Sem. Romeo Macali Jr.

May 03, 2023

THE SOCIAL PATHOLOGY IN MY MUNICIPALITY

Is being a teenager really worth it; all the stress, problems, and judgements that come with it?
Society, family, and friends telling you this and that, is sometimes too much too handle. Teenagers
becoming more and more liberated in their own way, how? It is simply because of their own perception
of problem.
Problems are a part of life; we cannot avoid them. We will face a different problem every day, and how
we react to our problems will separate us from others. We all learn how to deal with our problems in our
own way. Dealing with these problems by teenagers often lead to one of disease in our municipality that
leads to the so called “social pathology.” Social Pathology is “a study of social problems (such as crime
or alcoholism) that views them as diseased conditions of the social organism.”1 Every continent, country,
region, province, municipality, and barangay has its own social pathology that helps society know what
is rotten in that area.
In our municipality, there is a social pathology that is very rampant today, especially among the
so-called "Gen Z." As I observed, many young people handle their problems in a very different way. It is
through posting on social media, whether this problem is small or big, controversial or private, as if they
have no care to the people who are about to read their post. It has been said, "Kunting kibo post ka
agad." Such as when one has a small scratch on the knee, they will picture it, and then post "ouch." Even
eating with the family together will have the caption "strong bond, eating together," even though their
family is broken. Nowadays, social media has become a gateway for young people to be open. Relating
it to handling problems, young people use social media as a platform to destroy their enemies in life and
a way to vent their emotions. There was one instance where one of my friends on Facebook posted a
very controversial problem of her with her neighbor without even screening and reviewing the words
she typed on her phone, with all the bad and harsh words she used there. As I read her post, it made me
disgusted with her that this kind of mentality and perception were starting to rot the province. Often
times, the GenZ didn’t face their problems face-to-face but rather through "pabati-bati." These new ways
of living are starting to flourish and often lead to depression, anxiety, and stress.
But if young people learn how to cope with their emotions, it will help them significantly with
dealing with their problems, and there is no need to post it on social media. They should always keep
their problems in perspective; they could be much worse. Just because your boyfriend or girlfriend
breaks up with you does not make it the end of the world and you need to post it, you’re still living in a
nice home, breathing, and healthy; Some people would die just to have a life like that. Problems are all
around us. We live and we learn.
To conclude, problems are all around us; there is no need to post them on social media because
everyone has their own problems to face in life.

1
Meriam-Webster. “Social Pathology.” Social pathology Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster Retrieved May 02, 2023.