12/02/2026
Ok so we’ve been hearing statements from one of our Senators, na ang mga kabataan daw ngayon ay "weak" because of the rising cases of mental health issues. But let’s set the record straight: Mental health issues aren't new; the youth are just the first generation brave enough to talk about it.
The truth is, many Gen X-ers and Boomers grew up in a culture where "pagtitiis" or "hayaan na lang" was the only option. But suppressing your emotions doesn't make you strong; it just makes you a carrier of untreated trauma you pass on to the next helpess kid around you.
When you tell a child, "Nung panahon namin, mas mahirap ang buhay pero kinaya namin," you aren't motivating them, you are invalidating them.
This culture of invalidation has created toxic Filipino family dynamics that have persisted for decades:
• The inability of elders to apologize when they’re wrong. (Sapul matatandang akala nila sila lagi tama dito)
• Treating children as "retirement plans" or emotional punching bags. (Yep.)
• Using "disiplina" as a cover-up for physical, emotional and verbal abuse.
The high prevalence of mental health struggles today isn't proof that the youth are "weak." It’s actually a mirror reflecting the environment they were raised in. Meaning its a sign na we fcked up as parents and elders. Kapalpakan natin din yun. High rates of anxiety and depression among the youth often mean we are failing as parents and as a society.
We shouldn't be proud that we "survived" a toxic environment; we should be worried that we are passing that same toxicity down.
The goal of every generation should be to make life better for the next, not to force them to suffer just because we did.
Strength is not the absence of struggle. It is the courage to admit when the system is broken and the cycle needs to stop. Hindi po "kahinaan" ang pag-amin na kailangan ng tulong. Ang tunay na lakas at tapang ay yung mga handang harapin ang kanilang trauma, ayusin ito at pagusapan para hindi na ito maipasa sa susunod na henerasyon.
Kaya kids, remember, bumoto kayo ng tama sa susunod ng eleksyon nang hindi tayo iniinvalidate ng mga artistang naging politiko.
Photo from News5
