Radio România Internațional

Tag: teenagers

  • Bestiary, a Vanner Collective project

    Bestiary, a Vanner Collective project

    The independent theatre company Vanner Collective is known for its original initiatives in the Romanian cultural space, translating burning social issues into theatre performances. Their latest project is “Bestiary. Consumer good”, co-financed by the Bucharest City Hall. The project opens the discussion about the worrying tension between teenagers’ need for individuality and the pressure to conform exerted by society and the online environment, social media.

    We spoke with Anca Spiridon, Cultural PR, about the sources of inspiration for the project:

    “The source of inspiration for the play and subsequently the show ‘Bestiary’, Vanner Collective’s newest production, were the challenges facing today’s youth, especially when it comes to their presence on social media and the pressure in terms of models of behaviour, of physical appearance and success that they propose. And so, young people, as I said, feel pressured to conform to standards that are not even theirs, are particularly arbitrary, are particularly rigid and do not allow them to express either their individuality, their personality, or authenticity, but rather force them to enter a zone of conformity.

    Nowadays, it seems obvious to me that social media creates, for people of all ages, the young in particular, a pressure to conform to certain standards, by promoting models of behaviour, physical appearance and success that are not even ours, regular people. And especially, we wanted to address the online presence and the risks that come with it.”

    Here is Anca Spiridon once again, this time telling us why Vanner Collective opted for the topic.

    “The Vanner team deemed it necessary to start this discussion, as they more often than not start difficult discussions in the projects they propose, in a bid to show to the public, especially to the younger segments, that there was a time when we all had to face the pressure of society, irrespective of the options we may have made. Whether we speak about the university study program we were supposed to pursue, or about the path along which we had to push our careers forward, or about a life style, or about our look, in particular, or about our choices in general. We wanted to create, with that project, with this performance, Bestiary, a safe space where they could express themselves, so they could see they were not all alone and, why not, to feel more comfortable in their bid to express their individuality. “

    But how did the project labelled Bestiary unfold? What were the methods used for the artistic pursuit and expression? Speaking about that is again Cultural PR Anca Spiridon:

    ”All throughout the project we held a series of workshops and focus groups with teenagers and youngsters and somehow the feedback we got from them spoke about the fact that, indeed, society seems to demand pretty much conformism from them. They have the feeling they are easier to manage, that it is better for them to be subservient, rather than express their opinions or express their personality. And that strengthened us in our belief that we started a good discussion and that we can provide a context where individuality can express itself. We used the metaphor of the sacrifice beasts, perhaps the sacrifice of the self, of one’s own personality, precisely as a departure point in our bid to explore stereotypes and conformism. The Vanner team started off from the idea that if you conform to something, you lose part of you, you lose what you can become. You lose the tribe; you lose the herd that actually belongs to you when you’re being told you need to comply with norms and standards.”

    Here is Anca Spiridon once again, this time speaking about Bestiary, the stage performance that represented the epitome of the whole project:

    „Bestiary is a stage performance based on the text of a new play written by Raluca Mănescu and Denisa Nicolae, the co-founder of Vanner Collective. It is also to Denisa Nicolae that the concept and the stage direction belong, while part of the team is made traditional collaborators of Vanner Collective, yet the team of actors featuring in Bestiary, all of them are very young actors. Through Bestiary, the Vanner Collective team sought to get closer to youngsters, to speak about their specific problems and strike up an intense dialogue with them. Also, they sought to present their own challenges to the public, who may not have experienced such challenges as they have today, with all the social media pressure, or, perhaps, they do not remember them: parents, teachers, friends.”

  • Romanian high-school students’ ideological profile

    Romanian high-school students’ ideological profile

    We’re speedily nearing the end of an eventful year, election-wise, with people taking a broadside at candidates because of their poor pool of proposals capable of getting youngsters interested in candidates’ profile. In turn, youngsters have been criticized for their low turnout on election day.

    School-wise, the civic education class was also criticized and rated as insufficient.

