MODULE 1

The Child and Adolescent

Learners
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
• Define the terms childhood and adolescence
• Differentiate between a child and an adolescent
• Identify pertinent provisions on the rights of children and young persons
• Describe the current state and situation of Filipino children and adolescents.

Introduction
This module will acquaint the learner with the basic concepts of child and adolescent
learners. The definitions of childhood and adolescence coming from various sources and
authorities will be looked into, as well as the rights of children and young people. Further,
this module will also look into the current state and situation of the Filipino children and
young persons. As a pre-service teacher, you need to understand these concepts that you
may be able to provide your learners the best learning experience as you deal with them
effectively in teaching-learning situations.

Discussion
CHILDHOOD
So let us start by asking the question:
What is childhood?

UNICEF defines childhood as the time

for children to be in school and at play,
to grow strong and confident with the
love and encouragement of their family
and an extended community of caring
adults.

According to the Merriam Webster

Dictionary, childhood refers to the time
or state of being a child, the early stage
in the existence or development of
something. From a historical
perspective, it is an evolving series of steps, usually constant, towards adulthood, influenced
by an extensive array of forces and ideas, like ethnicity, class, religion, gender, and politics.

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Childhood connotes a time of innocence, where one is free from responsibility but
vulnerable to forces in his environment. It suggests a period where one enjoys closeness
with parents and shared expectations.

Changing Patterns of Childhood

The ways of child-rearing may vary from one culture to another. However, there were
similarities in the ways children grow up. One thing, all children were educated to meet the
needs of their communities. For instance, some children were raised to become farmers.

Members of every cultural group raised children

to understand their particular traditions including
religious faiths, proper use of resources, the
importance of family, and appreciation for the
larger culture. Each group developed and passed
along to the next generation's beliefs to sustain
them and rituals to remind them of their heritage.

Many of the issues that have characterized

children’s experiences in the past continue to
shape their lives up to the present. Where there
are changes in the demographics, economics,
politics, and ethics of childhood, the basic markers for becoming an adult—completing one's
schooling, finding an occupation, marriage, remained the same (Calvert, 1992).

ADOLESCENCE
Adolescence (latin adolescentia, from adolescere, “to grow up”) is
the period of psychological and social transition between childhood
and adulthood. “Adolescent” and “teenager” are synonymous in
common usage in English countries. Adolescence is also defined
as the transitional stage of human development in which a juvenile
matures into an adult. The transition involves biological, social, and
psychological changes.

As a modern cultural and social phenomenon, “adolescence” and

its end-points are not tied to physical milestones. The word is
derived from the Latin noun dolor meaning “pain”. It is the stage
where the person experiences dramatic changes in the body along
with developments in his psychology and career. The onset of
adolescence sees children as having completed elementary school
and are about to enter secondary education. Between early
childhood and teenage years is pre-teen.

The ages of adolescence vary by culture. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines
adolescence as the period of life between 10 and 19 years of age. In the US for example,
adolescence is the period that begins between ages 12 and 14 and ends at 19 or 20.

During this period, most children go through the stages of puberty which in recent times
would refer to ages nine and thirteen. Most cultures regard people as becoming adults at
various ages of the teenage years.

A teenager or teen is a person whose age is a number ending in “teen”, someone from the

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age of 13 to 19. This word is of recent origin only having appeared in the mid-20th century.
Equivalent words in other languages may apply to a larger age bracket including pre-teens.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT TASK 1

For your assessment task, please proceed to the activity sheet provided at the end of this
module.

THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS

Presidential Decree no. 603 dated December 10, 1974 listed down the Rights of Children
and Young Persons. This was aimed at understanding children better and for the Filipino
teacher to be more aware of the children’s rights. The code contained the following
provision:

To understand and help children better, every Filipino teacher needs to be cognizant of such
rights. The provisions of the Code regarding such rights are as follows:

All children shall be entitled to the rights herein set forth without distinction as to legitimacy
or illegitimacy, sex, social status, religion, political antecedents, and other factors.

