The Child and adolescent learner The situation of Filipino children and adolescents

Prepared by: Jenelyn Rey

Figures:
The age structure of the Philippines population is as follows: 0-14 years: 34.9% (male 17,809,044/female 17,104,237) 15-64 years: 60.9% (male 30,384,504/female 30,410,691) 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 1,808,966/female 2,382,735) (2010 est.)

Important national rates in the Philippines include:

Birth rate: 25.68 per 1000 citizens Death rate: 5.06 deaths per 1000 citizens Infant mortality rate: 19.94 deaths per 1000 births Fertility rate: 3.23 children per woman Literacy rate: 92.6% for those 15 and older

The Situation of Filipino Children and Young Persons The situation of the marginalized Filipino child is disheartening.

Young children are beaten black and blue by parents/ relatives rendering them incapable to walk or even talk straight.

Children become victims of sexual or physical abuse, child labor, malnutrition, parental neglect, ending up roaming the streets of Metro Manila.

The sight o street children knocking on car windows, selling sticks of cigarettes and sampaguita garlands, are smacks of the many faces of poverty and the stark reality of the plight of the abandoned children.

Addressing the problem

Youth oriented programs/projects sponsored by NGO's and other private and public entities primarily put up to help the Filipino child.

Child advocacy has been on-going project of the media, as they feature stories on youth education and child welfare.

TV networks educate the youth through a series of documentaries on child abuse and exploitation.

A number of ways have been tried, both by the government and the private sector, to help solve the problem of the growing number of street children. Free public education, outreach programs, and community service centers have all done their part to help alleviate the suffering that so many youngsters undergo. They have done what they can to give these children hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Facts and figures

The National Statistics Office (NSO) 1995 survey of children 5-17 years old (NSO, 1998) estimated: * 14.8 % overall child labor incidence > with 2.4% working among those aged 5-9 years > 17.1% working among those aged 10-14 years > 33.7% among those aged 15-17 years Every day in Manila, more than 75,000 children play, work, beg, and sleep on the streets of the city. Today, some will die. (Philippine Children's Foundation) Merlinda R . Hernando Described the alarming situations of the Filipino child which is visible in numerous studies conducted and which showed that in the Philippines: Over 1 million children are victims of child labor - half of them are exposed to hazardous conditions ; About 100,000 of them are abused every year ;About 300,000 roam the streets.

Latest statistics also points to about 7 million malnourished children

In view of these concerns:

Private organizations have joined the government in seeing the interests of the child is protected and in giving the Filipino child a life equivalent to his worth.

Children's Hour (1999)

Called individuals and companies to donate an hour of their earnings in support to programs for the welfare and development of the child and the youth.

Some of the projects of Childrens hour are: Center of Excellence in Public Elementary Education (Centex). The emergence of technology as an integral teaching tool
created a wider gap between private and public schools. CENTEX aims to narrow this gap by designing its curriculum to give technology prominence across all subject areas. The intent of CENTEX is to ensure that all its students from marginalized families become successful, lifelong learners prepared for the complex challenges of the information age of the 21st century.

Sharing the Light aims to increase English, reading and writing

proficiency in public school students through the rehabilitation of public high school libraries, including the conduct of librarian training and reading programs.

School-Based Psychosocial Program for Children of Overseas Filipinos addresses the psychosocial cost of migration to

children of overseas Filipinos and promotes an environment that inspires them to aspire for excellence in education by realizing the value of their parents hard work abroad.

St. Bernard Educational Trust Fund is a special project for

orphaned survivors of the massive Leyte landslide in February 2006. The project spans 11 years, since Childrens Hour committed to support 56 scholars from elementary thru high school.

Ang Panaghoy ng mga Bata

Sponsored by BPI Foundation ;Spearheaded to provide healing of those children traumatized by calamities. The PANAGHOY CHILDRENS FOUNDATION, INC (PCF) is a non-profit, nonstock and tax-exempt non-government organization in the Philippines established in 2005, licensed under Securities and Exchange Commission

Registration No. CN200604316. PCF works for the protection of children in Bohol through basic education, food and school rehabilitation. The organization is recognized for its efforts in advocating basic education, believing that it is the only way to be able to sustain or even uplift living conditions in their respective hometowns. It has been the organizations advocacy that education should not focus alone on the manner of teaching, but also on the schools infrastructure to make learning much conducive to students. Moreover, it has also provided assistance to poor but deserving children in Bohol through educational scholarships. Apart from giving scholarships, the organization also looks after the health and well-being of children as well as their families through monthly medical missions. With most children receiving little or no food at all in their respective home, PCF has made it an advocacy to conduct monthly feeding programs in schools and in far-flung towns in Bohol. The organization believes that children should maintain proper nourishment especially during their tender years.

Other related projects:

CRIBS Create Responsive Infants by Sharing
CRIBS became a licensed and accredited child-caring agency in 1981 by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. It is a non-stock, non-profit, non-government organization whose funding comes mostly from private sources. An all-volunteer Board of Directors and Board of Advisers helped raise an endowment fund for the agency. CRIBS grew out of a response to the hundreds of infants rejected and given up every year and to the increasing number of abused, traumatized children.

Filiae Aesculapii (Daughters of Aesculapius)

An all girls organization from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center College of Medicine The organization is composed of young people who commit themselves to offering their selfless service to others through medical and surgical missions particularly in the remote areas.