    All things considered, a recent survey has created a profile, also an ideological profile, at that, of high-school students from across Romania.

    At present, the school curriculum includes only one single civic education class per week, and that only in secondary school. Nevertheless, half of the schools do not have a vacancy for the teachers trained to teach civic education. In most of the cases, the subjects is usually taught by teachers who are qualified to teach another discipline.

    Recent research has shown that more than a third of the teachers teaching social education in Romania would prefer a strong leader, who is capable of ignoring the democratic leverage. The support of some undemocratic forms of leadership by the teaching staff apparently comes from the younger teachers.

    Furthermore, less than half of the teachers teaching social education have participated, in the last three years, in professional training programmes that are relevant for this subject

    Mihaela Nabăr, executive manager for World Vision Romania said the following:

    “Democracy, our rights and freedoms have become frail because we did not have real and on-time educational reforms, we did not invest in civic education among children and youngsters as well as at the level of society in general. All that leads up to the lack of understanding caused by part of the decisions we make, the voting decisions included. One thing is clear, though: an appreciable part of Romania has not been heard or paid heed to.

    These days we have witnessed the existence of serious confusions of concept and terms, such as democratic values as opposed to Christianity, sovereignty as being tantamount to well-being and we have found out we can be easily manipulated into believing something, without questioning it, which is a fake piece of news. “

    Results of a survey carried by World Vision Romania show the vast majority of the Romanian high-school students are in favour of a left-of-centre ideology (84%). A low percentage of them favour political extremism, far-left (7%) but also far-right ( 1%). Youngsters expect the state to offer quality healthcare services, quality education and equal lights for all citizens.

    82% of youngsters believe their vote matters. Furthermore, 77% of respondents think the environment needs to be protected at all costs for the future generations. The other 23% of them believes environment resources need to be used for development and progress.

    Mihaela Nabar also said:

    “The ranking of indicators of a value-ideological orientation shows that high-school students are [preoccupied with political ideas and themes, they set up debates, among them and in the milieus they belong to, at once trying to get themselves ready for the value social backdrop they would enter as adults.

    A great part of the themes is indicative of the importance of the debate for youngsters, of the exchange of arguments, of preparing these kids for their involvement in public life, so they can be less vulnerable to manipulation and to messages of populist origin” World Vision Romania representatives have stated.

    Some of the survey’s most interesting conclusions could be the differences of opinion between boys and girls, with the girls having a stronger leftist leaning. Such differences weigh more than their origin (rural vs urban). For instance, 65% of the girls think a woman’s right to having an abortion should be unrestricted, while a mere 56% of the boys share such an opinion.

    Also, whereas 18% of the boys think that, although a women can have her own career path, her main duty is that of being a housewife and a mother, a mere 6% of the girls share the same opinion. Differences are not significant, between the rural and the urban environment (14% versus 12%).

    The perception of homosexuality has been the most disputed value theme, dividing high school students into two almost equal groups. Almost 47% of them view homosexuality as a disease, an abnormal phenomenon. Girls have embraced libertarian attitudes to a greater extent, focusing on individual rights, with 67% of them considering homosexuality as something normal. A mere 42% of the boys have the same opinion.

    On one hand, there are girls who have been increasingly assertive with regard to the values of the individual rights, which reflect opinions on the women’s role, the rights of sexual minorities, the freedom of expression. One the other hand, there are boys who have embraced rather conservative attitudes regarding such aspects.

    For 16 of the 10 indicators used in the outlining of the political compass, the differences between girls and boys are significant (…) The ideological differences based on gender criteria within the same generation have the potential of creating dissonance on the relational market, the marital market included. Value-wise, youngsters find themselves to a less extent in their relationship with person of the opposite gender within the same generation. “ World Vision Romania representatives have concluded.

