Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Derecho Público "Dr. Humberto J. La Roche"
de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas de la Universidad del Zulia
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Esta publicación cientíca en formato digital es continuidad de la revista impresa
ISSN-Versión Impresa 0798-1406 / ISSN-Versión on line 2542-3185Depósito legal pp
197402ZU34
ppi 201502ZU4645
Vol.42 N° 80
Enero
Marzo
2024
Recibido el 14/02/24 Aprobado el 22/05/24
ISSN 0798- 1406 ~ De pó si to le gal pp 198502ZU132
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Vol. 42, Nº 80 (2024), 214-246
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
Legal intervention of problems from the
dialogue with youth and adolescents in the
District of Santa Marta Colombia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4280.11
Camilo Andrés Vargas Machado *
Andrés Felipe Roncancio Bedoya **
Diego Armando Lindao Ruiz ***
Julie Armenta Calderón ****
Abstract
This research article was developed with a mixed design, with
the use of a descriptive and interpretative approach, during the
period 2021-2023, carried out by the Legal Clinic and Conciliation
Center of the Cooperative University of Colombia, in the city
of “Santa Marta”. The research used participant observation to
propose legal interventions, addressing emerging and persistent
problems in the community of the “Once de Novembre” neighborhood and
developing scientic integrity protocols for data collection, with the use
of the exploratory survey technique with forty young adolescents from a
public educational institution. The general objective of the research was to
identify the words and codes that made the legal intervention possible. It
was concluded that, from the students’ responses about problems in their
communities, a complex web of challenges emerges, ranging from drug
addiction to violence to lack of employment, and these concerns reveal a
striking variability, with each community facing a unique set of challenges.
Keywords: social problems; urban population; legal systems; sociology
of change; legal intervention.
* Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0993-358X. Email:
camilo.vargasma@campusucc.edu.co
** Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1257-3813. Email:
andres.roncancio@campusucc.edu.co
*** Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9703-6356. Email:
diego.lindao@campusucc.edu.co
**** Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Santa Marta. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2561-
2364. Email: julie.armenta@campusucc.edu.co
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 42 Nº 80 (2024): 214-246
Intervención legal de problemas desde el dialogo con
jóvenes y adolescentes en el Distrito de Santa Marta
Colombia
Resumen
Este artículo de investigación fue desarrollado con un diseño mixto,
con el empleó de un enfoque descriptivo y he interpretativo, durante el
período 2021-2023, llevado a cabo por el Consultorio Jurídico y Centro de
Conciliación de la Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, en la ciudad de
“Santa Marta”. En la investigación se utilizó la observación participante
para proponer intervenciones legales, abordando problemas emergentes
y persistentes en la comunidad del Barrio “Once de Noviembre” y
desarrollando protocolos de integridad cientíca para la recolección de
datos, con el empleo de la técnica de encuesta exploratoria con cuarenta
jóvenes adolescentes de una institución educativa pública. El objetivo
general de la investigación fue identicar las palabras y códigos que
posibilitaron la intervención legal. Se concluyo que, a partir de las respuestas
de los estudiantes sobre los problemas de sus comunidades, surge una
compleja red de retos que van desde la drogadicción a la violencia y la falta
de empleo, y estas preocupaciones revelan una sorprendente variabilidad,
en la que cada comunidad se enfrenta a un conjunto único de retos.
Palabras clave: problemas sociales; población urbana; sistemas
jurídicos; sociología del cambio; intervención legal.
Introduction
This article presents the ndings, results, recommendations, and
conclusions of an investigation that was carried out in the “Once de
Noviembre” neighborhood, located in Locality 1 of the Tourist, Cultural
and Historical District of “Santa Marta” (Asamblea Nacional Constituyente,
1991, Art. 356), in the Department of “Magdalena”, in the northern region of
Colombia (Congreso Colombia, 1993), known as the Colombian Caribbean
(Congress Colombia, 1997). As note in Figure 1.
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Camilo Andrés Vargas Machado, Andrés Felipe Roncancio Bedoya, Diego Armando Lindao
Ruiz y Julie Armenta Calderón
Legal intervention of problems from the dialogue with youth and adolescents in the District of
Santa Marta Colombia
Figure 1: Detail of the Geographic Location of the District of “Santa Marta” in the
department of “Magdalena” in the north of the Republic.
Note: The Figure presents the political geographic map of the Department of
“Magdalena” which is located on the northern coast of Colombia, and in the upper part of
the same map you can see the location of the district of “Santa Marta”, which at the same
time It is the Capital city of the same Colombian Department. The Figure was adjusted from
the production made by the “Agustín Codazzi” Geographic Institute, of the administrative
geographical division (Instituto Geográco “Agustín Codazzi” IGAC, 2024).
With the gure presented above the reader will be able to orient himself,
to recognize the yellow portion at the top, where this represents the
geographical location of the city where the research was carried out, since
this is the capital city of the Department. and are made up of three locations.
Hence, in the present case the entire investigation was concentrated and
limited to the “Once de Noviembre” neighborhood, which is located within
Locality 1 of the same city.
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
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Figure 2: Detail of the Physical of the Capital City of the Department of “Magdalena”
and its Constitution in Three Locations.
Note: The Figure presented shows the organization of the Tourist, Cultural and
Historical District of “Santa Marta”, with three locations distributed. The rst Locality is
the “Cultural Tayrona – San Pedro Alejandrino”, which houses a population of 147,611
inhabitants, including old communes and the townships of Bonda and Guachaca. The
second town is “Historical - Rodrigo de Bastidas”, with 209,017 inhabitants from old
communities and the town of Taganga. The third town, known as “Pearl of the Caribbean”,
has 112,438 inhabitants of former communities and the town of Minca. Together, four rural
townships, such as “Bonda”, “Guachaca”, “Taganga” and “Minca”, which are located a few
kilometers from the city of “Santa Marta”, oering a dynamic fusion between urban and
rural. It is relevant that demographic densities vary, with locality 1 being the one with the
largest population. The map in the image presented in Figure 2 was adapted from the 2020
Management Report of the Mayor’s Oce of “Santa Marta” (Alcaldía Santa Marta, 2014;
2015; 2020).
In addition to what has been said, this same study focused on a population
of forty-one students, young adolescents from two school grades from a
Campus within a State School, belonging to a District Education Institution
in the city of “Santa Marta”. Through the application of the proposal of
Navarro, P (1981) for the application of participant observation carried
out in the year 2021, with the application of ethical and scientic integrity
protocols in the year 2022, and carrying out data collection through an
exploratory survey in the year 2023, to the aforementioned delimited group
of students in the Eighth and Ninth grades of high school, within normal
secondary education in Colombia, which is legally regulated (Congreso
Colombia, 1994).
