Educating Youth on Early Marriage through Radio Drama: Whose mistake?
By
Roeun Saron
A Production Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for
the Bachelor of Arts
in Media Management
Department of Media and Communication
RoyalUniversity of Phnom Penh
May 2009
Production PROJECT Approval
Educating Youth on Early Marriage through Radio Drama: Whose mistake?
By
Roeun Saron
Recommended for acceptance in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Media Management
By
Supervisor: Ms. At Sotheavy______
Recommendation concurred in:
- Co-grader: ______
- Thesis Coordinator:______
ABSTRACT
Media have been used to inform, educate, and entertain the people. In the past, media is one way communication which offers only the information, education, and entertainment, but now the listeners can also share the information and education from the local to a radio program producer or even a community or a country leader known as two ways communication. Among the media, radio is consumed and afforded the most by Cambodians. In any society, social issues are the barrier to the national development. Cambodia is not different. More than half of the total people are youth whose age is less than twenty-nine years old. While youth has been dramatically boomed, youth also faces many obstacles which barriers to personal and social development. Among many consequences, early marriage is one of difficulties. Internal, external, and social activities are the causes of early marriage while it affects youth’s health, education, and dignities. Educating people through media is found as the most effective way. In order to inform the youth on causes and consequences of early marriage, a radio drama has been produced with the artistic of audio entertainment. It is a fifteen minutes radio drama consisting eight characters and it was divided into five scenes. Moreover, Professional characters act and express their emotion actively through the written scripts. At the same time, sound effects, music, and other necessary audio have been used to connect from one scene to another to make the drama more realistic. The drama “Whose mistake?” will be aired on twelve radio stations which nine of them will conduct call-in-show program. It would reach to millions of listeners being able to advocate for social change, to delay the marriage, and to change the forcing behavior of some parents using to persuade the children to marry in younger age.
DEDICATION
For the whole of my life, I would like to pay my great gratitude for my parents who have given me a birth, have fed me to be a good citizen, and have supported me both spirit and finance until I have everything today.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to pay my gratitude to Mr. Peou Chivoin who helped me in editing the project paper and directing for the whole project. My special thank to Ms. At Sotheavy who supervised me both content and technical editing, Mr. Graham Gardner who helped me in editing the English, Ms. Ung Kim Oan who acted as Leakena character, Ms. Huy Thuon who acted as aunt Noun character, Mr. Chhin Sothea who helped me in recording the drama, Ms. Yong Sovannara and Mr. Kim Sea who provided me the interviews, and Ms. Eva Rohde who asked for fund to support the drama recording. Also, I would like to thank to German Development Service (DED) which provided the fund to record the drama, the government, donors, lecturers, friends, and the department who have provided me both financial and technical assistants until I have successfully completed my bachelor degree in media management.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT...... i
DEDICATION...... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...... iii
LIST OF TABLES...... iv
CHAPTERS
CHAPTER 1 –Introduction ...... 1
CHAPTER 2– Background and Context...... 3
Causes of Early Marriage...... 3
Consequences of Early Marriage...... 10
Solutions...... 13
Radio and Its Effectiveness...... 15
Types of Drama...... 19
CHAPTER 3 –Brief Description of Production...... 20
Timeline...... 22
Production of the Radio Drama...... 25
CHAPTER 4 –Reflection ...... 26
REFERENCES...... 28
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Characteristics of the characters...... 33
Appendix B: Story board of the drama...... 35
Appendix C: Radio drama script...... 39
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Timeline...... 22
1
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In any society, young people play a very important role in social and economic development. Nowadays, youth represents a majority of the Cambodian population and is important to decision-making and leadership in the country. After the civil war ended in 1998, the number of youth dramatically increased. As a result, almost 70-percent of the total population are youth under the age of 29(Wallquist, 2002; Mysliwiec, 2005).There are 2.4 million adolescents living in Cambodia, a number that is estimated to double by 2020. Most of these youth (80-percent) lives in rural areas (Fordham, 2003).
While the youth population boomed, so did demands for psychological and physical development and they are also facing many obstacles. Educational issues, drug addiction, HIV infection, and reproductive health problems, for instance, are main barriers to development. In addition, early marriage is known as a development barrier. Parents in most families are the decision makers in deciding whether to marry off their children, even at a young age. Because of the cultural norms, children do not dare to protest or go against their parents’ decision, even though they are not satisfied with whom they marry. Many health experts and researchers are concerned and warn that it not only affects youths’ health and personal development but also limits social and economic development in the future if a young person is married at a young age.
Because of these concerns, government, NGOs and healthcare policy makers have been using media to inform and educate people, especially youth. Radio is not only an easy way to reach the people but it is also an important tool to educate, inform, and entertain the people. A 15-minute radio drama, “Whose mistake?” was produced to influence youth behavior and attitudes about early marriage.
