The seminar consisted of a round table discussion led by Marc Grau, researcher at the IESF, who was joined by two married couples: Trinidad Puente and Alberto Baselga, creators of the Instagram account @lonuestro.info, on "sex, marriage and dating" and authors of the book Sexo para inconformistas (Sex for non-conformists); and Núria Marcet and Juanjo Sanz, coordinators of affective-sexual education in the diocese of Terrassa (Barcelona).
In his introduction, Grau spoke of the need for young people to have good points of reference through which to build their identity, hence “the importance of the quality of family members and the quality of the connections that are fundamental in teaching each young person to become who they dreamed of being”.
Grau then introduced the speakers, who spoke about youth today, what kind of support they need and how to help them as they mature into adults.
Alberto Baselga spoke of the importance of sex education for young people in families, “which is currently scarce and the responsibility is placed on the school or the parish or youth associations. Poor sex education is detrimental to marriage and, consequently, to the family”. At the same time, the Marcet-Sanz couple stated that today's young people “have almost everything and perhaps that is why they are more materialistic. However, they also value a life outdoors, they are supportive, and fighters when they know what they want”.
The key to all this, says Trinidad Puente, is to be clear that “we need truly happy marriages that transmit the vocation of marriage enthusiastically”. “A happy marriage is attractive, just as anyone is attracted to a vocation they enjoy, whatever it may be”, confirmed Baselga.
Along the same lines, Núria Marcet affirmed that “the family, today more than ever, must be a place of love, stability, healing, of redirection of problems, and for this reason parents must 'be present'. A big problem today is that children and adolescents are lonely at home”.
The speakers concluded that support, whether silent or active, is fundamental in helping and fostering humility in young people. It enables them to listen and helps them to look up, to be transcendent people who look beyond their own needs and thus grow.