During the year 2022, activities were carried out to disseminate the
purpose of the research in the population under study and during the
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Camilo Andrés Vargas Machado, Andrés Felipe Roncancio Bedoya, Diego Armando Lindao
Ruiz y Julie Armenta Calderón
Legal intervention of problems from the dialogue with youth and adolescents in the District of
Santa Marta Colombia
year 2023, three specic objectives were completed, which allowed the
identication of twenty-two keywords and twenty-two codes related to
persistent problems and emerging in the population community that was
studied.
Therefore, with the application of the mixed approach - qualitative
and quantitative - in this research, a deep understanding of the complex
phenomena that aect young adolescent students who constitute them as
a vulnerable population was obtained (Cazzato y Vargas, 2021), providing
recommendations signicant for the institutions and laying the foundations
for a second stage of the project. With this, the combination of qualitative
and quantitative methods that Hernández-Sampieri (2018) has already
described in this research provided a holistic and combined vision of the
reality studied, challenging academic conventions, and oering results
applicable not only in the legal eld, but also in the social sciences when
considering the current global interconnection and its culture of information
ows (Castells, 1997).
But at the same time, they positioned several emerging categories that
redened research, transcending the limitations of traditional guides and
opened new possibilities for the exploration and understanding of the
complexity of social problems in specic contexts of new and old problems,
which aect the young adolescent inhabitants who are studying secondary
education in the Colombian Caribbean (Alcaldía Santa Marta, 2014; 2015),
and in particular the diculties that young adolescents experience in the
District of Santa Marta (DNP, 2022).
1. Methodological Design
The methodological design of the research was based on a mixed approach
(Ñaupas et al., 2018) that amalgamated qualitative and quantitative
elements (Elías-Caro y De la Hoz, 2018), challenging academic conventions,
and reducing the limitations of the traditional separation between the two,
with the objective of achieving a more complete understanding of social
reality (Hammersley y Atkinson, 1994; Greene, 2007) investigated in an
urban environment.
By integrating these approaches, emerging and persistent problems in
the studied population could be more eectively addressed, enabling a deep
exploration of the social phenomena (Maxwell, 2019; Malinowski, 1982)
experienced directly by a segment of the Caribbean adolescent population.
Colombian. This methodological framework considered various limits,
such as time, geographic space, conceptual and theoretical, within an
established legal framework. Adopting a descriptive approach from an
interpretive paradigm, techniques such as participant observation were
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
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applied to intervene legally, focusing on the problems of young adolescent
students in a specic neighborhood of Santa Marta.
Data collection was conducted through exploratory surveys with a
specic group of young students, allowing for a deeper understanding
of the social and legal issues identied in the community. The results of
this legal intervention revealed signicant problems such as juvenile
delinquency, drug addiction, cyberbullying, discrimination and corruption
(MinInterior, 2022; Del Río, 2010), among others, identifying priority
areas of intervention and generating relevant recommendations to address.
these challenges.
During data collection, ethical protocols were applied to guarantee the
reliability and validity of the results, including the informed consent of
the participants, the condentiality of the information, and impartiality
in the interpretation of the data. Respect for the dignity and rights of the
participants was prioritized, ensuring that their participation was voluntary
and free of coercion, which ensured validity and ethics in the data collection
process.
2. Applied Legal Framework
The applicable legal framework was based on the parameters given by
Restrepo, O (2006), of the set of norms that govern social interactions and
establish the legal parameters for human behavior in a given context. This
framework encompasses laws, regulations and jurisprudence that guide
behavior and ensure justice and public order.
In the case of the Political Constitution of Colombia, it establishes
the fundamental principles and basic rights, such as human dignity and
equality, which inform the legal framework of the country (National
Constituent Assembly, 1991). Likewise, various national laws, such as Law
115 (Congreso Colombia, 1994), which structures the educational system,
and Law 30, which addresses the status of narcotic drugs, inuence daily
life and legal interventions. Law 1098 (Congreso Colombia, 2006), known
as the Code of Children and Adolescents, guarantees the rights of minors
and guides actions to protect their well-being.
Regulations such as Law 375 (Congreso Colombia, 1997a) and Law
1361 (Congress Colombia, 2009) address specic issues, such as youth
and family protection, respectively. Likewise, the local context, such as
Legislative Act 3 (Congreso Colombia, 1989), grants certain regions, such
as Santa Marta, a special status that requires specic legal attention. The
revised laws also address issues of discrimination, school coexistence
and corruption, reecting the diversity and complexity of legal and social
challenges in Colombia.
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Camilo Andrés Vargas Machado, Andrés Felipe Roncancio Bedoya, Diego Armando Lindao
Ruiz y Julie Armenta Calderón
Legal intervention of problems from the dialogue with youth and adolescents in the District of
Santa Marta Colombia
3. Issues Addressed and Solution Proposal
The reader must allow us to limit the distinction and the uses of locating
persistent and emerging problems, since these two concepts represent two
crucial facets of contemporary social dynamics, and their understanding
implies a deep exploration of their inherent characteristics and their impact
on the society. Initially, the notion of an emerging problem, according to
the perspective that has been developed in intervention bioethics in Brazil
(Garrafa, 2005; Garrafa and Dora, 2005). On the one hand, it conceives the
problem as a dynamic phenomenon that arises unexpectedly, challenging
established structures and generating a series of consequences that
reverberate in various aspects of social, economic, legal and political reality,
in a specic context and place.
Making this occurrence appear as a contemporary challenge, revealing
cracks in the societal framework in which it manifests itself. On the other
hand, the concept of persistent problem, outlined by Garrafa, and Porto
(2005), is presented as a constant phenomenon in that fabric of reality,
rooted in the inherent resistance to substantial changes, which has endured
in the time, challenging attempts at solutions due to their embeddedness in
the structural and cultural complexities of the interconnected system. With
this, persistence, far from being static, adapts to changing circumstances,
revealing its resistance to linear and supercial solutions. Thus, persistence
becomes a continuous challenge that challenges the eectiveness of
conventional responses, manifesting itself as the palpable expression of
deep-rooted structural and cultural dynamics.
For the same reason, the latent vitality of these problems demands
immediate and adaptive responses, moving beyond static predictability
and challenging disciplinary boundaries with their interconnected nature.
