CHAPTER 1:PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUNDI.

Introduction
As time went by, the young generation in the 21st century, or most commonly known
as ‘millennials’ became more dominant, and have played an important role in the
society. With the recent news about the different happenings in the politics of the
Philippines, the younger generations are expected to participate in the discussions
related to the Politics. This is because they are exposed to use mass media. Different
platforms, especially in social media, can make many students politically engage.
However, many students these days are naturally disengaged on politics. In relation,
one of the main factors as to why young people think politics cannot change anything it
is because they are not given a place in participation declaring political parties, and, as
such, refrain from voting. According to Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the youth is the hope of the
country. With this, the youth has a big role in building the nation. In addition, the 1987
Constitution of the Philippines states in Section 13, Article II: “The State recognizes the
vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote their physical, intellectual,
and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism and
encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.” The participation of young
people in the country's governance has been also recognized as early as 1970 in the
Presidential Decree no. 603 or the Child and Youth Welfare Code. Furthermore,
Section 6, Article IV states: “Youth can actively participate in civic affairs, and in the
promotion of general welfare, always bearing in mind that it is the youth who will
eventually be called upon to discharge the responsibility of leadership, in hope for the
nation’s future.” Involvement of the youth in politics in the Philippines is still
somewhat limited. One of the reasons behind is the weakness of political parties which
do not have strong youth wings that give the youth an interest to an entry point in
politics. “The task of the youth is to allow new ideas and new talents to come up. It does
this by giving the youth the representation in the political sphere, by helping the party
reach out to young voters and by giving young people a chance to engage in policy
debate and activism.” (Harzog, 2007)
According to Valdivieso (2014), in the last few years, political engagement of some
citizens has changed considerably. The social and economic environment where the
youth encounter may suggest for the decline of their political engagement. “An entry
into the workplace is increasingly deferred, there has been a prolonged dependence on
parental support. It is suggested that this has delayed the onset of financial and
household responsibilities and hence, the age at which people begin to become
interested in politics.” (Kimberlee, 1998) With this, it is shown that knowledge about
current events can lead to active participation in social studies, which help students
improve their academic performance. Understanding politics helps them become more
strategic and a responsible as citizens who knows their own rights. It is good to
encourage them to participate more in governmental matters like political science
organizations at schools, local community elections of youth leaders, the Sangguniang
Kabataan(SK), as well as participating in different congress with regards to politics and
international meetings. However, it is still a major concern that some students have lack
of interest in politics. Some studies cite the lack of self-interest of the young generation
towards politics; other studies also point out the difficulty in understanding politics, and
other related topics about politics. The young generation generally found politicians in
low esteem, along with the lack of trust in them (Bentley and Oakley, 1999) or giving
them respect (Pririe and Worcester, 1998). The young generation’s participation is not
well recognized. Richardson (1990) Argues that politicians are not interested in the
view of young people. Joweland Park (1998) suggest that the youth's lack of
participation results from their interest matter. In resolution to the current situation,
citizens, even the youth, has a responsibility for the Philippines. In the United Kingdom,
for example, the Electoral Reform Society has supported voters of age 16. In their new
system, citizens aged 14 and 15 are already registered voters and can exercise their right
at the age of 16. According to Grover (2011), cited that this new reform has given the
youth a chance for participating in different consultations in every government decision,
as well as giving them an idea on how the government works.
The purpose of this study is to review the political engagement of Senior High
School students namely; La Salle University-Integrated School, Misamis University,
Misamis Institute of Technology and Misamis Union High School. The researchers will
look at their political engagement, background knowledge in different topics about the
Philippine Politics, along with their willingness to participate in the politics of the
future. Engagement towards the current presidential administration to be exact.
As we all know Duterte’s term started with the good impression to the masses. He
gathered 16 millions supports because of his passion in eradicating corruption, supports
environmental awareness and most especially the vanishing of illegal drugs. However,
the decency of his plans for the Philippines turn out disastrously. Due to abrupt rate of
extra-judicial killings and human rights violation to name a few. That’s why the
researcher came up the study about political engagement of the senior high school
students. They should be more into the concept of politics and engage into political
means because of the unjust and inhumane practices of whoever is concern.
Abstract

This paper examines the link between reliance on Facebook for news, political
knowledge, and political engagement in the Philippines. We tested five hypotheses
using data gathered from an online survey of 978 Filipinos conducted from February 1
to March 31, 2016. Findings support the hypothesis that those who rely less on social
media as a news source exhibit higher levels of perceived knowledge about politics
than those who rely more on it for news. Controlling for traditional news use, following
political officials or institutions on social media is associated with higher levels of
political interest and engagement, those with more politically active friends on
Facebook have higher levels of exposure to political content online, and there is a
positive correlation between Facebook being a source of information about politics and
discussing politics more often with others. However, the hypothesis that those with
more friends on their network who are politically active, will have greater political
knowledge and more political engagement than those who have few politically active
friends on their Facebook

This paper examines the link between reliance on Facebook for news, political
knowledge, and political engagement in the Philippines. Five hypotheses are used to
gather data from an online survey of 978 Filipinos conducted from February 1 to March
31, 2016. Findings support the hypothesis that those who rely less on social media as a
news source exhibit higher levels of perceived knowledge about politics than those who
rely more on it for news. Following political officials or institutions on social media is
associated with higher level of political engagement, and for those who has more
politically active friends on Facebook have higher level of exposure to political content
online. The hypotheses that those with more friends on their network who are
politically active, will have greater political knowledge and more political engagement
than those who have few politically active friends on their Facebook.

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https://www.academia.edu/30354876/CHAPTER_I_INTRODUCTION_Background_o
f_the_Study