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" TV KIDS ARE POOR LISTENERS " Watching too much television makes children poor listeners.
A literacy test recently conducted on selected Grade 1 pupils in Metro Manila showed poor "phonological awareness" skills, or the ability to associate letters, words and pictures with their sound. Listening is the building block of reading, according to educators.
Dr. Felicitas Pado, a teacher of beginning reading for 19 years, said the problem is observed globally to too much media exposure of children.
"We have media babies. They're used to viewing. So our pupils have poor listening skills. That's a global problem," said Pado, who is with the University of the Philippines.
Educators like Pado are trying to address the literacy problem among Grade 1 pupils. The Department of Education (DepEd) estimates that up to four out of 10 pupils finish Grade 1 without knowing how to read.
The test was part of the basic reading program undertaken by DepEd officials with the fast-food chain McDonald's.
A total of 4,200 Grade 1 pupils in 14 public schools in Metro Manila underwent the reading program last year.
Pado, who administered the pretest in July and the posttest last February to selected pupils, said the pupils greatly improved their reading and writing skills with the program's help. But she asked Grade 1 teachers to help children develop their listening skills.
"Since beginning reading lies heavily on sound-symbol relationship, listening is an important skill for beginning readers," she said. "The result showed that greater emphasis should still be placed on teaching this skill."
She said the pre-test scores showed "very poor listening ability" among the beginners, though this greatly improved later as shown by the post-test scores.
She said the pupils did not have much problem with visual discrimination skills, or the ability to differentiate letters and words.
"The results show that the children's visual discrimination skills are better developed than their phonological awareness skills," she said.
Under its "Bright Minds Read" program, McDonald's, with the help of DepEd, trained 70 Grade 1 teachers how to better teach their pupils the basics of reading.
Note:The preceeding article appeared in the
March 23 2004 issue of "Philippine Daily Inquirer."
It was written by Blanche S. Rivera.
"PINOY KIDS: BIG SPENDING POWER, TEXT SAVVY" Who really has the power of the purse?
Filipino children in three cities across the country have the spending power of P20.9 billion every year — from their pocket money alone — and are technologically savvy, according to a recent survey.
They also have their parents wrapped around their stubby little fingers, ranging from their choice of food to clothes and shoes.
The survey, which involved 1,000 children aged 7 to 14 as well as their parents, was commissioned by the Cartoon Network. Titled "New Generations Philippines 2004," the survey was conducted in November 2003 in Metro Manila and Cebu and Davao cities.
"Kids below age 15 represent a third of the Filipino population, yet they are an under-researched and underestimated as a demographic group. As our survey reveals, even kids as young as seven have well-established views on everything — from their favorite brand of toothpaste to the best mobile phone network," said Duncan Morris, vice president of research for Turner International Asia Pacific Limited.
"As the leaders in kids’ entertainment, it is important that we continue to invest in unique research such as New Generations Philippines that shows the trends and habits of our viewers," he added.
Survey results indicate that 96 percent of parents give their children an average of P109 in pocket money every week. Children in Metro Manila receive an average of P140 per week, with seven to eight year olds receiving P99 and teenagers given as much as P218 for pocket money.
Children in homes with cable television enjoy 89 percent more pocket money than those whose homes do not have cable television.
"Combining the differing weekly allowances, the total pocket money earned by kids (aged) seven to 14 across the three surveyed areas combines to generate a total of P20.9 billion a year," Cartoon Network said in a statement.
The survey results also showed that parents are no longer the sole decision-makers in the household — children now either decide on their own or influence their parents’ choice.
For confectionery, soft drinks and snacks purchased for the household, children play a role in their parents’ choice of brands in 50 to 75 percent of cases. For higher-priced items such as sports shoes and clothes, a third of the children in the survey claim they are the sole decision-makers.
Children in these three cities are also more savvy with various forms of technology.
The survey found that children are becoming increasingly familiar with mobile phones. Sixty-six percent of respondents claim to have used a mobile phone and 77 percent of them send text messages at least once a week. Most (73 percent) of the respondents favor Nokia over other mobile phone brands.