  • December 14, 2021

    December 14, 2021

    COVID-19 Authorities in Bucharest on Tuesday
    announced 946 new Covid-19 infections, a number significantly higher than in
    the previous day. 106 new Covid-related fatalities have also been announced and
    the 14-day infection rate in Bucharest on Tuesday stood at 0.85 cases per
    thousand. Bucharest reported its highest infection rate on October 22nd,
    16.54 per thousand. According to Romania’s national committee in charge of
    COVID-19 vaccine rollout, 25% of the rural population has been vaccinated so
    far and over 42% in Romania’s big cities.








    SURVEY Life expectancy has dropped significantly
    in Romania against the COVID-19 pandemic, way below the EU average, shows a
    survey recently conducted by the European Commission. According to this survey,
    life expectancy in Romania is almost 6 years lower than in the EU and women
    have on an average an 8 year longer lifespan than men, the biggest difference
    in the bloc. The same survey reveals that almost half of the deaths registered
    in Romania are related to some risk factors such as the exaggerated consumption
    of alcohol and unhealthy food, above that of the block’s average. Romania’s
    teenagers are overweight, even obese and are smoking more than their European
    counterparts although the number of smokers is slightly lower than the European
    average.








    HANDBALL The national
    women’s handball side of Romania was defeated by the Swedish selection 34-30 in
    Castello on Monday night in its last game of the World Championships in Spain. Out
    of this group, Sweden and Norway have qualified for the competition’s next
    stage, the latter after a win against world champions the Netherlands. Romania
    has ended the competition on the 13th position being the only handball side to
    have attended all the 25 editions of the aforementioned competition with four
    medals won, a gold, two silver and a bronze medal.








    SUMMIT On Wednesday and Thursday Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is
    participating in the online Eastern Partnership Summit and the European Council
    proceedings held in Brussels. Yesterday, the Romanian official joined an online
    conference also involving the participation of the head of the European Council
    Charles Michel and the Prime Ministers of Slovenia, Janez Jansa, Estonia, Kaja
    Kallas and Latvia, Krisjanis Karins in preparation for the aforementioned two
    events. High on the agenda were European coordination in the context of the
    Covid-19 pandemic, how to handle and develop resilience in emergency
    situations, energy prices, the EU security and defence, the external aspects of
    migration and foreign relations with emphasis on the situation at the border of
    Ukraine and Belarus.












    (bill)

  • August 5, 2019 UPDATE

    August 5, 2019 UPDATE

    INVESTIGATION In Caracal, southern Romania, searches continued on Monday at the home of Gheorghe Dincă, the man who claimed, after being apprehended more than a week ago, that he had killed 2 teenagers, 15-year old Alexanda Măceşanu and 18-year old Luiza Melencu. The investigators, who followed a new lead indicated by Gheorghe Dinca, found fragments of burnt bones and ashes in a bag, in a forest near Caracal. Dinca claims the remains belong to Luiza. Over the past few days, new biological samples were collected from the mans home and courtyard. The investigation now focuses on finding new clues to confirm that Luiza Melencu, missing since April, has been in Dincas house. The Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, in charge of the case, announced that the ash taken from Dincas residence showed traces of Alexandra Măceşanus DNA, the girl who went missing on July 24th and who called the emergency services the next day. The response of the authorities was too late, which led to a number of resignations and dismissals.




    EU Romania ranks 2nd in the EU, on a par with Portugal, in terms of a positive public image of the EU, indicates a new Eurobarometer poll made public on Monday. The number of Romanians having a positive view of the European bloc has grown to 60%, above the EU average of 44%. The new poll shows a strong increase in citizens positive perception of the EU in all areas, from economy to the state of democracy. These are the best Eurobarometer results since June 2014. Also, 52% of the Romanians have confidence in the EU, as against a 44% average in Europe. Some of the main findings of the Eurobarometer also include record-strong support for the single currency and a focus on climate change, as the 2nd biggest concern at EU level, after immigration.