The target audience is youth aged between 15 and 26 because early marriage affects them the most, both their mental and physical development. This radio drama aims to explain in details the causes, effects and solutions to early marriage to Cambodian youth. Moreover, it attempts to educate youth to delay their marriage, to encourage youth to advocate against forced marriage and to strive to share some of their ideas about early marriage to parents who force their children to marry too early.
CHAPTER II
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXTS
Causes of Early Marriage
According to Fordham (2003) found that Cambodian youth will significantly increased by 2020, however, they face many issues in the current society. One of those obstacles, early marriage is a barrier of development. What is early marriage? Agdagba-Hachmoller et al (2000) defined that a man or a woman who marries during or before the adolescent is a practice of early marriage. What are the causes of early marriage? There are many answers reply to this question.
Personality
Generally discussions about behaviors that lead to early marriage focus on the behaviors of girls. Some girls who have closed communication and are careless in their relationship with a boy are susceptible to early marriage. “There is a high level of rape of girls younger than 12, as well as a high level of rape of teenage girls as a means of forcing male demands for marriage” (Fordham, 2003, p. 5).Some girls try to find a boyfriend in the hope that they would get married if they get pregnant (Hemmings & Rolfe, 2008). Others get married to older man with some other expectations. According to an 8 January 2009 Radio Free Asia broadcast, young women marry older men for many purposes. Women believe that the older men have property, money, power, and experience in life to support family and take care of the wife and children. At the same time, Fawole and Olarimoyep (2005) noted that older men marry young girls due to sexual attraction. They hope the girls will give them a child and they think that young girls would help them promote themselves, while (Fordham, 2003) claimed that a powerful and rich man marrying many wives is normal.
Early Sex
Early sex is another source of early marriage. According to a 26 February 2009 Radio Free Asia broadcast, among those who have early sex, girls have early sex with their boyfriends during Valentine’s Day. The radio continued that most rich boys bought gifts (76.6%), flowers (50%) and used modern tools such as motorbikes to keep in touch with their girlfriends. As a result, most girls are persuaded or personally agree to have sex. Television and movies from other Asian countries and the west are changing perceptions of youth lifestyle in Cambodia. Fordham (2003), “This model of modern youth culture is one that includes notions of individual autonomy and romantic love, and it is accompanied by relatively high rates of sexual activity” (p. 20). Young people (40%) between 16 and 18 years old have found that they have their first sexual experience before their marriage (Chantha, 2005). In some countries such as El Savador and Guatemala, the couple can get married at a young age if they have a child or the girl is pregnant, even though their parents deny giving their consent (Agdagba-Hachmoller et al, 2000). However, this practice does not seem to differ from Cambodian law and implementation.
A marriage may be allowed for a man whose age is 20 years or more and a woman whose age is 18 or more. In a special case where a man does not reach the age of 20 and the woman does not reach the age of 18 years, a marriage may be legitimized, upon the consent by the parents or guardians, if the woman becomes pregnant.
(Law of Marriage and Family, Article 5, 1989)
Parents’ Influences
Cambodian youth are at risk. They face many obstacles and threats like increasing drug abuse, the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the region, gender inequalities, high rates of illiteracy, trafficking and sexual exploitation (Wallquist, 2002). At the same time, young Cambodian girls are encouraged by their parents or elders to marry at younger age for many purposes. UNICEF (2005) reported that parents encourage their daughters to get marriage while they are still young because those parents hope that the marriage will benefit the children both socially and financially and it would offer some financial support to the family.