Those who have used a computer in the past three months comprise 43 percent of respondents. A third of children aged seven to 10 years and 63 percent of teenagers are computer users.
Nearly half (47 percent) of those who have recently used a computer also go on the Internet, with 66 percent going online to play games. Forty-eight percent of the respondents who use the Internet do so to get help with their schoolwork.
Priorities
The survey found that among the boys, 24 percent said they wanted to be an engineer or a doctor when they grow up. Girls, on the other hand, dreamed of being nurses (29 percent) or teachers (24 percent).
The survey also showed 12 items that the respondents had to rank in order of priority. Ninety percent of respondents chose "being healthy" as their priority, while only six percent of them chose "having a boyfriend or girlfriend" as their priority.
Another item ranked as "very important" by 81 percent of respondents is "being praised by parents," while 76 percent feel the same way about "being praised by teachers."
Like their parents, Filipino children prefer basketball over other sports. Sixty-six percent of boys like to play the game, while 69 percent like to watch it. Girls favor playing badminton (34 percent), but prefer to watch basketball (28 percent) over volleyball (15 percent).
Nearly half or 44 percent of girls, however, still prefer dolls while 21 percent of boys favor video or computer games. Another 18 percent of boys prefer to play Tex, which involves thumb-sized playing cards.
Asked what toys or games they would like to have, both boys and girls chose bicycles and video or computer games.
Most of the children surveyed liked watching television when they are not in school, with 94 percent glued to the set on a daily basis. Another 16 percent of respondents like listening to the radio.
Asked what they liked to watch, 93 percent of children said they liked cartoons, with 58 percent of them saying it is their favorite type of television program. Another 13 percent said they liked watching drama series, while seven percent liked watching movies.
For children whose homes had cable television, 42 percent named Cartoon Network as their favorite channel.
The survey added that Cartoon Network was the third most popular channel and the "Powerpuff Girls" was the overall favorite television program on any channel among all respondents.
Note:The preceeding article appeared in the March 23 2004 issue of "Philippine Star"
"THE POWER OF THE 'BARKADA'" Do not underestimate the power of the barkada in nurturing one's outlook and
development in life. The barkada, being the basic social unit especially of young people, can be honed as a positive influencing
factor to guide the "lost and confused" adolescent in his sensitive years.
A study revealed that faced with serious problems pertaining to one's studies or one's lovelife (such as a persistent suitor
or even an unwanted pregnancy), teenagers do not turn to their parents, siblings or relatives for advice. Instead, they seek the
solace of their peers, friends of the same age group who they feel can relate more to the situation they're into.
This was the consensus arrived at during the recentlyconcluded Student Congress organized by the Foundation for
Adolescent Development, Inc. (FAD) with theme "Sexuality and the Young Adult." The gathering, held at the University of the
East (UE) Theater, cited the success of the first campusbased project created by FAD in five pioneer schools in the University
Belt area.
These schools are UE, Arellano University, Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU), Polytechnic University of the Philippines
(PUP) and Systems Technology Institute (STI).
FAD president Dr. Aurora Silayan- Go said the idea of a school-based project was born in 1996 and implemented in 1997
with the assistance of the United Nations Population Fund.
"The aim is to provide technical assistance to schools which are willing to allow their students to play a role in assisting
fellow students by providing correct information and counselling in response to their health and sexuality concerns."
Go cited the growing need ''for technical assistance to train school peer facilitators." It was found out that guidance
counselling services in most schools were sorely lacking, with "a ratio of one counselor for every 584 students , even going
down to a low of one counselor to 4,000 students."
Dr. Go noted that the peer counselling project was unique for a variety of reasons: it uses the schoolbased yet off
classroom approach; it is student-led, student-implemented and student-evaluated; it involves youth-to-youth interaction;
and it suggests a sustainable mechanism through the possible integration of sexuality concerns in the constitution of a
student organization.