    MOLDOVA The General Prosecution of the Republic of Moldova Monday opened a criminal case in which Vlad Plahotniuc is probed into for usurping power in June 2019. A group of prosecutors will look into the events of June 7th to 9th, when former Democratic leader Vlad Plahotniuc and judges with the Constitutional Court approved rulings, decisions and resolutions contrary to the Constitution of Moldova, in order to enable the Democrats to stay in power abusively. Sworn in by Parliament on June 8th, the new Government in Chisinau, headed by the pro-European Maia Sandu, only managed to take office in mid-June, after a deadlock cause by the previous, leftist government controlled by tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc, who refused to relinquish power.




    FESTIVAL Sfântu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta, south-eastern Romania, is hosting as of Monday the 16th Anonimul International Independent Film Festival. The official opening included the screening of the latest film by director Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don’t Die, launched at this years official Cannes competition. Six foreign and Romanian feature films take part in the official competition. The special guest of this years edition is Ukrainian director, Sergei Loznitsa, winner of the Cannes 2018 “Un Certain Regard award. He will receive the “ANONIMUL Award for his contribution to world cinema. A retrospective of his works will be followed by Q&A sessions. The festival also includes, until August 11, screenings of films awarded in other festivals, talks with filmmakers and film critics, Q&A sessions with production teams. A section entitled Fluidități will screen 4 documentaries on art, discussing topics like the fine arts, music, cultural traditions and crafts.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • August 2, 2019

    August 2, 2019

    INVESTIGATION The suspect in the case involving the 2 missing girls from Caracal, southern Romania, was questioned for nearly 9 hours last night at the head office of the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism in Bucharest. He confirmed his initial statement that he murdered the 2 teenagers. The authorities announced that suspect Gheorghe Dincă would be present at the searches conducted on Friday at his home in Caracal. The case has been taken over from the local office in Craiova by the central structure of the Directorate and is coordinated by chief prosecutor Felix Bănilă. He explained that this is due to the complexity of the case, the extensive media coverage and the technical and human resources needed in order to find the truth. Also on Friday, the results of forensic tests on the bone fragments found at the suspects residence are expected to come in. Meanwhile, the prosecutor who originally handled the Caracal case has been suspended. A week ago, he did not authorise the police to search the suspects home before 6 AM. He is now investigated for gross negligence by judicial inspectors, who say they will also look at how he conducted investigations over the past year. However, peoples discontent with how the authorities handled the case is growing. They blame the Special Telecommunications Service, in charge with operating the emergency number 112, as well as the police and prosecutors. The unacceptable succession of missteps in this regard has already caused several dismissals and resignations. Gheorghe Dincă, a 60-year old mechanic, confessed to having murdered 2 girls, aged 15 and 18, after he abducted them for sexual exploitation purposes, detained and raped them. The bodies have not been found yet.




    HOLOCAUST The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis sent a message on Friday, the Roma Genocide Remembrance Day, emphasising the need for constant awareness of the importance of fighting racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. On this day we pay tribute to the nearly half a million Roma children, women and men who were victims of genocide during World War II, reads the Presidents message. Romania faced some of the most gruesome forms of hatred and intolerance, when 25,000 Roma people, whose parents had fought in the Great War for the national unity of the country, were forcibly sent to Transdniester as “dangerous and undesirable. The Government of Romania also honours the memory of the victims of the Romani Holocaust. It is important for the generations of today and tomorrow to know the truth about the Holocaust, as well as about the progress Romania has made in terms of preserving this truth and in terms of promoting coherent legislation to fight discrimination, anti-Semitism and xenophobia against the Roma people, the Government says in a news release.




    BOOK FAIR The resort of Mamaia on the Romanian Black Sea coast is hosting, as of Thursday, the 11th edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania. More than 30 publishers are taking part. According to the president of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation Georgică Severin, Gaudeamus is a large-scale event designed to promote one of the most important Romanian mass media brands, Radio Romania. The 2019 Gaudeamus Seaside Book Fair is scheduled to end on August 5.