Infallibly, the fundamental dierence between emerging and persistent
problems lies in the temporality of their manifestation. While persistent
problems are rooted in the solidity of time, tenaciously defying attempts at
resolution, emerging problems unexpectedly burst onto the scene, defying
expectations and triggering the need for immediate responses.
Persistent problems act as monuments in the landscape of social
challenges, while emerging problems stand out for their dynamism and
ability to disrupt the positive status quo. Despite these dierences, both
problems share the quality of being dicult, demanding exible strategies,
interdisciplinary approaches and adaptive measures to address the
changing challenges of contemporary reality. Resulting in understanding
and action against these problems represent an invitation to reect on
human complexity and the need for innovative solutions in a constantly
evolving world.
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That said, the research problem addressed in the study carried out by
the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia focused on the identication and
analysis of persistent and emerging problems that aect the population of
young adolescent high school students in the Colombian Caribbean (UCC,
2018), specically in the “Once de Noviembre” neighborhood of Locality 1
of “Santa Marta”, which can be specied with the following question:
What is the problem of greatest attention from the perspective of the
experiential reality of the young adolescent students of secondary education in
eighth and ninth grade, of the Public Schools run by the Colombian State in the
low-income localities of the District of “ Santa Marta” in Colombia? (UCC, 2018,
p. 06)
Certainly, the combined study beneted from the idea that the
fusion of dierent approaches oers a more complete understanding of the
reality investigated and this approach challenges academic conventions
by embracing methodological diversity and answering questions more
broadly, the results obtained that are not only relevant to legal sciences,
but other disciplines are also applicable. For this, a rereading of Greene’s
work (2007) was carried out, which led to the conclusion that the mixed
approach is not only a methodological option, but an emerging paradigm
that redenes research and challenges researchers to explore new forms of
inquiry, since that it was crucial to apply participant observation (Navarro,
1981) rooted in ethnography to understand the intrinsic dynamics of the
population studied, composed of adolescent students.
Resulting in this technique, which led to the active participation of
researchers in the studied environment, allows a deeper understanding
of cultural practices and reveals meanings that would not otherwise be
evident. From the perspective of Geertz (1973), participant observation
is an interpretive act where the researcher seeks to understand the native
concepts that give meaning to actions and meanings in the cultural context,
however the application of this technique allowed an intimate connection
with the object of study and provided a contextualized perspective of the
social complexity of the Santa Marta District.
4. Target Population of Study
The selection of the sample was carried out after participant
observation (Navarro, 1981) that covered a continuous period of twelve
months, from February 2022 until the development of the test protocols
with free, autonomous, and informed consent. (Del Río, 2010). Applying
an exploratory survey (2010), as an instrument, it was applied in the
third quarter of 2023, covering forty-one adolescent students, of which
twenty-three were women and eighteen men, all residents of the “Once de
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Camilo Andrés Vargas Machado, Andrés Felipe Roncancio Bedoya, Diego Armando Lindao
Ruiz y Julie Armenta Calderón
Legal intervention of problems from the dialogue with youth and adolescents in the District of
Santa Marta Colombia
Noviembre” neighborhood in Santa Martha, Colombia. Identifying diverse
family structures, from nuclear families to single-parent and reconstituted
families, reecting the structural diversity present in contemporary society
(García y Lengua, 2018).
At the same time, parental occupations vary from traditional jobs such
as bricklaying and commerce to more atypical occupations such as social
media inuencer. Then, the attribution of the sociohistorical context was
established, evidenced in testimonies that refer to the internal armed conict
and its impacts on families (Arias, 2001). Where individual experiences,
such as the loss of a parent due to urban violence or the presence of parents
working in unconventional jobs, highlight the complex social realities these
young people face. With the variety of maternal occupations, from teachers
to sex workers, it reects the diversity of roles and responsibilities within
family and work dynamics. Taken together, these ndings reveal signicant
sociocultural.
No Names Nacionality Socioeco-
nomic
level
Gender
with
which
you
identify
Age Ethnicity Degree Family
group
composition
1 Student 1 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years White Eighth Nuclear
2 Student 2 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years Other Eighth Single
parent
family
3 Student 3 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 13 years Other Eighth Extended
family
4 Student 4 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 13 years Other Eighth Nuclear
5 Student 5 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Half
blood
Eighth Extended
family
6 Student 6 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years White Eighth Extended
family
7 Student 7 Other
nationality
Stratum 1 Female 15 years Half
blood
Eighth Single
parent
family
8 Student 8 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 13 years Half
blood
Eighth Nuclear
9 Student 9 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years White Eighth Nuclear
10 Student 10 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 13 years Half
blood
Eighth Nuclear
11 Student 11 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Other Eighth Nuclear
12 Student 12 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 13 years White Eighth Nuclear
13 Student 13 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 13 years Afro Eighth Nuclear
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
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14 Student 14 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 12 years White Eighth Nuclear
15 Student 15 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 13 years White Eighth Extended
family
16 Student 16 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 12 years Half
blood
Eighth Extended
family
17 Student 17 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 13 years Half
blood
Eighth Nuclear
18 Student 18 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Other Eighth Nuclear
19 Student 19 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 15 years Half
blood
Eighth Single
parent
family
20 Student 20 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years White Eighth Single
parent
family
21 Student 21 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years Other Eighth Extended
family
22 Student 22 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years White Eighth Nuclear
Diversity and complexity in the representative sample of forty-one
students, highlighting the need to understand the multiple dimensions that
inuence the lives of adolescents, as expressed by Rodríguez-Vega (2012)
in their analyzes of family and work structures in contemporary contexts.