1. Every child is endowed with the dignity and worth of a human being from the moment of
his conception, as generally accepted in medical parlance, and has, therefore, the right
to be born well.
2. Every child has the right to a wholesome family life that will provide him with love, care
and understanding, guidance and counseling, and moral and material security.
3. The dependent or abandoned child shall be provided with the nearest substitute for a
home.
4. Every child has the right to a well-rounded development of his personality to the end that
he may become a happy, useful and active member of society.
5. The gifted child shall be given opportunity and encouragement to develop his special
talents.
6. The emotionally disturbed or socially maladjusted child shall be treated with sympathy
and understanding, and shall be entitled to treatment and competent care.
7. The physically or mentally handicapped child shall be given the treatment, education and
care required by his particular condition.
8. Every child has the right to a balanced diet, adequate clothing, sufficient shelter, proper
medical attention, and all the basic physical requirements of a healthy and vigorous life.
9. Every child has the right to be brought up in an atmosphere of morality and rectitude for
the enrichment and the strengthening of his character.
10. Every child has the right to an education commensurate with his abilities and to the
development of his skills for the improvement of his capacity for service to himself and to
his fellowmen.
11. Every child has the right to full opportunities for safe and wholesome recreation and
activities, individual as well as social, for the wholesome use of his leisure hours.
12. Every child has the right to protection against exploitation, improper influences, hazards,

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and other conditions or circumstances prejudicial to his physical, mental, emotional,

social and moral development.
13. Every child has the right to live in a community and a society that can offer him an
environment free from pernicious influences and conducive to the promotion of his health
and the cultivation of his desirable traits and attributes.
14. Every child has the right to the care, assistance, and protection of the State, particularly
when his parents or guardians fail or are unable to provide him with his fundamental
needs for growth, development, and improvement.
15. Every child has the right to an efficient and honest government that will deepen his faith
in democracy and inspire him with the morality of the constituted authorities both in their
public and private lives.
16. Every child has the right to grow up as a free individual, in an atmosphere of peace,
understanding, tolerance, and universal brotherhood, and with the determination to
contribute his share in the building of a better world.

Under both domestic and international law, children’s right to be protected from harm and
have their basic physical and social needs provided is a basic consideration. Traditionally,
the rights of children have been limited by considerations about their inherent vulnerability,
in particular in concerns about their capacity to manage political and civil participatory rights.
Lately, there has been a shift in attitude toward children. Where before the concern was only
welfare-oriented, that is providing children’s basic welfare needs, now, the children are
regarded as holders of a wider range of rights which include the right to express their views
and participate in decision-making on matters directly affecting them. This shift in emphasis
was reflected in the Children Act of 1989, a legislative measure and now the central pillar of
law and policy relating to children.

International law has provided some guidance to law and policy makers along these lines.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC), the most widely
ratified international human rights treaty in existence, was ratified by the United Kingdom
(UK) in 1991. It provides a comprehensive listing of rights for children, social, economic,
cultural, civil, and political. It explicitly defines the need for policy and decision makers to put
the interests of children over and above other concerns. Article 12 of the UNCRC requires
that children’s views must be sought, considered, and given due weight in all matters
affecting children. Further, the government is required to report to its supervisory body—the
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child every five years to be able to gauge
the level of government compliance with the UNCRC and make recommendations for
change and improvement.

The Philippines is a state party to the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and as
such is obligated to give primary consideration to the best interests of the child in all aspects
of its decision making (Article 3, Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS),
September 2004).

The Philippines is also bound to promote and protect the child’s right to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of health under Article 14 (CRC) and the child’s inherent right to
life survival and development Article 6 (CRC). Intrinsic to the right to health and the right to
life is the child’s right to “sustained” and “equal access” to comprehensive treatment and
affordable medicines without discrimination as interpreted by CRC General Comment No. 3
(2003).

