4).

Science now knows that all children grow in much the same pattern: rapidly at first, then more
slowly, but very quickly when puberty arrives. Studies have shown that this general pattern leaves room
for considerable individual variation: in the child’s overall speed of growth, in the ages at which he grows
most rapidly; and the trajectory he follows to reach his destined height.
5). Learners respond different to academic stimuli the greatest increase is found in young adults who as
school children were especially interested in high marks. From there to other findings, the researcher
have concluded that every person has certain “constitutional” traits that influence the way his body
organs respond to stress.
6). Nearly all human behavior is learned rather inherited. Man’s stage by stage development from
childhood is a necessity to give him time to acquire the mass of information and skills without which he
could not survive as an adult.
Early Childhood
Refers to that stage between 2 years to 6 years. This is critical period wherein the foundation for later
development is laid. Growth trends in physical aspects and body proportion in rapid. Motor skill develop
at this stage is dependent on the child’s physical condition. At this stage the undergoes changes in his
pattern of intellectual development. Emotions is easily stimulated, openly expressed and felt most
strongly. As for social development, at an early age, the child already develops his self-concept and sex-
role identification in the family with his relationship in the family with his relationship with other people.
Characteristic of Early Childhood
Problem Age and Trouble Age most of problem and trouble centers are more than the physical care of
baby hold it develops the distinctive personalities and demand an independence which, in most cases,
they are incapable of handling successfully.
Toy Age most children spend their waking time playing with toys although toy play decreases when they
reach school age.
Pre-school Age they are not yet old enough physically and mentally to cope with the work they well be
expected to do in their formal schooling.
Pregang Age children are learning the foundations of social behavior as a preparation for the more
highly organized social life they will be required to adjust to when they enter the first grade.
Exploratory Age children want to know what their environment is, how it works, how it feels, and how
they can be a part of it.
Questioning Age one common way of exploring in early childhood is by questions; thus, referring to this
situation.
Creativity Age most children show creativity in their in their play during early childhood more than any
other time in their lives.

Late Childhood
This stage comes at the age 6 years to 12 years which coincide with the elementary schooling age from
Grade 10 One up to Grade Six. The child’s entrance to the first grade which is the beginning of late
childhood requires major changes in the pattern of his life even if they already have a year or more
experience in the preschool situation. At first, the child may experience a state of dis equilibrium:
emotionally disturbed and difficult to work with. As entrance to formal schooling is a milestone in a
child’s life, he is responsible for the changes that take place in attitudes, values and behavior.

Characteristics of this Stage

Troublesome age at this stage when children are no longer willing to do what they are told to do and
when they are more influenced by their peers than by their parents and other family members.
Sloppy age the time when children become careless and slovenly about their appearance and when their
rooms are so cluttered that it is almost impossible to get into them.
Quarrelsome age a time when emotional climate of the home is far from pleasant for all family
members.
Elementary school age it is the time when the child expected to acquire the rudiments of knowledge
that are considered essential for successful adjustment to adult life.
Critical period a time when children form the habit of being achievers, underachievers, or overachievers.
Gang age the time when children’s major concern is acceptance by their peers and membership in a
gang.
Age of conformity children are willing to conform to group approved standards in terms of appearance,
speech, and behavior.

Adolescence
Comes from the Latin word means “adolescere” meaning ‘to grow” or “to grow to maturity”. Today, the
term adolescence has a broader meaning. It includes mental, emotional, and social maturity as physical
maturity.

Adolescence is a period of change the rate of change in attitudes and behavior parallels the rate of
physical change.
Adolescence is a problem age first, if previously in their childhood, their problems were met and solved
by parents and teachers, as they grow more mature, they have the expectancy that they could manage
themselves somehow. Second, adolescents feeling that they are independent rebuffing whatever
attempts any adult, parent, or teacher may extend.
Adolescents is a time to search for identity one of the ways adolescents try to establish themselves as
individuals is by the use of status symbols in the form of clothes, hairdos, music and any material
possessions.
Adolescence is a time of unrealism it is in this period that most young adults view the world and
themselves in rose-tinted glasses. They see themselves and others as they would like them to be rather
than as they are.