No Names Nacionality Socioeco-
nomic
level
Gender
with
which
you
identify
Age Ethnicity Degree Family
group com-
position
23 Student 23 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years Afro Nineth Single
parent
family
24 Student 24 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Other Eighth Extended
family
25 Student 25 Colombian Stratum 3 Female 15 years Afro Nineth Single
parent
family
26 Student 26 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 15 years Afro Nineth Single
parent
family
27 Student 27 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 16 years Afro Nineth Nuclear
28 Student 28 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Other Nineth Extended
family
29 Student 29 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Half
blood
Nineth Nuclear
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Camilo Andrés Vargas Machado, Andrés Felipe Roncancio Bedoya, Diego Armando Lindao
Ruiz y Julie Armenta Calderón
Legal intervention of problems from the dialogue with youth and adolescents in the District of
Santa Marta Colombia
30 Student 30 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 16 years Half
blood
Nineth Single
parent
family
31 Student 31 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Other Nineth Nuclear
32 Student 32 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 15 years White Nineth Nuclear
33 Student 33 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Other Nineth Nuclear
34 Student 34 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 15 years Afro Nineth Single
parent
family
35 Student 35 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years Other Nineth Nuclear
36 Student 36 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years Other Nineth Nuclear
37 Student 37 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 15 years White Nineth Extended
family
38 Student 38 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years Afro Nineth Extended
family
39 Student 39 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 14 years White Nineth Nuclear
40 Student 40 Colombian Stratum 1 Female 16 years Half
blood
Nineth Recon-
stituted
family
41 Student 41 Colombian Stratum 1 Male 14 years White Nineth Nuclear
Table No. 01: Relationship of Young Adolescents as a Study Subject Population
Note: This Table wishes to present in nine columns the details and general aliations
of the forty-one young adolescent students interviewed as the subject population of the
study, where the rst column shows the numerical assignment of the participant, the second
column shows their identication where their names and surnames have been preserved, the
third column presents the nationality of each individual, the fourth shows their Colombian
socioeconomic “stratum”, the fth column shows the sexual identication, the sixth column
shows the age, the seventh column shows the ethnicity with which are recognized, the eighth
column presents the school grade they attend, the ninth column shows the type of family
composition. The table shows the general detail of the total number of young adolescent
students who participated in the research. It was prepared according to bioethical criteria
of privacy and condentiality, in application of Article 9 of the Universal Declaration on
Bioethics and Human Rights (Unesco, 2005)
5. Results and Findings Obtained
Categorically, the use of tools and their validation and analysis through
active participation in observation showed that all young Colombian
adolescents, belonging to the student body of the District Educational
Institution undergoing research in the district of “Santa Marta”, maintain
the belief that the main problem facing Colombia as a Nation-State today
lies in juvenile delinquency and crimes perpetrated by young people in the
capitals. At the regional level, concern over drug and narcotic consumption
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in cities stands out, with drug addiction and the use of hallucinogens
identied as the preeminent problem from the perspective and voices of
students. Given the above, it is necessary to address two variables in this
study: emerging problems and persistent problems.
From the exploration directed at the forty-one young adolescent
students, as detailed in Table 2 below, the reader will be able to observe
that twenty-one of them highlight the concern about juvenile delinquency
and crimes in the capitals as the main challenge they face. Colombia today.
In contrast, eight of those surveyed consider that discrimination and
stigmatization towards people with disabilities, women and the LGBTIQ+
population constitute the most pressing problem at the national level, being
directly linked to constitutional article 43 (1991), Decree 1444 (MinInterior,
2022) and Public Policy for Women (DNP, 2022).
From a dierent perspective, six teenage students highlighted
corruption and social decline as the main issues that concern them in the
country, in relation to Law 2195 (Congreso Colombia, 2022) and Law 2281
(Congreso Colombia, 2023). Likewise, three of them expressed concern
about the problem of drug addiction and drug use, while two identied
bullying, conicts in schools and cyberbullying as prominent issues. For
his part, a single student mentioned that teenage pregnancy is the main
concern at the national level, linked to Law 30 (Congreso Colombia, 1986),
Law 1620 (Congreso Colombia, 2013) and article 60 of Law 1098 (Congreso
Colombia, 2006).
For this reason, Table 2 shows the students’ perception of the
predominant problems in the Caribbean Region and the city of Santa
Marta. Ten of them identied drug and narcotic abuse as the main concern,
while another eight students pointed out the lack of respect and protection
of human rights as an evident problem in the region. Thus, seven students
expressed concern about juvenile delinquency and crime among minors
in the Caribbean Region and Santa Marta, in line with Law 74 (Congreso
Colombia, 1968) and Decree 1844 (Presidencia Colombia, 2018).
In the same context, four students emphasized discrimination and
stigmatization towards people with disabilities, women and the LGBTIQ+
community as a relevant problem. On the other hand, four other young
people mentioned cyberbullying and social media harassment as urgent
challenges. Three students pointed out poverty and extreme poverty
as prominent problems, while another three highlighted the lack of
communication in families. These concerns are supported by constitutional
principles and Law 1482 (Congreso Colombia, 2011).
In a dissimilar representation, one student identied teenage
pregnancy as a critical issue, while another highlighted corruption and
lack of employment in the Caribbean Region and Santa Marta, in line with
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Colombian Laws 375 (1997), 1361 (2009) and 1622 (2013). Regarding the
student’s discernment about the problems in Locality 1 of the Santa Marta
District, fourteen mentioned drug addiction as the main problem, while nine
expressed concerns about cyberbullying. Six students highlighted violence
as a relevant problem. Five students were concerned about unemployment
and lack of formal employment, and three identied corruption and
inuence peddling as a local problem, while two pointed out the lack of
guarantees in public services.
As explained by a student who mentioned stigmatization and
discrimination, while another considered child malnutrition as a problem
in her community. From these results, a diversity of concerns is evident
among young students, highlighting the need to address not only problems
at the national, regional, and local level, but also the dierent facets of each
identied challenge. This is because the variety of perspectives highlights
the complexity of the social reality faced by these young people, indicating
the importance of holistic approaches and specic measures to address
each problem eectively. Based on this, the voice of the studied population
reveals a penetrating perspective on the problems that aect Colombia,
the Caribbean Region, the city of Santa Marta and their own communities,
evidencing a complex network of social concerns and highlighting the
diversity of perspectives. and challenges in the contemporary panorama.
At the national level, juvenile delinquency and crime in capital cities
stands out as a preeminent concern, identied by twenty-one students as
the main problem. At this point of convergence, a shared sensitivity towards
public safety is manifested, but the urgency of addressing the roots of
juvenile delinquency in the urban environment of Locality 1, in the district
of “Santa Marta” is also highlighted. Given that, when exploring regional
concerns, drug and narcotic consumption emerges as a focus of attention,
pointed out by ten young people. This trend highlights the intersection
of public health and citizen security in the Caribbean and “Santa Marta”
Region.
However, persistent human rights violations and juvenile delinquency
also feature prominently in regional perceptions, underscoring the
complexity of the problems in this geographic area. The emergence of social
problems such as discrimination, cyberbullying and poverty indicates
that concerns transcend physical dimensions to address psychosocial and
economic challenges in the Caribbean Region. Whereas, by exploring the
challenges in their communities, students reveal a variety of problems
ranging from drug addiction to violence and lack of work.