ACTION ON CAMPUS
She reported that as a result of the project, four of the five memberschools have established core organizations that
would spearhead adolescent health and sexuality concerns in their respective campuses. For example, MLQU has the
Integrated Youth Organization (IYO), PUP has the education committee of the Student Center, Arellano has the Development
Organization for Social Awareness (DOSA) and STI has the Student Youth Development(SYD).
These groups are composed of student leaders and peer facilitators who have undergone adequate training and
skillsbuilding seminars on adolescent issues. Go said that based on surveys, these "range of issues cover boy-girl
relationships, parent-child and peer relationships as they relate to premarital sex and unplanned teen pregnancies,
sexual identity, depression, suicide, substance abuse, STD and HIV-AIDS and now, more admittedly, sexual harassment
or date rape."
In her keynote speech, FAD trustee Senator Loren Legarda lauded FAD's efforts to "invest in early intervention and
education ... at a time when the influence of our traditional guideposts - like the church and family - is fast losing ground."
"Hopefully, these measures will enable adolescents to make wise choices. You see, sexuality is not isolated to sex alone,
but extends to issues of self-identity," Legarda said. She cited the importance of the barkada in being the "sounding board for
worries, questions and an exchange of experiences among young people."
FEEDBACKS
GIVING his assessment, Dr. Romeo Lee of De La Salle University gathered together the different reactions of school
authorities and student facilitators on the conduct of the project. He cited the comment of one guidance counselor: "We
have no additional staff to carry out these campusbased project activities. Students are most appropriate. After all, the
activities are for them and it is just right that these are organized and led by them."
A peer facilitator remarked that being involved in the project gave him self-confidence and broadened his views in
life. "Ang akala ko kapag sexuality ang pinaguusapan, lahat ng usapin tungkol dito ay iyong pakikipagtalik. Hindi pala.
Mas malawak pa pala ang kahulugan nito. Kasama na dito ang tungkol sa values, attitudes and beliefs."
Dr. Lee called for "additional and substantive training to studentmembers in such areas as organizational management
, advocacy, counselling, networking and fundgeneration. Equally pressing is the need for FAD to undertake training of trainors
so that current student implementors will later train a new batch of students, thus ensuring the project's sustainability."
Note:The preceeding article appeared in the
November 21 1998 issue of "Manila Bulletin."
It was written by Annalyn S. Jusay. "WHAT
TO MAKE OF THE NEW GENERASIANS?" Children in the
Asia-Pacific region have long been ignored. Not only have their
habits and idiosyncrasies been almost always assimilated by their
Western counterparts, their roles and spheres of influence --
both on the individual and collective levels -- have often been
left unrecognized. Indeed, whenever they have the airtime and the
space to do so, international mass media organizations have
preferred to focus on the tastes, habits, and preoccupations of
Western children, with the seemingly tacit, even presumptuous,
assumption that these children represent the interests of the
others around the world. In effect, regular
TV viewers and newspaper readers all around the world are
blissfully unaware of the trends in lesser-known countries such
as Malaysia, Indonesia, or even the Philippines, as they are
shocked by the rising criminality and drug use of American kids,
among other things. That is, until the
so-called decade of the Asia-Pacific region began to dawn on the
highly competitive global economic system. Suddenly, moguls,
captains of the industry, and entrepreneurs have put their focus
on the region's potential. After all, they reasoned out, these
are markets too. Fortunately, in
their companies' quest for more customers, they have not
overlooked the essentials. Not only have they recognized the
legitimate yet unique market demands in the Asia-Pacific region,
they, too, have considered the financial potential of the
children. Thus, various mass media organizations, together with
some research firms, have finally begun to zoom in and pay
attention to the needs, habits, tastes, and preferences of the
kids in the region. STUDY From March to May
1998, the survey polled 5,700 children -- 400 of which came from
the Philippines -- and covered 18 cities and 12 countries all
across the region such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and
Thailand. The survey's respondents meanwhile, were boys and girls
from seven to 18 years old living in homes with a color TV set
who all answered open-ended questions in face to face interviews.