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Other rights of the children as embodied in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
adapted by the General Assembly on November 20, 1989 are as follows:

The State Parties to the Convention shall:

a. respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within
their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her
parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status. (Article
2:1).
b. Register the child immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name,
the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared
for by his or her parents. (Article 7:1)
c. ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will,
except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance
with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best
interests of the child. (Article 9:1)
d. respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. (Article 14:1)
e. recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful
assembly.(Article 15:1)
f. not subject the child to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family,
home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation.
(Article 16:1)
g. recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the
child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international
sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral
well-being and physical and mental health. (Article 17: a,b)
h. use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have
common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. Parents or, as
the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and
development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern.
(Article 18:1)
i. take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to
protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or
negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the
care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.
(Article 19:1)
j. provide protection and assistance to a child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or
her family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in
that environment. (Article 20:1)
k. recognize and/or permit the system of adoption that shall ensure that the best interests
of the child shall be the paramount consideration. (Article 21)
l. recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social
insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this
right in accordance with their national law. (Article 26:1)
m. recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right
progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity. (Article 28:1)

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n. recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from
performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's
education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or
social development. (Article 32:1)

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE FILIPINO CHILDREN

(Rungduin & Rungduin, 2019)
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), as of 2018, there are 32,155,793
Filipinos among the 0-14 age group. Based on the statistics released by the PSA on July
2018, it showed that Filipino children make up 31.8% of the total population of the
Philippines. In terms of education, the PSA identified a rating of 96.5% for the simple literacy
rate, or people who can read and write, in the Philippines; while 90.3% are functionally
literate, or those who acquired the appropriate verbal, cognitive, and computational skills to
accomplish practical ends in culturally specific settings. In 2018, the Department of
Education identified 1,737,313 enrolees for kindergarten; 11,151,040 enrolees for public
elementary schools; and 6,010,937 enrolees for public secondary schools.

The number emphasizes the need for more teachers in the Philippines to address the
growing needs of the Filipino children. As a future teacher, you hold the key to ensure that
most children will be functionally literate. Each developmental period is coupled with special
interest related to the child’s advancing cognition, physical agility and social circles.
Learning opportunities can be centered on what we can expect the child can do given his of
her age. As a teacher, you can experiment on exploring activities that children from various
ages (multi-age activities) can participate in. this will pave the way for younger children to
see what other children can do.

The Situation of Filipino Children and Young Person

There are a lot of news about young children who are beaten black and blue by parents/
relatives rendering them incapable to walk or even talk straight. Much has been written
about children who have become victims of sexual or physical abuse, child labor,
malnutrition, parental neglect, ending up roaming the streets of Metro Manila. Usually, they
come from homeless poor families of Manila’s suburbs who sleep on pavement, wooden
carts, or dilapidated shacks near the railroad tracks, even on rickety shelters made of rusty
galvanized sheets and carton boxes. The sight of street children knocking on car windows,
selling sticks of cigarettes and sampaguita garlands, smack of the many faces of poverty
and the stark reality of the plight of the abandoned children. The situation of the
marginalized Filipino child is disheartening.

Efforts however, are made to address the problem. There are youth-oriented programs/
projects sponsored by the NGOs and other private and public entities primarily put up to
help the Filipino child. The child advocacy has been an on-going project of the media, as
they feature stories on youth education and child welfare. TV networks are also instrumental
in educating the youth through series of documentaries on child abuse and child
exploitation. Nevertheless, the problem has not been solved completely.

Merlina R. Hernardo described the alarming situation of the Filipino child which is visible in
numerous studies conducted and which showed that in the Philippines, over four million
children are victims of child labor and half of them are exposed to hazardous conditions.
About 100,000 of them are abused every year and about 300,000 roam the streets. Latest
statistics also points to about 7 million malnourished children.

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In view of these concerns, private organizations have joined the government in seeing that
the interests of the child is protected and in giving the Filipino child a life-equivalent to his
worth.

It behooves upon all members of the society, educators, politicians, private practitioners,
and professionals to heed the calling, which is to act now. The Filipino child should not be
made to believe that there is nothing much in store for the marginalized and the
underprivileged. They should be provided and environment where they can grow and
develop their potentials to the fullest. Their needs must be addressed. They need food,
water, shelter, support, guidance, encouragement, and above all, a quality education that
will provide a venue for a complete transformation as a person that will afford his physical,
intellectual, emotional, and economic growth.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT TASK 2

• Recall and reflect on the manner you were reared by your parents and other family
members and describe the kind of relationship you have with them at present. Do they
recognize and respect your rights as a person? Which among these rights are often
violated?
• Describe the present situation confronting children and young persons in your
community. What are the conditions or challenges that affect them?