This highlights the diversity of local concerns, with each community
facing unique challenges. Still, corruption and unreliability in public
services reinforce the idea that local problems are often related to structural
and governance deciencies. Furthermore, attention to cyberbullying and
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discrimination highlights the growing importance of challenges in the
virtual world and the need to address issues of inclusion and respect in the
digital age.
From a theoretical gure, the students’ responses coincide with the ideas
of thinkers who have explored the intersectionality of social problems, as
demonstrated by the attention to discrimination and stigmatization, which
reects the work of Crenshaw, K on the concept of intersectionality (1991).
This highlights how dierent forms of oppression are interconnected and
cannot be understood in isolation. As the manifestation of problems such
as violence, drug addiction and juvenile delinquency can also be related to
Durkheim’s theories on anomie and social dysfunction (Durkheim, 1987),
suggesting that these phenomena can arise when social norms and values
are weakened.
In this way, the variety of points of view on problems at the national,
regional, and local levels highlights the need to employ comprehensive
approaches to address the complexity of contemporary challenges, which,
according to what was mentioned, young adolescents not only They identify
obvious problems, such as crime, but also point out underlying issues such as
discrimination and lack of access to job opportunities. Resulting recognition
of the root causes and visible manifestations of problems indicates a critical
awareness of the need for diverse and sustainable interventions.
But, not only this, but the inclusion of emerging social issues, such as
cyberbullying and discrimination, was proposed, reecting the growing
importance of digital platforms in the lives of young people, guiding a
relevant approach to examine the ideas of Castells, M (1997) on the network
society, since they highlight the importance of networks and digital
communication in shaping social experiences. In response, it is suggested
that to fully understand current challenges, it is essential to consider both
online and oine social dynamics.
Everything gathered during the focus group of the total sample of
Students highlighted and conrmed two persistent problems that were
categorized as follows: i) Discrimination and stigmatization of people due
to certain situations or conditions is a signicant issue and that requires
necessary attention (Presidencia Colombia, 2022); and ii) Segregation,
exclusion, harassment and violence based on gender (UN, 1979) and
disability is a relevant problem that currently demands attention (UN,
2007; MinSalud, 2014). Noting that only two teenagers did not agree with
these statements.
Likewise, in the same focus group, thirty-four young people mentioned
that rejection, exclusion, persecution, and violence towards people with
disabilities, women and LGBTIQ+ people constitute an important problem
today. Only seven adolescents commented that they did not consider this
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topic as a problem of interest. Denitely, it was decisive that thirty-eight
young participants specically expressed that bullying (school bullying)
and cyberbullying (bullying through technological means) are emerging
problems that must receive attention today, since they directly aect young
people, however three Adolescents did not agree with this statement.
Figure 4: General Detail of Persistent and Emerging Problems
Determined from Saturation.
Note: This Table presents three columns with the intention of revealing to the reader
the validation obtained by all the young adolescent students, of the problems and problems
that they themselves perceive in their own reality, classied into three types as: the biggest
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problem In the Colombian context, the biggest problem is the Caribbean region, and the
biggest community problem. The quantity column represents the number of respondents
who mentioned that as the biggest problem, and the problematic column shows each of the
problems that were coded according to the responses generated. Here the table shows in
three columns the general detail of the persistent and emerging problems determined from
the saturation generated in the nal development. The elaboration was based on the data
collected in the application of instruments in the population participating in the research.
In Figure 4 seen above, it is evident that when consulting forty-one
young students about the main challenge that Colombia currently faces,
twenty-one highlighted concern about juvenile delinquency and crime in
the capital cities, disagreeing with that eight of those surveyed mentioned
that discrimination and stigmatization towards people with disabilities,
women and the LGBTIQ+ population constitute the most pressing problem
at the national level, directly related to article 43 of the Constitution (1991),
Decree 1444 (MinInterior, 2022), and the Public Policy for Women (DNP,
2022). That, in another representation, six other Students identied
corruption and social decomposition as the main concern in the country,
which is related to Law 2195 (Congreso Colombia, 2022) and Law 2281
(Congreso Colombia, 2023). Adding that three expressed concerns about
drug addiction and drug use, while two pointed out school bullying, school
conicts and cyberbullying as preeminent problems.
It is relevant that one student only considered that pregnancy in
adolescent women represents the main concern at the national level, linking
with Law 30 (Congreso Colombia, 1986), Law 1620 (Congreso Colombia,
2013) and article 60 of Law 1098 (Congreso Colombia, 2006), respectively.
Because when examining Figure 4, the perception of the students
regarding the predominant problems in the Caribbean Region and the
city of “Santa Marta” is revealed. In this context, ten students emphasized
the problem of drug and narcotic consumption as the main concern. In
addition, eight students emphasized the lack of respect and protection
of human rights as an evident problem in the region, in line with Law 74
(Congreso Colombia, 1968) and Decree 1844 (Presidencia Colombia, 2018).
Given that, four Students highlighted discrimination and stigmatization
towards people with disabilities, women and the LGBTIQ+ population as
a signicant problem. In contrast, four other young people indicated that
cyberbullying and harassment through social networks are challenges that
demand urgent attention.
In a similar sense, three students pointed out the situations of poverty
and extreme poverty in a part of the population as a prominent problem.
Agreeing with three others, they highlighted the lack of communication
in families, in accordance with the Colombian constitutional precepts of
articles 1, 2, 5, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20 (1991) and Law 1482 (Congreso Colombia,
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2011a). In addition to this, one student emphasized that pregnancy in young
people and adolescents represents a signicant challenge, while another
student highlighted corruption and lack of job opportunities as important
concerns in the Caribbean and Santa Marta Region, in line with the Law
375 (Congreso Colombia, 1997), Law 1361 (Congreso Colombia, 2009), and
Law 1622 (Congreso Colombia, 2013).
Regarding the students’ discernment about the problems in their own
communities in Locality 1 of the “Santa Marta” District, fourteen identied
drug addiction and drug use as the main concern, adding that nine young
adolescents pointed out cyberbullying or cyberbullying. as a common
concern in their communities. Likewise, six students highlighted violence
as a relevant problem in local society.
Understanding why ve students expressed their concern about
unemployment and the lack of job opportunities in their town. Three
students identied corruption and inuence peddling as a problem in
their community, while two students mentioned the lack of guarantees in
public and home services. And at the same time, one student mentioned
stigmatization and discrimination towards people with disabilities,
women and the LGBTIQ+ population as a local concern, while another
student highlighted cases of child malnutrition as a problem present in his
community and locality.
