It’s hard for the youth today to retain morals. With bad influences coming from all sides, from the media, from peers, from the government, and from trusted superiors like parents and mentors–the teen has no choice but to succumb.

But it would be best if he/she will fight the odds and do what is right. It would be best if he/she chooses to go against the grain of conformity–choosing to not do drugs even for to celebrate a close friend’s birthday, to not swear and curse because parents do also, to not have sex early because television shows it’s hip, or to not steal money from parents’ purse because the government does.

A quick trip to a rough sampling of the morals of today’s youth through a widely popular ABS-CBN reality show Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition Plus would show us a microcosm of the Pinoy youth’s world. If we watch even only one episode, we will note some knowledge of how teens today think, act, and care (or not care) for each other.

If what the creators of the show say is true, we would see truth in the show’s cast. In the show, we would meet a young woman who gets angry easily and almost always picks a fight, a female teen who flirts and cuddles with this young man, both admitting they have present relationships already but just wants to play and have fun, a deaf-mute who accuses persons wrongly, and various other sorts of unique characters.

But who I’m interested in are the show’s cast who are matured and certainly capable or moral thought. There’s Robi, Ateneo High School’s valedictorian this year, and Rona, a girl from Mindanao who always tries to analyze situations first before acting on them.

The two are the only moral pegs the house has left. For a while, there was Kevin, a guy from Europe, who was mature enough to leave the house voluntarily after he realized he has hurt people.

Robi and Rona had always been clear-headed and intellectual despite all the insanities happening in the house. They don’t let there feelings get at them in times of distress, but would instead think about it hard so it would be solved. They are also ready to offer their time to help others, although they need more help. They are always ready to sacrifice.

Never can you see both of the teens pick a fight, lie, make someone cry, hurt someone or forget to say sorry if they did. All we know is that they are nice persons, and that they deserve their stay.

But then just as in the real world, it is hard for them to stay morally-equipped. The other housemates wants Robi out of the race, saying he’s too much of a threat and that he’s just pretentious. Then a recent fiasco had the other four girls in the house gang up on Rona because she doesn’t want to fight with the show’s new girl. Rona chose to pick no side, because she thought it’s not proper to think bad of other persons without knowing them better. The other girls, however, had called her ‘plastic’ and ‘untrue.’

Just as in the real world.

The moral teens are persecuted today. They are called too goody-goody. They are called ‘killjoys,’ murderers of fun. They have no friends, they are outcasts.

But it is not proper to just to as your peers to be accepted. Because in a world where evil is ever-present like shadows, losing morals is not an option. It is not alright to contribute to world Armageddon by doing evil, because all are doing it anyway. That would be a great tragedy.