The Youth Congress is a seminar held annually by PUP Peer Facilitators Association (PUPPFA) that helps provide necessary information through different topics with, as per the title suggests, the youth as its target audience and beneficiary. The seminar tackles timely, helpful, and essential matter that was decided by the recent members of the organization as to what they think is more suitable and more apt to the present situation, which for this year, is the rapid growth and influence of the Popular Culture (Pop Culture) or Mainstream Phenomena to the world especially to the younger generation. Popular Culture according to Tim Delaney, a sociology professor in New York, is generally recognized as the vernacular or people’s culture that predominates in a society at a point in time. He also defined it as the products and forms of expression and identity that are frequently encountered or widely accepted, commonly liked or approved, and characteristic of a particular society at a given time (https://philosophynow.org)
In our country, Pop culture could be seen dominating the masses particularly the majority of the youth. Different genres including music, fashion, cyber culture and sports that are widely spread within mass media especially the easily accessed social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) greatly influence their audiences. Certain icons like One Direction, K-POP bands, “Pabebe girls”, #Hasht5, Ryan Rems, KathNiel, Jadine, ALDUB and a lot more trend setters represent pop culture. They’re the most common, the most followed and the nearly most talk-about subjects among social media.
Hence, their fame and influence in this society only conclude how powerful Pop culture is.
By conducting this seminar, participants are expected to be aware on how the popular culture affects their thinking, their living, and even their development as an individual. This would also help them know when their keenness in pop culture becomes acceptable and when it is not. This will also help them to be aware on the more pressing topics, and the “should-know” issues that needed further attention of the people, to the sense of developing responsible thinking and empathic concern to the society. It aims to help the youth develop their knowledge about Pop Culture and how it significantly affects and influences them. It also includes the development of a responsible thinking and great awareness to what is more concerning and urgent problems in our world, especially in our country. These, with the help of the speakers will cultivate the understanding of our youth participants for them to be productive, more mature individuals.
This seminar will run from 8:00 o’clock in the morning to 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon. With the help of the speakers in their respective area of expertise, starting with an icon from the media or one who is part of the Pop culture, to a psychologist/ socio-psych, to a sociologist. All of them will discuss the whats, whys, and hows of the topic, to further synthesize learning from the speakers to the participants. Participants are expected to be students from different departments and colleges with a number of 400 or more.