According to Fawole and Olarimoyep (2005) wrote that most trafficked children were done so by their parents or relatives, even though their reproductive organs are not yet fully developed. Moreover, the number of married girls is higher in Cambodia compared to other countries. Quan (2000) states, “Among Cambodian women, the greatest proportion of those married before age 18 had their spouse selected by their families (35%), while in Haiti the largest proportion of women who are married before age 18 chose their own spouse (33%)” (p. 23). He added that nearly 99,000 Vietnamese youth married under the age of 17 while more than 8,500 youth married under the age of 14 (p. 2). This is strange compared to past practices. Then, many people married at an old age. “Early marriage was found in the Early Modern period (1500-1800) in Western Europe. First, the men married at the first time when they were 27 to 29 years old, while women married when they were 24-26” (Matthijs, 2002, p. 101). In order to promote their daughter and family’s reputation and status and ensure a better future, some parents marry off their children (UNIFEM, 2007). Some people think that early marriage is not only benefiting the spouse’s family but it also offers some advantages to the society. “Parents seek to marry off their girls to protect their health and their honor, and men often seek younger women as wives as a means to avoid infection” (UNICEF, 2005, p. 2). In Cambodian society, parents think that when they have a daughter, it seems that they have a huge jar of cheese in their house so they try to choose a spouse for their child as soon as possible so she doesn’t ‘spoil.’ In the past, for instance, some elder parents arranged their children’s wedding before their births (UNIFEM, 2007). “Itis undeniable that there are millions of girls and boys are forced into marriage while they are still children” (Agdagba-Hachmoller et al, 2000, p. 6). Most parents think that they have full right to choose the spouse for their children and many children do not question their decision because the children respect their parents’ decision. Parents often encourage their daughter to marry off rich and powerful older man (Fordham, 2003). Moreover, in the Feudalist period, many parents, especially mothers in Cambodia, forced their daughter to marry even if she objected. “Num Min Thom Cheang Neal [In a family parents have absolutely right to make decision and their children just follow such decision]” was a very popular proverb in that period. Tiv, a character in “Tom Tive”, was forced by her mother to marry Meon Ngoun, who was a richest guy in that period (Ngoun, 1915).
Religion and Early Marriage
In some countries, some religions and ethnic culture also can promote marriage between a man and a woman. According to Xu, Hudspeth and Bartkowaki (2005), “The linkages between religion, marriage, and family life have long been the subject of social scientific inquiry” (p. 586). They continued, “Researching has established crucial and significant relationship between religion and assorted mating, fertility, child rearing, the division of domestic labor, domestic violence, marital quality, and divorce” (p. 586). In Cambodian context, many parents encourage their children to get married early because they will be happier if they have grand children. Moreover, they also believe that their son or daughter-in-law could share their works and extend the family. This concept, so far, has been reduced because more people, especially youth, are being educated to make a family plan before they get married.
Social and Family Status
Social and family status creates a communication barrier between people who come from different social status, which can lead to early marriage as well. The old Indian ancients classified people into four social classes, the Brahmins (priests), the Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), the Vaishyas (business people and farmers), and the Shudras (common laborers) (Mystica, from: para. 1). Each class cannot talk, sit, walk, eat, drink, or marry with members of other groups. Therefore, it led to different marriage ages for the different social classes. In the highest group, most bridegrooms married at an older age while the middle groups married at a younger age and the lowest group married at the youngest age (Matthijs, 2002). It is different in Cambodia. A Cambodian poet wrote that a rich man should take care of the poor, a ship should take care of a small boat, and a literate people should take care of illiterate people (Ork, 1922). This poem encourages everyone to have open relationships, which leads to marriage between all levels in society.
Social Pressure
Norm, cast, and class can be the causes of early marriage in a society. “There is substantial social pressure to marry. Khmer tradition expects women to marry between the ages of 16 and their early twenties, and some women marry as young as age 15” (Fordham, 2003, p. 7). Furthermore, families in some countries believe that if their children marry early, harmful people might not threaten them. “In many African countries experiencing conflict, where there is a high possibility of young girls being kidnapped, marrying them off at an early age are viewed as a means to securing their protection” (UNIFEM, 2007, p. 4). This is not so different from the Khmer Rouge regime. During that time most youth were arranged to marry by ‘Angkar’ (‘the organization’) and this was followed. Sometimes they did not even know who their partner was and they would be killed if they refused. In addition, families believe that if the child, especially a girl, does not marry early she will grow old alone. “It is assumed that a woman who postpones marriage until substantially later than the norm will become ugly and bring shame to her family (Fordham, 2003, p. 7).
Education
Uneducated or poorly educated people are more likely to be tricked or persuaded into marrying early or having sex at a young age. “Youth out of school begin sexual activity at an earlier age and are more sexually active than youth in school” (Chantha, 2005, p. 8). The more educated people are the less likely it is they will get married at a young age. More boys than girls in Cambodia attend higher education. Fordham (2003) wrote that there was a significant distance of education between boys and girls in Cambodia. He clarified, “Twice as many girls (21.5%) have no education compared with boys (11.7%). One-third boys have completed secondary or higher education than have girls” (p. 3). Eighty-three-percent of Cambodian youth aged 15 to 25 are literate and male youth literacy is 88% while female youth literacy is 79% (ILO, 2004).Parents will marry off their daughter because they think that their daughter provide less benefit to the family through education (Pokhrel, Regmi & Piedade, 2008). In 2005, UNICEF reported that women who did not attend secondary school were more likely to be married by the age of 18 than those who did. Youth who have good education and access to the information source are less to be married in rural areas. For instance “Only 57.7 percent of males and 48.9 percent of females had heard of the term family planning” (Quan, 2000, p. 7).