Feedback
After studying this module , it is expected that you as a learner can now define the terms
childhood and adolescence and distinguish differences between a child and an adolescent.
And since we also have discussed the rights of children and young people, it is a must that
we recognize and protect these rights especially as we deal with the learners in the teaching
-learning process, taking into consideration the present status and situation of the Filipino
child and adolescent.
Do you have any question or clarification about our lesson? Please do not hesitate to
talk about it with me.

Summary
 UNICEF defines childhood as the time for children to be in school and at play, to grow
strong and confident with the love and encouragement of their family and an extended
community of caring adults; while Merriam Webster Dictionary defines childhood as the
time or state of being a child, the early stage in the existence or development of
something.
 Adolescence is the period of psychological and social transition between childhood and
adulthood. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adolescence is the
period of life between 10 and 19 years of age.
 A teenager or teen is a person whose age is a number ending in "teen", someone from
the age of 13 to 19.
 There are 12 rights that children and young persons are entitled, and these were listed
down by Presidential Decree no. 603 dated December 10, 1974 with the aim of
understanding children better and for the Filipino teacher to be more aware of the
children's rights.
 According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), as of 2018, there are 32,155,793

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Filipinos among the 0-14 age group. As shown by statistics, the Filipino children make up
31.8% of the total population of the Philippines.
 There are news about young children who are beaten black and blue by parents/
relatives; children who have victims of sexual or physical abuse, child labor, malnutrition,
parental neglect, etc.
 Efforts however, are made to address the problem through youth-oriented programs/
projects sponsored by the NGOs and other private and public entities primarily put up to
help the Filipino child.

Suggested Readings
• Presidential Decree no. 603: The Child and Youth Welfare Code.
Retrieved from: https://pcw.gov.ph/presidential-decree-no-603-the-child-and-youth-
welfare-code/
• Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Retrieved from: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx

References
• Acero, V. et al (2008). Child and Adolescent Development. Manila: Rex Book Store
• Rungduin, T. and Rungduin, D. (2019). Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning
Principles. Quezon City: Adriana Publishing Co., Inc.

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MODULE 1
ACTIVITY SHEET
Name: ____________________________________________ Date: __________________
Course: _________________ Year Level: ____________________ Section: ____________
Subject Professor: __________________________

Learning Assessment Task 1

Multiple Choice. Choose the correct answer from the given choices, and write the letter of your
choice on your activity sheet.
______1) The early stage in the existence of something is...
a) childhood
b) puberty
c) adolescence
d) adulthood

______2) The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the adolescent years as the period of life
between
a) 4 & 7 years of age
b) 8 & 12 years of age
c) 10 & 19 years of age
d) 20 & 25 years of age

______3) Which of these statements is true?

a) All cultures have the same ways of child-rearing.
b) All children were educated to meet the needs of their communities.
c) Both a and b are correct.
d) Neither a nor b is correct.

______4) The term adolescence is derived from the Latin "adolescencia" which means:
a) to adore
b) to deliver
c) to improve
d) to grow up

______5) During this stage, the person experiences dramatic changes in the body along with
developments in his psychology and career.
a) childhood
b) adolescence
c) adulthood
d) middle age

______6) The following are the basic markers for becoming an adult except:
a) investing in business
b) completing one's schooling
c) finding an occupation
d) marriage

______7) P.D. 603 dated December 10, 1974 is all about...

a) observance of health protocol
b) comprehensive dangerous drugs
c) the rights of children and young persons
d) anti-violence against women and children.

______8) UNCRC stands for...

a) United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
b) United Nations Commission on Research Continuity
c) United Nations Committee on the Restoration of Commerce.
d) No appropriate answer.

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______9) He is a person whose age is a number ending in "teen", someone from the age of 13 to
19.
a) freelancer
b) preschooler
c) bystander
d) teenager

______10) Which of these is not true of childhood?

a) a time of innocence
b) a period of "storm and stress"
c) period where one is free from responsibility
d) a time where one enjoys closeness with parents.

Learning Assessment Task 2

1. Recall and reflect on the manner you were reared by your parents and other family members and
describe the kind of relationship you have with them at present. Do they recognize and respect
your rights as a person? Which among these rights are often violated?

2. Describe the present situation confronting children and young persons in your community. What
are the conditions or challenges that affect them?

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