With this book, Ronald Molmisa is like a voice in the wilderness. Casual sex is now a common practice and youth, with their raging hormones, often gets wrong notions about sex and their sexuality. Media is not much of help. Just look at the hidden sexual contents of the TV ads, shows, songs, etc. The other popular books that our Filipino youth don't help too. Prof. Eros Atalia's characters (Intoy and Jenny) have sex like they share a takeout lunch. Lualhati Bautista's Lea Bustamante gets sex outside marriage and says that it is because she is a feminist, i.e., what men can, I can do too.. Even the girl characters of Mina V. Esguerra go to bed without marrying first.
And those are the books that Filipino youth reads. Quite alarming. Especially for a father like me who has a 17-year old daughter.
I bought this book because of Jhive and Cary. Two of my young friends. I used to ignore this book because it, along with other ones by Molmisa, is intended for youth. However, parents of teenagers should read this too. Molmisa says what parents should say to their teenage kids. We, well-intentioned parents, say that we maintain an open communication with our children. However, we are not always by their side. We also don't know when they are ready to talk about something. We say that we are open to discuss sex with them but sometimes when we want to talk about it, they are not. So, chances are, our message does not sink in or worse, after sometime, forgotten.
Molmisa puts in writing the words that should come out from our mouths as parents. For this reason, I advice parents to read this book. Make it available around the house. Don't shove it to your children if they are not the reading type. Leave it lying around or put it in the bathroom. As it is an easy read, there is a big chance that some of the messages will speak to them and be their guiding lights in this time of rampant promiscuity and moral decadence.
I thank God for bringing Molmisa to this world and helping youth to take the right path. And assisting parents as well in good parenting.
Kudos to Ronald Molmisa. Thank you to my young friends, Jhive and Cary, for making me aware of this book's existence. May your tribe increase.