Expectedly, the
survey's results were unpredictable. If they were given the
chance to go to anywhere in the world, Filipino children, like
most of their Asian counterparts, preferred to visit the United
States, with the exception of Singaporean kids, who wanted to go
to Australia. Same goes with
their least favorite academic subjects. A total of 33% of our
kids said mathematics was the least favorite of their subjects,
English as the second, and science as the third, which reflected
the overall Asian ranking. While these
figures show similarities in the children's preferences all
across the 18 countries polled in the region, there are
nonetheless differences in their perceptions. For example, the
survey found out that Filipino kids were more decisive than their
peers in other countries in terms of choosing a career. A full
17% of the boys and 25% of the girls would like to become
"doctors," making this the top career choice of
Filipino children. The second most popular career is to be an
"engineer" for the boys (17% )while 14% of the girls
wanted to be teachers; 12% of the boys wanted to be
"pilots" while 14% of the girls wanted to be
"flight attendants." Which about
crystallized the responses from the whole Asian region since13%
show that they wanted to become doctors, 10% wanted to become
teachers, and 6% wished to be engineers. The latest in
thing for Indonesians is "wearing stretch shirts" while
Australian kids are boldly trying out body piercing. The survey isn't
just about trivial concerns; the kids were also asked about more
serious matters. El Niño remains the primary concern for
Filipino kids, while in Thailand, it's the economic situation;
Japanese thought juvenile crime was the more serious while the
Australians worried over the Republican debate. Although Levi's
ranked as the number one brand of jeans for boys all across the
region, Filipino kids, if this survey is any indication, have not
totally surrendered their sensibilities to Western influences.
For instance, basketball cagers Bal David and Vince Hizon share
the spotlight with Michael Jordan as their favorite sports
personalities. It also comes as no surprise that Jollibee is
their favorite fastfood restaurant. Though chicken is
the favorite food of Filipino kids, it is not, by and large, the
favorite in the region. Australians prefer pizza, Chinese like
fruit, and Japanese prefer their own sushi. Despite their
culinary differences, all of the kids in the region chose
Coca-Cola as their favorite drink, with the exception of Thailand
which considered Pepsi as the choice of the new generation. INFLUENCE But in terms of
pocket money, it is the Hong Kong children who receive the
highest with US$836 a year, followed by Singapore, Australia, and
Taiwan. The average baon (lunch money) of a Filipino child
is only US$208 per year. In the meantime,
Pinoy kids have not been indifferent to the harmful effects of
mass media since a whopping 81% of the kids said that they had
watched something on TV, video, or laserdisc which they found
frightening. The figure is only 59% in Thailand and 30% in Hong
Kong. In this connection, 88% of Australian kids admitted to have
watched something not meant for their age. For Pinoy kids, it's
only 28% while it's 56% for kids in Indonesia. Reading does not
rank high for the local kids as only 38% browse through a daily
newspaper and 34% read non-comic or school book. These numbers
are far from the figures in Malaysia, for example, since 70% of
their kids read a daily newspaper, with 65% in Thailand, and 43%
in Taiwan. Meanwhile, 77% of Chinese children are reading a
non-comic or school book, with 73% in Malaysia, and 71% in South
Korea. Celia Chong,
senior vice-president and general manager of Turner Entertainment
Networks and Cartoon Network, Asia-Pacific, said this survey was
conducted with additional foundation sponsors such as NBA Asia,
and the new media agency Optimum Media Direction, so that they
can know more about children's lives in order to be better at
what they do. "Knowing kids
better will help us all become more successful in growing the
youth market here. New Gener-Asians was borne out of this
commitment to learn more about our market and our commitment to
elevating the importance of the kids consumer market in this
region," she said. Andrew Floyd,
ACNielsen's managing director for media measurement services,
said, "New GenerAsians will be a tremendous benefit as a
comprehensive reference guide for marketers and advertisers to
help them better gauge children's consumer habits." Note:The preceeding article appeared in the
July 17-18, 1998 issue of "Business World."