    INF Russia and the USA Friday announced the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Washington announced pulling out of the INF as of February 2, and Moscow responded immediately with a similar move. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Russia of being “in material breach of the treaty, although Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations. The INF pact, signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1987, banned missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km.




    FOOTBALL Romanian football vice-champions FCSB (former Steaua Bucharest), Thursday qualified into the 3rd preliminary round of Europa League, although it lost at home against the Armenian side Alashkert FC, 3-2. FCSB won the first leg of the round in Yerevan, 3-0. Also on Thursday night, CSU Craiova advanced into the Europa League 3rd preliminary round, after defeating Honved Budapest 3-1 in the shootouts. Romanian Cup holders Viitorul Constanta on the other hand were left out of the European competition, in spite of its 2-1 win against Belgiums KAA Gent.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Education for life, in school and at home

    Education for life, in school and at home

    Recently, 154 teachers who are teaching at least 4,200 students from 8 counties of Romania and from Bucharest have benefited from training provided under a project called “For girls and boys run by the Association “Youth for Youth. The purpose of the project is to approach issues specific to puberty with secondary school pupils, especially with 6th and 7th graders.



    They have chosen this age group because they have identified a major lack of information among high school students, although adolescents should have had better knowledge of their body, emotions and dangers specific to their age. The same lack of information is also considered to be partly responsible for certain worrying statistics: annually 10% of women in Romania who give birth are under age, and 6 out of 10 teen mothers have never had access to information about reproductive health. Although public education has provided an optional course on ‘Education for health starting in 2004, which can be taught from the 1st grade to the 12th grade, only 6%-7% of the students in the pre-university system took this course in the 2017-2018 school year.



    This is the context in which the precisely in order to help teachers tackle these sensitive issues with the students. They are sensitive issues both from a psychological and physiological point of view, says Adina Manea, the project coordinator:



    Adina Manea: “The programme addresses form masters, whether or not they teach the optional course ‘Education for health. What we have produced, namely the teaching materials for the teachers and the workbook for pupils, can be used both during the educational class and during the ‘Education for health class, where such classes are held. During puberty, apart from the occurrence of natural hormonal changes which teenagers may or may not understand, which may or may not be explained to them, there emerges a new range of emotions. It is important for them to learn how to deal with these issues. Moreover, at this age, children are very interested in communicating with and relating to the others, including in a romantic way. How we communicate with one another, what persuasive communication means, how we protect ourselves and what virtual communication means, what ones self-image is in the real and virtual environments, are also issues of interest to children. Children are meaner to one another, but they are also vulnerable to ill-intentioned people they may meet online. Young people need to learn how to discriminate between different attitudes.



    Teachers and students have learnt how to better communicate with one another in relation to issues such as the human body and its development during puberty, self-esteem and relationships, ways to prevent violence, values, family and plans for the future. But while pupils are poorly informed on these issues, the question is how prepared teachers are to approach them.



    Adina Manea: “The most important thing as far as teachers are concerned is that they intend and are willing to contribute to the childrens good. Teachers also admit that they lack in-depth understanding of certain issues of the younger generations, and that they need support by means of training. From the very start, we have intended to include parents in this discussion. After a period of training, teachers went back to their classes, where they used what they learned during our courses. Furthermore, the teaching staff, the pupils involved in the project, and the volunteers of the Association ‘Youth for youth are organizing activities in which they also invite parents to talk about these issues. Thus, parents are invited to recollect their puberty and the difficulties they had in coping with the issues typical of this age, to realize the importance of supporting their children through this natural process, from puberty to adolescence.



    Of the schools that participated in the project ‘For girls and boys, 29 were from urban areas and 16 from rural communities. It is common knowledge that the rural areas in Romania are quite disadvantaged from many points of view. Here is Adina Manea with more:



    Adina Manea: “We wanted to see the response of the parents and students from rural areas, which, according to statistics, are faced with poverty, lack of opportunities and reduced education level. Plenty of data clearly shows that, at present, rural areas are at a disadvantage against urban areas. We wanted to see if the reaction of people in those areas is as grim as the statistics suggested, but they had a very good response. Everybody was happy with the impact of these courses on children and the way in which the meetings with parents unfolded.