These ndings reveal a wide range of concerns among young adolescent
students, underlining the need to address not only problems at the national,
regional, and local levels, but also the various facets of each identied
challenge, which is due to the variety of perspectives highlights the
complexity of the social reality faced by these young people, emphasizing
the importance of adopting comprehensive approaches and specic
measures to confront each problem eectively. Based on this, from the own
voice of the population under study, a penetrating perspective is revealed
on the problems that impact Colombia, the Caribbean Region, the city of
Santa Marta and their own communities. It reveals a complex network of
social concerns, highlighting the diversity of perspectives and challenges in
the contemporary landscape.
Nationally, youth delinquency and crime in capital cities stands out as
a prominent concern, with twenty-one students identifying it as the main
problem. At this point of convergence, a shared sensitivity towards public
safety is evident, but it also underlines the urgency of addressing the roots
of youth crime in the urban environment of Locality 1, in the District of
Santa Marta. Given that, when exploring regional concerns, the problem
of drug and narcotic consumption, identied by ten young adolescents,
stands out, highlighting the convergence between public health and citizen
security in the Caribbean Region and Santa Marta. On the other hand,
the persistent violation of human rights and juvenile delinquency are also
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relevant aspects in the regional perception, which underlines the complexity
of the challenges in this geographical area. The presence of social problems
such as discrimination, cyberbullying and poverty indicates that concerns
encompass dimensions beyond the physical, addressing psychosocial and
economic challenges in the Caribbean Region.
Thus, by examining problems in their own communities, students reveal
a variety of challenges, from drug addiction to violence and unemployment,
highlighting the diversity of local concerns, with each community facing a
unique set of challenges. The corruption and lack of guarantees in public
services reinforce the perception that local concerns are often related to
structural and governance deciencies. Likewise, attention to cyberbullying
and discrimination highlights the growing importance of challenges in the
virtual realm and the need to address issues of inclusion and respect in the
digital age.
In this context, the diversity of perspectives on national, regional, and
local issues emphasizes the importance of adopting holistic approaches
to address the complexity of contemporary challenges. As noted, young
adolescents not only identify obvious problems, such as crime, but also
point to underlying problems, such as discrimination and lack of access
to job opportunities. Not only that, but recognition of the root causes and
visible manifestations of problems indicates a critical awareness of the
need for multifaceted and sustainable interventions, such as the inclusion
of rising social issues such as cyberbullying and discrimination, reects the
growing importance of digital platforms in the lives of young people.
Precisely, during the development of the focus group with the entire
sample, thirty-nine young adolescent students mentioned and conrmed
two persistent problems that were coded as follows: i) Discrimination and
stigmatization of people due to certain situations or conditions is a problem
of great relevance and that requires immediate attention (Presidencia
Colombia, 2022); and, ii) Segregation, exclusion, harassment and violence
based on gender (UN, 1979) and disability is a signicant problem that
needs immediate attention today (UN, 2007; MinSalud, 2014). Only two
of the young adolescents disagreed with these statements. From the same
focus group, thirty-four young people mentioned that rejection, exclusion,
persecution, and violence directed at people with disabilities, women and
LGBTIQ+ people are a signicant issue today. Only seven young adolescents
indicated that they did not consider this issue as a relevant concern.
So, it was notable that thirty-eight young participants emphasized that
bullying (school bullying) and cyberbullying (bullying through technological
means) are emerging problems that require attention today, since it directly
aects them.
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6. Examination and Analysis
Returning to what has been said up to this point, the given considerations,
moving on to calculate the mode, we must remember that Vásquez has
elucidated that the measure of central tendency that represents the most
frequent code in the responses of young adolescent students on the most
important problem, where the mode is simply the value that occurs “most
frequently” (1987, pp. 68, 70). In our case, the code with the highest
frequency will be the mode, and in this research the mode was: “Delinquency
and youth crime in capital cities” (Figure 4) with twenty-one repetitions of
the conglomerate of the forty-one participants.
Consistently, according to the data collected, youth delinquency and
crime in the capital cities is the problem that young adolescent students
mentioned most frequently as the most relevant, the same result that is
consistent with what was said previously. At the same time, the mean
and median, which, as Vásquez (1987) indicates, are measures that will
provide us with a more complete view of the distribution of the responses
of young adolescent students on the most important problem. So, since we
have an ordered set of data with forty-one observations, the median will
be the central value, and in this case, since the amount of data is odd, the
median will be the value in the central position. Since the code in the central
position is that of response 6, “No respect and no protection of human
rights,” (Figure 4) since there are 8 responses before and 8 responses after
this position.
From there, when calculating the average of the mean, we took all the
frequencies and divided by the total number of observations, which as
indicated were forty-one. Generating the following calculation:
Total, sum of frequencies = 21 + 14 + 10 + 9 + 8 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3
+ 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 130
Mean (average) = 130 / 41 ≈ 3.17 (approximated to two decimal places)
That is, the median was “No respect and no protection of human rights”,
and the mean was approximately 3.17, which were taken as additional
measures of central tendency that oer dierent perspectives on the
distribution of young students’ responses. teenagers. Perhaps, these data
allowed us to carry out content analysis to identify and analyze key words or
recurring themes in the answers given by young adolescent students. With
this content analysis, it reveals the concerns and key themes expressed by
the students, given that the keywords highlight the social, economic, and
cultural problems, which the students consider to be of greatest relevance
in their communities and environment, as shown in the Table 3 on record.
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Figure 5: Generation of Keywords Determined from the Interpretive Analysis of
Student Responses.
Juvenile delinquency, juvenile crime, capital cities.
1
Drug addiction, consumption, hallucinogens
.
2
Waste, drugs, narcotics.
3
Cyberbullying, Cyberbullying.
4
No respect, no protection, human rights.
5
Discrimination, stigmatization, disability, women, LGBTIQ+.
6
Keywords Generated from the Interpretive Analysis
Most important to least important
Delinquency in youth, crime in minors.
7
Violence, society.
8
Corruption, social decomposition.
9
Unemployment, lack of access, formal work.
10
Discriminatory treatment, stigmatization, disability, women, LGBTIQ+.
11
Corruption, influence peddling.
14
Poverty, extreme poverty.
15
Lack of communication, families.
16
School bullying, school conflicts, Cyberbullying, virtual bullying, Tics.
17
Lack of warranty, public services, home services.
18
Pregnancy, adolescent women.
19
Stigmatization, discrimination, disability, women, LGBTIQ+.
20
Drug addiction, consumption, narcotics.