It was written by Robert J.A. Basilio, Jr. "PINOY
TEEN VALUES VIS-A-VIS WORLD'S YOUTH" Teenagers are the
most sought-after and yet the least understood consumer market.
Constituting a worldwide population of almost one billion, teens
can actually dictate trends, that eventually become society's
mouthpiece, and the rest of the world are primed to listen. But
as they conquer the world and declare their independence, they
may be trapped and assailed by doubts, insecurities,
inconsistencies and fears. Their taste and reasoning may not
always be right but they are nevertheless true, honest and real. In an effort to
define and understand the global teen market, D` Arcy Masius
Benton & Bowless conducted a proprietary study among
teenagers worldwide aimed at characterizing the new World Teen.
Around 27,600 male/female high school students aged 15-18, from
ABCD socio-economic segment in 44 countries were surveyed from
November 1995 to April 1996. In the Philippines, around 450
students from four high school participated in the study. At the onset, the
Filipino adolescents present the profile of a regular guy and
gal. But what makes them a little more intriguing, a little more
fascinating and a little more charming is how they perceive
things in general and how they deal with it in particular, based
on the complex layer of their family and historical roots. Based on the
study, the World Teenagers are self-reliant and trust themselves
more than their parents and friends. They are intensely curious
individuals who manifest passion in wanting to know others, what
they are doing and in what is going on around them. This same
curiosity makes them more adventuresome, ready and willing to try
new things. On the other hand,
trust in parents is foremost among the Filipino teenagers and
they seek family recognition in their accomplishments as well as
approval in their decision-making. This pays indirect tribute to
the way Filipino parents in general, have raised their sons and
daughters. Filipino teens describe themselves as fun and casual
like their counterparts in Asia and the rest of the world. Blue
denims or jeans and long, loose white T-shirt over rubber shoes
dress up (or down?) today's youth. The study reflects that
teenagers give more consideration to style rather than brand. The
use of accessories, the choice of colors and coordinates however,
is reflective of their keen sense of fashion. On the other hand,
they are different as they perceive to be intellectual,
conservative and artistic. Much like his
global counterparts, the Filipinos teenager's expectations in
life revolve around Education, Career and Personal Relationship.
Filipino teens define a stable adult life as finding someone to
love, being married and having children. In fact, majority of
Filipino teenagers expect to get married (81%) and be a parent
someday (77%) Filipino teens
regard the problem about the environment most as compared to
other. They exhibit a deeper concern regarding the depletion of
the ozone layer, global warming and the destruction of the Rain
Forest. And since they are generally conservative, AIDS is the
least of their worries unlike those in Latin America. Teenagers in
general are expected to do chores at home but priority is still
given to school work. But unlike teenagers in some other
countries, Filipinos are not expected to work and earn money.
Compared to the world teen whose mean age for moving out of
parent's home is 18, Filipino teens can generally stay with their
parents for as long they want plus allowance. In addition, teens
enjoy the same activities like watching television, spending time
with friends and listening to the radio. The boob tube reigns
supreme in shaping the teenagers behavior and thinking. And in
this time and age, this is not surpassing because media access is
high with households owning multiple television sets and radio.
And with the entry of cable channels and the Internet, one can't
help but hook up. And consciously or otherwise, through a host of
medium that bombards today's teenagers, the traditional idea of a
Filipino teenager as timid and shy, repressed and submissive has
been altered somehow. Aside from this
media related activities, teens likewise enjoy hanging out with
friends, who in it's unique Philippine content, assume importance
that for most Filipino youth may last a lifetime. In fact,
according to "The Filipino Child: Images and Insights"
book authored by Visitacion R. De La Torre, the barkada serves as
the alternative vessel of a Filipino teenager's aspirations,
fears, triumphs, disappointments, joys and passions. The study also
reveals that majority of Filipino teens watch television daily
but only a little more than a third read newspapers everyday.