    It remains to be seen to what extent the model of communication between teachers and children implemented by the Association ‘Youth for Youth will be applied so as to boost the level of information and self-awareness among teenagers.



    (translated by: Lacramioara Simion)

  • A New Chance for Vulnerable Teenagers

    A New Chance for Vulnerable Teenagers

    With nearly one in every ten children born by a teenage mother aged between 15 and 19, Romania is among the EU countries with the biggest number of such cases. Moreover, problems such as obesity, school dropout, drinking and smoking from an early age are on the increase. These are some of the reasons why a second Resource Center for Vulnerable Teenagers has been opened in Bucharest. This is the place where teenagers can receive counseling and support and have access to rehab programs.



    Group activities are also held at the center, offering teenagers the opportunity to talk to experts about key issues such as relationships and health. The center has been designed as a bridge between adolescents, especially the vulnerable ones, and community and family. In order to support young people, UNICEF, in partnership with the Youth and Sports Ministry, Bucharest’s Sector 4 mayoralty and the Alliance for the Fight Against Alcoholism and Drug Abuse have also launched the Young Opportunities Program to be implemented over the next three years in the cities of Bucharest, Cluj, Iasi, Constanta and Bacau. Attending opening of the second Resource Center for Vulnerable Teenagers in Bucharest, UNICEF’s representative in Romania, Sandie Blanchet pointed out that Romania’s almost 1.7 million teenagers are dealing with the same problems as other adolescents from around the world.



    The support measures for underprivileged teenagers living in Bucharest’s Sector 4 come at a crucial time for Romania’s youth policies, according to Cosmin Cristian, State Secretary with the Youth and Sports Ministry.



    Cosmin Cristian: ” We are happy that the National Youth Strategy for 2015-2020 has been recently adopted by the Romanian Government. This Strategy has special provisions for teenagers, this vulnerable category likely to give in to temptation. Romania is home to over 6 million young people aged between 15 and 34, of whom 1.7 million are teenagers. The National Youth Strategy is aimed at supporting their participation in the in the economic, social and cultural life of the country, offering them equal opportunities. In order to implement it at national level, we need to apply it locally first. We do not want to stop here.”



    Under the Young Opportunities Program Over 1,500 young people will be provided information while another 200 will be offered opportunities for development at the Resource Center in Bucharest’s Sector 4. As many as 10 thousand teeners are expected to benefit by this pilot program. Bogdan Goldeanu, head of the ALIAT Association, says young people need to be made aware of the risks they are facing. The Association has so far supported around 3,000 teenagers both in schools and high schools, as well as informal socialization environments.



    Bogdan Goldeanu: “On average, teenagers have their first contact with alcohol, drugs and smoking at the age of 13. By the age of 17, 76% of the girls and 75% of the boys have already experimented at least two of them. If 60% of teenagers become consumers out of curiosity, after one year and a half teenagers become regular consumers, hence the problems. Some of them become school dropouts, join all dubious circles and very often their family is unable to help them. International studies have revealed that every year 9% of the young people aged between 15 and 29 die from alcohol-related causes. Romania ranks 8th out of 188 countries, in terms of alcohol consumption per capital. Also in Romania, over 40% of teenagers have drunk alcohol at least once, while the monthly average is almost 3 liters of alcohol per capita.”



    Experts working with the Center will go to secondary schools and high schools to try to identify the teenagers with problems. Also, partnerships will be set up with institutions and NGOs that know very well the problems facing teenagers, to guide them to the Center. Another tool made available to teenagers is the platform www.adolescenteen.ro, where teenagers are given the opportunity to discuss with experts about their problems, and get information on development opportunities available in Bucharest.