13
Cyberbullying, harassment, social networks.
12
Child malnutrition.
21
Presence of corruption, lack of employment.
22
Note: List of twenty-one keywords determined from the interpretive analysis of the
responses of the Young Adolescent Students who participated in the research between
2022 and 2023. With own elaboration based on the data collected from the application of
instruments and the matrix of data.
7. Recommendations and Opportunities
From the exhaustive collection of data through exploratory surveys
directed at forty-one adolescent students, carried out by researchers from
the Cooperative University of Colombia, an insightful vision emerges about
the most pressing concerns that aect this demographic in the country, the
Caribbean Region, its community, and the city of “Santa Marta”.
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The hierarchical analysis of the responses, organized into twenty-two
codes, reveals recurring patterns and themes that require attention to
improve conditions and promote the well-being of both students and society
in general. Facing the reality of 51% of students who identied juvenile
delinquency and crime in capital cities as the most relevant problem, the
need to manage close collaboration with the authorities of Locality 1 and
the district of “Santa Marta” is highlighted.
This collaboration is essential to develop comprehensive prevention
and rehabilitation strategies, incorporating educational programs and
extracurricular activities focused on crime prevention, and with this
same approach we not only sought to change perception, but also provide
constructive alternatives for young people, thus establishing a positive
impact on the community.
At the same time, 34% of the students indicated concern about drug
addiction and the use of hallucinogens. Here, the need to review and
implement improvements in drug awareness and education programs is
highlighted, as well as oering counseling and support services to those who
may be facing addiction problems. The implementation of educational and
preventive programs in collaboration with local authorities, together with
the creation of safe spaces and community participation, can contribute
signicantly to improving security in “Santa Marta”.
In a scenario where 24% of students expressed concern about the
sale of drugs and narcotics, the importance of informing and explaining
to District Authorities their crucial role in advocating for stricter policies
and collaborating with authorities to combat tracking is highlighted. of
drugs in local communities. Analogously, the community, in turn, can play
an active role in reporting suspicious activities and promoting awareness
about the dangers of drug tracking, especially among youth, with a context
where the State District Educational Institution that is addressed, can play
a crucial role in providing education about the risks associated with drug
use and establishing support and counseling services.
In our opinion, cyberbullying - mentioned by 22% of the students
surveyed - emerges as a prominent problem, because both the University
Institution led by the research and the participating Educational Institution
can play a fundamental role in promoting awareness about cyberbullying.
This involves fostering a safe online environment and providing resources
for emotional support and prevention. Implementing awareness campaigns
in schools and communities, along with creating resources to support those
who have experienced online bullying, is positioned as an eective strategy
to address this evolving issue.
From the broader perspective of concerns expressed, 20% of students
expressed concern about the lack of respect and protection of human
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rights. In this context, the two educational institutions can partner to
lead educational initiatives that promote understanding and respect for
human rights, generating a culture of inclusion and tolerance. Due to the
need to strengthen educational programs that promote a culture of respect
and tolerance, it is reinforced through collaboration with organizations
that defend human rights, pointing out the importance of reviewing
the Coexistence Manual of the Educational Institution, to adequately
incorporate issues related to human rights and mutual respect.
In a broader scope, discrimination, and stigmatization of people with
disabilities, women and the LGBTIQ+ population, identied by 20%
of respondents, emerge as critical areas to address, with educational
institutions can implement inclusive policies, awareness programs
and training to ensure a respectful and welcoming environment for all.
From this, the promotion of diversity and the implementation of anti-
discrimination policies emerge as essential tools to build a more equitable
society, with the possibility for the participating Educational Institution to
lead initiatives that promote inclusion and respect, creating an environment
where everyone feels accepted.
Implicitly, with 15% of students mentioning violence in society and
corruption as concerns, the need to collaborate with governmental and non-
governmental organizations is highlighted. Attention to these structural
problems can be addressed through awareness programs and community
service projects, with a call for active community participation in anti-
corruption initiatives. The implementation of educational programs that
promote a culture of non-violence and ethics emerges as a key strategy,
urging the training of educational personnel to eectively address these
problems.
Peremptorily, in the reality that 12% of the students highlighted
unemployment and lack of access to formal jobs, the need arises for a
concerted collaboration with the Cooperative University of Colombia, in
coordination with its faculties of Law, Psychology and Health Sciences,
can strengthen professional guidance programs. Additionally, establishing
ties with local businesses and encouraging internship programs could
improve job opportunities for high school graduates. The collaboration
of local authorities with companies and organizations, together with the
strengthening of career guidance programs by educational institutions, can
be a crucial step to address the persistent problem of unemployment and
lack of access to formal jobs.
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Conclusions
This analysis of the concerns and challenges faced by adolescent
students in Santa Marta and more broadly in the Caribbean Region
highlights the need for coordinated and multifaceted action, with the
recommendations emerging as fundamental guides to address these
problems in a comprehensive and eective manner. Collaboration between
educational institutions, local authorities, civil society organizations and
the community in general is presented as a key element in the successful
implementation of these recommendations. The synergy between these
actors can generate a signicant impact on the lives of young people and
the construction of a more just and safe society.
From which we deduce the importance of education as a tool for change
and prevention stands out in all the recommendations, because educational
programs, extracurricular activities and awareness campaigns are
positioned as fundamental pillars to address the problems identied, since
education not only provides knowledge, but also promotes positive values,
attitudes and behaviors that can contribute to social transformation.
In accordance with, it is crucial that educational institutions assume an
active role in promoting prevention and awareness, for the strengthening
of curricular programs, the training of educational personnel and the
creation of safe and welcoming spaces are essential elements to guarantee
the success of these initiatives.
It is the case that community participation and commitment are
fundamental aspects for the success of any program or initiative, resulting
in the creation of strategic alliances between dierent social actors can
generate a multiplier impact and ensure the sustainability of the actions
undertaken. Resolutely, the recommendations and opportunities identied
from the analysis of the concerns of adolescent students in “Santa Marta”
and the Caribbean Region point towards the need for a comprehensive and
coordinated response, but collaboration between educational institutions,
local authorities, civil society and the community in general, together with
an approach focused on education, prevention and awareness, is presented
as the path towards building a more just, safe and inclusive society for
future generations.