Human Rights
Are those rights which are essential for us to live as human being. Without human rights, we cannot fully
develop ourselves and use our human qualities, our intelligence, our talent and our spirituality. There are
five interrelated postulates which stand out: First, the value of respect and its constituent element of
reciprocal tolerance and mutual forbearance are understood to be inherent among individuals and
groups in the sharing of wealth, enlightenment and other cherished values. Second, human rights refer
to a wide continuum of value claims ranging from the most justiciable to the most aspirational despite
varying environmental circumstances and differing world views. Third, if a right is determined to be a
human right, it is general or universal in character. Fourth, human rights are not absolute. Fifth, human
rights are commonly assumed to refer to what is fundamental as distinct from nonessential.

The Rights of the Child

Children’s rights are defined in numerous ways, including a wide spectrum of civil, cultural, economic,
social, and political rights. Rights tend to be two general types: those advocating for children as
autonomous persons under law and those placing a claim on society for protection from harms
perpetrated on children because of their dependency. These have been labeled as the right of
empowerment and as the right to protection. Children’s rights are classified into three categories:
1.Provision - Children have the right to an adequate standard of living, health care, eduvation and
services, and to play and recreation.
2.Protection – Children have the right to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination.
3.Participation- Children have the right to participate in communities and have programs and services
for themselves.
Every child should enjoy the following rights:

Right to life, the most fundamental of such rights_ Every child has the right to live and

grow up in a healthy, peaceful atmosphere. thus, he should be given proper nutrition and

medical attention.

Right to a name and a nationality. Every child should be given a name and identified by

his nationality.

Right to protection from forms of violence including, sexual exploitation.

Every child, whether male or female, is not to be indulged with in sexual intercourse

or lasciviousness by coercion or influence whether for money, profit, Or any consideration.

Right to education. Every child should receive formal education in order to be

functionally literate.

Right to freedom Of thought. Every child possesses human intelligence which allows him

the freedom to a thinking process and creative endeavor.

Pertinent Facts on Filipino Children and Youth

The Children, Forty-five percent (45%) or about 33 million Of the Philippine population

are children aged 17 and younger. Majority or 13.85% of this group are aged years.

Heal'". The UN has reported that an estimated 6 million Filipino children

malnourished, 60,000 of them are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, while at least 66

under the age of six do not have childcare For every IMO infants born, almost 43 die instantly

due to illness, malnutrition, absence of medical services and other causes, More than uf

children aged five and younger suffer from severe malnutrition. "thirty percent (30%)
aged five and younger have been to be suffering from stunted growth. Forty-nine

percent (49%) of all infants and twenty-six percent (26%) of children aged one to six suffer

from iron-deficiency anemia.

Poor Filipino families are deprived of access not only to education but health care as

(PDI, Sept. 22, 2005). "In health, for example. infant and mortality rates for babies below

5 years old, are 2.3 and 2.7 times higher for households in the poorest groups striking

differences highlights the continuing differences in living standards and access to health care.

Poor families would usually forgo health care. or burrow money at usurious rates, sell the

few assets they have, or pull children out of school, to afford health services they need for

catastrophic illnesses.

Lack of Education. Sixty percent (60%) of children in the elementary grades stop schooling

upon reaching the second grade due to the high cost of education related expenses such as

snacks, books, various school fees, transportation and others. Their chances of entering high

school or college grow even slimmer due to the very high cost of tuition and Other educational

expenses. More than a third of the 42,000 barangays all over the country have elementary

schools that do not Offer the full six grades. Similarly, there is a woeful lack of teachers. Only

70 towns have high schools. There are even less colleges.

Work. Filipino children enter the working force early. At the age of five or six, a child

is usually made to work to help his or her family. Worse, there are children forced into

prostitution and subjected to sexual abuse. Five to 5.7 million of all children work, including

25,000 child domestic helpers. One and a half million of children are estimated to roam the

streets of the country’s urban areas as itinerant peddlers. Among them are 60,000 to 100,000

children Who are forced into prostitution and become pawns of criminal syndicates.

United Nations Report

Nothing can be more alarming than the United Nations report about the youth worldwide

(Phil. Daily Inquirer, Oct. 6, 2005). In this section, The World, the headline reported that

young people today are better educated than any previous generations. However, there are

130 million youths still illiterate, more than half a billion live on less than 2 dollars a day, and

88 million are unemployed. Most of these young people are from South Asia, East Asia, and

Sub-Sahara Africa. The report States that around 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 are;

1. increasingly seeking the bright lights of cities, engaging in international activities;

2. becoming more influenced by the global media than by their own families and

communities;

3. living on less than 2 dollars a day or surviving on less than I dollar a day in 2002;

4. currently living With HIV or AIDS;

5. reaching adolescence earlier;

6. marrying later;

7. increasingly engaging in premarital sex although early pregnancy has declined in

many countries;

8. increasing in the use of synthetic drugs mostly in recreational settings;

9. being affected by increase in violent conflict, both as perpetrators and victims.

