Character education, not gene therapy

MANILA, Philippines - With the advent of science and technology, mankind has attained its sole biological mission — to survive. Science and technology has already addressed man’s most basic needs like better living conditions, better food production and cheaper clothing. But satiating man’s physiological needs gave rise to newer needs such as safety, aesthetics, esteem and self-actualization. Not satisfied with just being able to answer man’s basic needs, scientists and researchers ventured to address other needs such as improving our nature as humans through science and technology.

Man has struggled for survival ever since they first set foot on earth. Presently, man is still in struggle may be not in the outward, physical sense but in an internal one. With evident social pluralism, the struggle became even more challenging. Faced with the freedom to choose from a wide array of choices, people experience a dissonance that takes its toll on one’s judgment faculty. Realizing such a problem, scientists have resorted to using their panacea in any problem they encounter: technology.

The development in science and technology has made the word “impossible” archaic. It seems as if science and technology have made a ladder towards every star imaginable and unimaginable. It is then not surprising to see how the post-industrialized society clearly become ever more secularized. Society became dependent on science and technology that it appears to them as though science has the answer for everything.

As a timely example, scientists have been developing ways in which they can address certain negative behaviors by altering the genetic make-up of an individual. Defective genes are attributed to certain behaviors like alcohol dependency, aggressive behavior and even depression. In the near future, problem children might just become extinct since recent studies have found out that certain negative behaviors could be altered with the use of gene therapy. Through gene therapy, science can curb such behaviors, thus creating a human void of any socially unacceptable behaviors. Somehow, it appears that scientists ventured into the field of genetic modification to create the perfect men, and as a result, creating Utopia.

Then again, why venture into such a cumbersome process, if we could achieve the same effect through character education?

Character education can address the fulfillment of ending mankind’s internal struggle. We may attribute man’s negative behavior to his genetic makeup and would want to nip it at the bud with the help of modern technology, but character education is a far more realistic solution to such problems. Character education can take in hand the development of life skills essential to face the pluralistic, post-industrialized world.

Who needs gene vectors and plasmids to control teens’ aggressive behavior or alcoholic tendencies if character education can mold them into individuals who can make morally sound judgments for themselves? We don’t really need gene therapy to create a society of upright human beings. What we need to do is to guide the beaming teenage population to what we envision them to be in the future. In light of this, the I Am STRONG program has been founded to guide the Filipino youth into making responsible decisions in life for their own welfare.

The I Am STRONG program seeks to give light to teenagers blinded by the different conflicting values projected by today‘s media. In a world where sex, drugs, and alcohol are glorified, teenagers are made to believe that such vices are normal and even their right to experience. I Am STRONG aims to rectify such twisted views in today’s world by giving them proper guidance. With guidance, everyone’s desire for Utopia may be at hand.

For more information on I Am STRONG, visit www.iam strong.org or call (02) 6370912 loc. 360.