And this process of continuous improvement is not only limited to
addressing the immediate concerns identied in the surveys, but also
promotes the construction of an educational and social environment that
promotes resilience, inclusion, and the comprehensive development of
young people. As corroborated by the attention to juvenile crime, drug
addiction, cyberbullying, discrimination, and other challenges, it not only
translates into the mitigation of specic problems, but also contributes
to the formation of conscious, ethical, and committed citizens. Needing
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exibility and adaptability of the proposed strategies are essential, since
social dynamics and challenges constantly evolve, since educational and
preventive programs must be able to adjust to the changing realities and
needs of young people, thus guaranteeing their relevance and eectiveness
over time.
In the comprehensive compendium, the promotion of active participation
of students in the design and implementation of initiatives is presented as
a key element, with the voice and perspective of the young people surveyed,
must be incorporated in all stages of the process, from the identication of
problems to the impact evaluation. This not only strengthens the students’
sense of belonging and responsibility, but also enriches the quality and
authenticity of the interventions.
And likewise, the incorporation of technology and innovation in
educational and prevention programs can signicantly enhance their
reach and eectiveness. Therefore, the creation of digital platforms,
mobile applications and other technological resources can facilitate access
to information, participation and monitoring of programs, especially
in a context where technology plays an increasingly central role in the
lives of people youths. For all this, it is essential to recognize that the
successful implementation of these recommendations implies a long-term
commitment and a comprehensive vision, since the construction of a safer
and more equitable society does not happen overnight, but each step taken
in the Right direction contributes to sustainable progress.
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Figure 6: Sample of Keywords Determined from the Interpretive Analysis of
Student Responses
Note: List of twenty-one keywords determined from the interpretive analysis of the
responses of the Young Adolescent Students who participated in the research between
2022 and 2023. With own elaboration based on the data collected from the application of
instruments and the matrix of data.
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With and from the students’ responses about the problems in their
communities, a complex web of challenges emerges that ranges from
drug addiction to violence and lack of employment and these concerns
reveal a surprising variability, where each community faces a unique
set of challenges. With epilogue the focus shifts to corruption and lack
of safeguards in public services, suggesting that local concerns are often
rooted in structural and governance deciencies.
Agree that attention towards cyberbullying and discrimination highlights
the growing importance of challenges in the virtual space, underscoring the
need to address issues of inclusion and respect in the digital age. With a
theoretical perspective, the students’ responses are related to the ideas of
thinkers such as Crenshaw, K, who has explored the intersectionality of
social problems (2008), highlighting how various forms of oppression are
interconnected.
Likewise, Durkheim’s theories on anomie and social dysfunction are
echoed (1987), suggesting that phenomena such as violence and drug
addiction can arise when social norms are weakened. Surely the diversity
of perspectives highlights the importance of adopting holistic approaches
to address the complexity of contemporary challenges, with young people
not only identifying obvious problems such as crime, but also pointing out
underlying issues such as discrimination and lack of access to opportunities
labor issues, and this critical awareness underscores the need for
multifaceted and sustainable interventions.
Today, the inclusion of emerging problems, such as cyberbullying,
reects the growing relevance of digital platforms in the lives of young
people, making it valuable to address Castells’ (1997) ideas about the
network society, which gain importance by highlighting the inuence
of networks. and digital communication in social experiences. Fully
understanding current challenges involves considering both online and
oine dynamics. As in the quantitative analysis, the mode of the responses
reveals that juvenile delinquency and crime in capital cities are perceived as
the most relevant problem by 51% of the students.
However, the media highlights “No respect and no protection of
human rights,” suggesting a diversity of concerns. Averaging the mean,
approximately 3.17, provides additional insight into the distribution of
responses.Content analysis identies keywords that highlight the most
relevant social, economic and cultural problems. Juvenile crime, drug
addiction, discrimination and cyberbullying are recurring themes that
deserve attention. The detailed breakdown of these keywords provides a
more complete view of the concerns expressed by students.
It is seen that the recommendations focus on collaborative and
multifaceted strategies, as is the case of addressing juvenile delinquency,
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where close collaboration with local authorities and educational programs
focused on prevention is proposed, or drug addiction requires improving
awareness and services. of support, therefore, the ght against drug
tracking involves collaboration between authorities and the community.
Whether cyberbullying requires awareness programs and safe online
environments, lack of respect for human rights highlights the importance
of educational initiatives and inclusive policies, or discrimination and
stigmatization requires anti-discriminatory policies and awareness
programs. Violence and corruption need community service projects and
public awareness.
But the relationship between unemployment and lack of access to
formal jobs can still be addressed through career guidance programs and
collaboration with local businesses, with inter-institutional collaboration,
including authorities, educational institutions and community organizations,
being essential to successfully implement these recommendations. This
dynamism of social problems and their roots in contemporary reality is a
phenomenon that awakens intellectual curiosity and the need to understand
their origins and manifestations.
From Garrafa, V (2005), the emerging problem is dened as an unforeseen
ash that challenges established structures, triggering repercussions that
reverberate in all areas of society, and this dynamic phenomenon, in its
unpredictable essence, reveals ssures in the societal fabric, demanding
agile and adaptive responses to challenges that transcend disciplines and
borders, being the emergency, impregnated with latent vitality, inscribed
in the narrative of the unforeseeable, interweaving converging factors in
a complex network of interactions. For its part, the persistent problem, as
outlined by Garrafa, V and Porto, D (2005), shows the need to glimpse the
social fabric, challenging attempts at solutions due to its roots in structures
and resistance inherent to change.
From everything expressed, the conclusion is that the study carried out
among adolescent students in Colombia sheds light on the diversity and
complexity of the problems faced by contemporary society, starting with
juvenile delinquency and discrimination to corruption and drug addiction,
young people identify concerns that range from the local to the national,
underscoring the need for holistic and specic approaches to each challenge.
Based on the students’ perception, it reveals a deep understanding of
the social realities that surround them, highlighting the intersection of
social, cultural, and economic factors in the conguration of emerging
and persistent problems. Opposition that, at the regional level, such as
drug consumption and the violation of human rights occupy prominent
places, evidencing the complexity of the challenges faced by the Caribbean
Region and the city of “Santa Marta”, with social problems, such as
Discriminatory treatment and poverty transcend physical dimensions to
241
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 42 Nº 80 (2024): 214-246
address psychosocial and economic challenges, underscoring the need for
integrated approaches and context-specic measures.
Finally, the correlation between emerging and persistent problems
reveals the complexity and dynamism of contemporary social reality,
nding that through the eyes of young adolescent students, the intersection
of social, cultural, and economic factors that shape the problems they face
can be seen. society, highlighting the importance of holistic and adaptive
approaches to address the changing challenges of our reality.
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