The situation of youth in a country is most Often affected by the condition Of the infant

upon birth. That is, there is a tendency to healthy babies born and reared in a good home

environment to grow up and develop in a most normal and natural way. In the Philippines,

the existing condition Of babies born With deadly disorders was published in a daily paper

Of national circulation (POI, Oct. 14, 2005). The following findings were reported by the
Department Of Health.

I. Some 33.000 Filipino babies born every year are suffering from threatening congenital metabolic
disorders;

2. This congenital disorders are:

a. Hyperthyroidism (CH) -a disease caused by the under activity of the thyroid

gland resulting in the under-production of thyroid hormones essential for

normal physical growth and development

b. Galactosemia (GAL) —is a hereditary disease that is caused by the lack Of a liver

enzyme required to digest galactose.

c. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) - pertains to a set of inherited

disorders that occur because of excess production of male hormones.

d. Phenylketonuria a hereditary disease caused by the lack of a liver

enzyme required to digest phenylalanine.

e. Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency - the most common

genetic enzyme that can cause premature destruction of red blood cells

(hemolytic anemia) when affected individual is exposed to certain foods,

medications, chemicals or pollen.

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Report

A three-day consultation led by UNICEF with fifty-one delegates aged 11—17 years Old

has confirmed the details of the report about children's experiences from 1990—2005. As a

summary, the delegates said that society's harsh treatment of children " crippless their pursuit

Of contentment, and blinds them to the light at the end of the tunnel." This means that their

opportunity to grow and become productive has been hampered by the way they are raised

and treated in the community. Here are some more findings of the UNICEF:
 1. Illegal drug syndicates now prefer to hire children as drug runners because of their

loyalty to their employers and elusiveness to government law enforcers.

2. Filipino child laborers now endure amounts Of stress that is equivalent to What

adults suffer at work.

3. Upgrades in media technology are actually harmful to children, whose sole venue

for "socialization" had switched from the nanny (yaya) to the television.

4. More children are left unattended or in the care Of a dysfunctional family set up

because more mothers leave for work in the cities or abroad.

5. Children are finally developing their own biases, which perpetuate conflicts. When

surveyed, Christian children portrayed their Muslim counterparts as rude and

violent; and Muslim children described their Christian playmates as "land grabbers .

Causes of the Situation

1. Poverty. Although in most instances, the blame for violence and Other forms of

abuse and maltreatment falls on poverty, different dimensions other than inadequate

income should be examined. The report to UN said that poverty in the Philippines is

characterized by "a chronic or cyclical condition Of deprivation Of basic services that

includes basic education, durable housing, and clothing.

2. Change in work landscape. "There are 5.13 million Filipinos who are considered poor. In

1993, sixteen percent (16%) of households with children below 12 were left unattended

or with no adult supervision. This is the result of "limited economic opportunities

which changed the work landscape creating solo parenting.

3. Weakness in "there are laws for the protection of children as discussed

previously; but the problem is the implementation of these laws Which has newer been
done seriously and strictly to the extent that perpetrators and violators go unpunished.

Cabreta (2005) gave the following suggestions to improve the condition of Filipino

children and make the society more conscious of the situation:

1. increase budgetary allocation;

2. draft "specific legislation" that would criminalize child pornography and pedophilia;

3. create laws that institutionalizes a juvenile justice system to promote rehabilitation;

and

4. make mandatory policies for the government to consult children about laws

affecting them.

In Nashk study (2005) the recommendations were:

I) the immediate delivery of basic services to Communities affected by armed conflicts;

2) development of income-generating opportunities for families in these areas;

3) inclusion of the issue of child soldier in the peace process; and,

4) formulation of methods and strategies addressing children's developmental needs,

The United Nations International labor Organization (UN-ILO) Report

In a separate study, the United Nations-International labor Organization (UN-ILO) reported

that Filipino children are being recruited for the armed conflict in Central Mindanao. The

UN-ILO regards this as the worst form of child labor.

The report was the result of a two-year work in coordination with various groups such

as the local government units and the UN-ILO. Yap (2005) states that "Filipino children

take up arms voluntarily as their way out of poverty and abuse. The result of this nationwide

study of almost 200 children involved in armed rebel groups, as well as government•

backed paramilitary groups is shown in detail in the new book, Deadly Playgrounds: The

Phenomenon of Child Soldiers in the Philippines".