Compared with their counterparts worldwide, more Filipino
teenagers listen to the radio. Generally, teenagers worldwide
prefer watching comedy movies and television shows and quite
surprisingly they only place romance and love story fifth on
their list. And
with the advent of new and better technology, teenagers around
the globe are now actually exposed to the same programs, movies
and music and are now joining hands in the cyberspace. They may
not sing the same song but they are worth listening after all. Note: The preceeding article appeared in the "Manila
Bulletin." It was written by Elisa P. Perez. "OVERSEAS
FILIPINO CHILDREN: LOST IDENTITY?" A few
years back, a group of Filipinas married to Dutch nationals came
back to the country searching for materials about the Philippines
which they can bring back to their children. These enlightened
mothers do not want their kids to grow up as purely Dutch because
they are aware of the difficulties that offsprings of
mixed-marriages and second-generation Filipinos abroad go through
when these children become young adults. Neither
here nor there. This seems to be an apt description of
second-generation Filipinos living abroad. They have a difficult
time being accepted in the mainstream of the country where they
grew up because they look different and at the same time they are
virtually strangers in their parent’s home country. This
situation is no more evident than in the United States where
Filipinos are the fastest growing Asian minority. In fact,
Filipinos in the US make the second highest median income of all
immigrant groups. Which of course means that working parents get
to spend little time with their children. Many
Filipinos in San Francisco are recent immigrants living in the
inner city. Their kids go to multi-racial high schools where
those belonging to the same ethnic group tend to stick to each
other for protection. These kids do not know where they belong.
Their parents are too busy to spend much time with them, and
there are not enough community facilities that cater to their
needs. Raquel
Ordonez, a Pinay parent and director for the Coalition for the
Advancement of Filipino Women in New York, said that Filipino
immigrant parents and their children are finding it more
difficult to find common ground and that the generation gap
between them is exacerbated by a ‘cultural gap.’ Simply
stated, it’s a situation wherein Filipino parents are
raising purely American kids. The same
is true with Filipino immigrants elsewhere. Said a Pinoy parent
in London: "When we first came in this country, our children
were babies. Now they are young adults with their own culture and
their own ideas-- and we don’t know how to deal with
them." Filipino
migrants have no extended families who could look after the
children when parents work. And with nobody to tell them of their
roots, these kids seek other kids in the same situation as they
are. These groups may be called by various names: barkada,
posse or gang. My kid
a gang member!? No way!
C’mon,
they’re just a bunch of young people hanging out together. My
husband and I work very hard for our children. They know that so
there’s no reason why our kids would join a gang! A
Filipino-American professor who specializes in multi-cultural
issues in upstate New York sees the growth of Pinoy posses as an
"ethnic playing out of one’s search for identity, a
process that everyone goes through." Maria
Gonzales, development education and training coordinator for the
migrant worker group Commission for Filipino Migrant Workers in
London observes about the growth of Pinoy youth gangs: "To
some extent, I think gangs are a reaction to the situation. In a
small survey, young people told us that their parents worked most
of the time--- six days a week and sometimes on Sundays. So they
were growing up without their parents." "When
you talk about friends you call ‘em posse, because your
friends are there in a way your blood family isn’t,"
said another New Jersey Pinoy youth. They also say that only
their fellow gang members understand them. By hanging out, by
dressing up, by beating up an occasional bystander, they assert
their identity in the melting pot of America. "Second-generation
migrants go through this sort of thing. We should have known that
they would be confused about their ethnic identity," adds
Ms. Bautista in hindsight. But
perhaps the most eye-opening remark was made by an English
policeman after booking a Filipino teenager for manslaughter. He
surmised that a lack of racial or cultural identity may be a
factor contributing to the rise of youth gangs. "The
problem with Filipino kids," he added, "is they
don’t know if they are black or something else." What about
your kids? Do they *really* know who they are? Note: The preceeding essay was culled from
several articles which appeared in the Jan-Mar 1997 issue of "i
The Investigative Reporting Magazine" published
in Manila |
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