Nature and Principles of Development & The Filipino Child and Adolescent

Vocabulary flashcards covering the concepts, stages, perspectives, theories of human development, and statistics regarding Filipino children and adolescents.

Development

The pattern of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes that begins at conception and continues throughout the lifespan.

Biological Processes

Processes in child development that involve changes in the child's body, where genetic inheritance plays a large part, underlying brain development, gains in height, motor skills, and hormonal changes during puberty.

Cognitive Processes

Processes in child development that involve the child's thinking, intelligence, and language, enabling activities such as memorizing a poem, solving math problems, or forming meaningful sentences.

Socioemotional Processes

Processes in child development that involve changes in the child's relationships with other people, emotions, and personality.

Prenatal Stage

The developmental stage spanning from conception to birth, characterized primarily by physical development.

Infancy Stage

The developmental period from birth at full term to about 18 months, characterized by established locomotion, rudimentary language, and social attachment.

Early Childhood Stage

The developmental period from about 18 months to about 6 years, characterized by well-established language, sex typing, group play, and ending with readiness for schooling.

Late Childhood Stage

The developmental period from about 6 years to about 13 years, where many cognitive processes become adult except in speed of operation, and team play develops.

Adolescence Stage

The developmental period from about 13 years to about 20 years, beginning with puberty and ending at maturity, characterized by attaining the highest level of cognition, independence from parents, and sexual relationships.

Young Adulthood Stage

The developmental period from about 20 years to about 45 years, focused on career and family development.

Midlife Stage

The developmental period from about 45 years to 65 years, characterized by career reaching its highest level, self-assessment, 'empty nest' crisis, and retirement.

Late Life Stage

The developmental period from about 65 years to death, characterized by enjoying family achievements, dependency, widowhood, and poor health.

Plasticity

In lifespan perspective, plasticity refers to the capacity to change in response to positive or negative experiences.

Original Sin (Thomas Hobbes)

The view proposed by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) portraying humans as inherently selfish and bad, believing society's task is to control selfish impulses and teach positive behaviors.

Inherently Good (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)

The view proposed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) arguing that children are innately good, born with an intuitive understanding of right and wrong, and develop positively unless society interferes.

Tabula Rasa (John Locke)

The view proposed by John Locke (1632-1704) maintaining that an infant is a 'blank slate' waiting to be written on by experiences, being neither inherently good nor bad.

Nature

In human development, nature refers to behavior and characteristics manifested due to the influence of biological forces, such as heredity and biologically-based dispositions.

Nurture

In human development, nurture refers to influences brought about by environmental exposure, including learning experiences, child-rearing methods, societal changes, and culture.

Continuity Theorists

Theorists who view human development as a continuous process occurring in small steps without sudden changes.

Discontinuity Theorists

Theorists who picture the course of development as a series of stair steps, each elevating the individual to a new level of functioning.

Quantitative Changes

Changes in degree indicating continuity, such as becoming taller, knowing more vocabulary words, or interacting with friends with different frequency.

Qualitative Changes

Changes in kind suggesting discontinuity, making the individual fundamentally different than before, such as a nonverbal infant becoming a speaking toddler.

Universality and Context-Specificity

The developmental issue concerning the extent to which changes are common to everyone (universal) or vary from person to person (context-specific).

Definition of a Child (WHO vs UNICEF)

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a child as 19 years old and younger, whereas the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) defines a child as below 18 years of age.

Legal Definition of a Child (Philippines)

The Philippines follows WHO and UNICEF definitions, recognizing a child as a person below 18 years of age (PSA, 2018; RA 7610; RA 8972).

Simple Literacy Rate (Philippines)

Identified by the PSA at 96.5% in the Philippines, defined as people who can read and write.

Functional Literacy Rate (Philippines)

Identified by the PSA at 90.3% in the Philippines, defined as people who have acquired verbal, cognitive, and computational skills to accomplish practical ends in culturally specific settings.

Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017–2023 Chapter 11

A chapter titled 'Reducing Vulnerability of Individuals and Families' covering women, children, PWDs, IPs, and older persons to decrease exposure to risks.

Child Labour in the Philippines

More than 10% of Filipino children are compelled to work to support family needs, with close to a million working as garbage scavengers in public dumps. The working conditions are utterly filthy and often have serious effects on the health of these individuals. Other children find employment in rural sectors. They work nonstop on sugar, rice, or tea plantations as the case may be. Filipino youths also work in their nation’s fishing sector which is highly developed.

Child Marriage Rate (Philippines)

14% of young women in the Philippines get married before the age of 18. One prepares them very early in life for their future role as a wife. However, these marriages often have grave consequences for the health of these young girls who do not understand what such a marriage entails.

(Right to an Identity)

17% of births in the Philippines are not officially registered, leaving most Muslim and indigenous children without an official identity.

Poverty

In the Philippines, close to 1 out of every three individuals lives below the poverty line, while the country itself is in full economic expansion. Although this is encouraging for the future, the present situation remains bleak for a great many households. Poor families frequently suffer from hunger or malnutrition which follow numerous health problems, particularly among children who are physically more vulnerable than adults.

Health

The infant mortality rate is particularly high in the Philippines. Furthermore, more than 1 out of every 5 newborn children exhibits dietary deficiencies from the moment of birth. Childbirth is risky both for the infant and for the mother. The number of mothers who die during childbirth remains considerably high—especially since many young girls, through lack of both information and contraceptives, face unwanted pregnancies. Furthermore, access to healthcare remains difficult in the country’s more remote regions. Of course, it is in these areas that undernourishment and resulting problems are the most virulent. Finally, no one takes responsibility for children who suffer from mental health problems. They remain marginalized and do not receive the appropriate care.

Right to non-discrimination

Children born out of wedlock: They are the object of considerable discrimination in the Philippines. The law, for example, still refers to them as “illegitimate” children—a term that is largely negative and unjust, seeing how they did not choose to be born under such conditions. Furthermore, their right to an inheritance is considerably limited. They do not stand on equal footing with children born to married parents. Native People: The children of these minorities are frequently the victims of racist acts, nor does legislation protect them. Their opinions are hardly ever taken into account, although much progress has been made concerning the children of nonindigenous peoples throughout the country. About education, healthcare, or even the right to life, indigenous children are routinely treated less favorably than others. Young Girls: They too are unable to fully enjoy their rights. Young girls are the object of notorious discriminatory practices that often continue throughout their entire lives. Mentalities must undergo a serious amount of change if the idea of equality between the sexes is ever to become a reality. Handicapped Children: They are very numerous in the Philippines, owing to nutrition- and hygiene-related problems. The country has yet to set up a sufficient number of establishments that can adequately attend to the needs of such children. Consequently, their access to educational and healthcare services remains severely

Child Soldiers

The Philippines number among 20 countries in which children are often deployed as soldiers in armed conflicts. Certain armed groups have recently stated that they will no longer use children in this capacity; however, the total absence of child soldiers is far from being verified. Totally prohibited by the International Convention of Children’s Rights, the use of child soldiers is an abhorrent practice whose effects on the health and well-being of children are wholly negative. Such children are caught up in a violent and cruel environment where they are in constant danger of being killed. Their role models are brutal and aggressive men whose influence on their development will clearly be far from positive.

Violence against Children

Corporal punishment is frequently practiced in the Philippines, notably within the family. It is not the object of any explicit legislation. Thus, many children suffer daily from violence at the hands of their parents who treat them in a cruel and humiliating manner. Children are equally the victims of sexual abuse in certain families. These are serious crimes and all too often they are not condemned, nor does the justice system adequately protect children from threats and intimidation on the part of criminal.