QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Wednesday tasked the city health department and the Division of City Schools to adopt a learner-friendly teaching method of reproductive health lessons.
Speaking during Tuesday’s Adolescent Health Summit, Bautista urged health and school authorities to come up with a collaborative strategy in teaching reproductive health “in an approach that can easily be understood by students.”
“Our approach must suit the level of the students’ thinking,” the mayor said.
Bautista cautioned the summit participants, mostly public school students and out-of-school youth, about the critical health risks and financial difficulties in life that young people could face if they engage in unplanned sexual activities.
Teenage pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted infections are the most common consequences facing those engaged in such activities, the mayor said.
Citing reports from the city health department, he said a 10-year-old girl recently got pregnant—the youngest such documented case in Quezon City—and young boys aged 14 to 17 have engaged in sexual activities with the same gender.
“While we understand that you want to experiment and discover things at your age, it is also important that you must also have that sense of discipline and direction. Try to finish your studies and have life goals,” Bautista said.
Young actor Miguel Tanfelix, ambassador of U4U, a flagship program for Filipino teens by the Commission on Population, joined Bautista during the summit.
City health officer Dr. Verdades Linga described the summit as a vital part of the city government’s effort to address teenage pregnancies.
High adolescent pregnancy also means a high risk of maternal deaths, Linga said.
