THE HOME

The Home

The growth of a person begins at home where parents and all the members of the family each play an important role in molding the baby into a young adolescent who will soon grow ready to face the outer world. In this painting the home is represented by the blue area shaped somewhat like a house.

Blue symbolizes peace and calmness because the home is supposed to be the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual sanctuary to its family members and the fortress against outside threats. But the obvious appearance of cracks revealing the red chaotic areas show the existence of imperfections within the home where the presence of serious family problems affect the overall growth of the child and shape his behavior. These internal problems come in different forms and where the taste of violence at the very young age could gravely interfere with and influence the child's over-all character. But for those who have experienced real family love and true spirituality the story is positively different.

The basic molding of the child in the home determines how he could easily be influenced by outside factors. Once the family is not intact and where the parents themselves become the reason for the young kid to look for attention and love elsewhere these young souls will be easy prey to groups like gangs and brotherhoods.

Fraternities are comprised of men who pledged respect to their leader and the leader's word becomes the law. The failure of the father, as the head of the home, to educate well his sons of what being a real man is, in the yardstick of God the Father Almighty, will result in fathers themselves becoming weak and inutile role models to their young kids who are easily impressed by mythical heroes. And it is in the fraternity that these young men derive their strength and see the head as a really strong man and those successful professional frat alumni as role models.

In the current crisis in the Philippines where a lot of kids are either without a father or a mother, or where the parents are away working, the effects of this imbalance on the emotional health of the kids have proven to be destructive. The helpless, jobless father who is left at home with the kids while the mother is away abroad affects not only the self-esteem of the man but also his resistance to temptations by the opposite sex, especially if the practice of having mistresses becomes an accepted social norm. And the violent results of infidelity where the husband beats a nagging and jealous wife transforms a young innocent boy into a bitter juvenile delinquent.

This sad combination of unwanted realities becomes a ripe breeding atmosphere for disillusioned and confused kids who might find answers or outlets for their anger elsewhere. And once they enter the brotherhoods and become addicted to alcohol and drugs another soul in a sorry state add to the army of warlike fratmen.

The above illustration is just one of the many stories that add fuel to the current problem of this violent frat culture. It all begins in how the parents, especially the father, succeeded or have failed to teach their children.

On the other hand, kids from good families with strong homes and spiritual backgrounds may have just been enticed by the promises of recruiting groups of men or sadly, been forced into accepting in becoming neophytes when placed in situations they cannot refuse. But then again the strength of one's spirituality is in question here because a young man with very firm spiritual beliefs will not fall prey into these dubious groups.

The task to solve the culture of violence must therefore start from the home where true spirituality and real love becomes the strong and unwavering foundation.