” programme was conceived as a character-based abstinence curriculum.

“This programme was created to help young people make wise choices regarding high-risk behaviour, including sexual involvement before marriage.

“Participants are also taught to discern the influence of the media and how it can affect their lifestyle choices.

“The curriculum also has units dealing with the value of the individual, marriage, the family and the importance of keeping oneself pure until marriage.”

Liong said to-date 957 No Apologies workshops had been conducted throughout Malaysia, reaching over 45,070 youths.

One student commented that before attending a No Apologies workshop, he did not know where to turn to for answers concerning his doubts and questions about sex.

A thankful father wrote, “My daughter recently went through the No Apologies programme. I was concerned about her recently because of a new boyfriend. I am really thankful and glad when she told me that when he tried to be physical with her, she stopped him and told him she would not go on further because she had made a pledge of abstinence.”

In view of World AIDS Day on Dec 1, Liong shared about the holistic approach of the programme that included a segment on HIV/AIDS to raise awareness about the disease. In Malaysia, a total of 87,710 HIV cases have been reported since 1986 up to 2009.

In efforts to educate and raise awareness about the benefits of abstinence, Focus on theFamily, a non-profit organisation set up

with a vision to strengthen families, launched a poster contest back in June 2011.

Participants designed posters based on the theme “Live Life with No Regrets.” This message challenges young people to make wise choices to avoid jeopardising their dreams and life goals.

“It has been said that ‘teenagers are not the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today.’ We need to help them make wise choices so that they can live life with no regrets,” said Liong.

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