coping mechanism of ofw

1. CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction
Family is a group of individual who has care for each other, give love, share
responsibilities, teach values and have a commitment to one another over a time
where we learn, how to socialize on other people. Specifically, this was most shown
by parents, themselves. Parents are the source of security and safety, of love and
understanding, and also support. This will be extended with the collaboration of the
school and the teachers. The school is the second home of the students. The school
has the obligation to keep the students safe, to support what the students need to
move to a higher track. In school, the child spends the major portion of the day under
the direction and facilitating of one person, the teacher. Teachers are used to be the
second parent of the students. They are there to guide, to mentor, to facilitate the
students in achieving their goals in life. They teach the students to be independent.
However, students tend to be dependent in their parent, whom they seek help when
they are in trouble or during their crisis,so when one of their parents or both of their
parents are away, students do something to cope what they are missing. There are
different coping mechanisms for different situations and different individuals.
As an example, an elementary student with a parent who has been working
for several years in abroad needs support and guidance in his studies and his actions.

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Every time the problems arise, the students do something to divert their attention to
the things that are enjoyable for him. This kind of behavior could be rather affecting
their academic performance, their emotional behavior, health status and in decision
making or it could be not.
According to Yap (2008, many of the OFW parents have left their children
behind. With only a single parent left with the children or with both parents working
overseas, the children may be wanting for affection and time. Worse, they may be
prone to emotional and psychological distress.
According to Gazzaniga, et. al, 2007,people use primary appraisals to decide
whether the stimulus is stressful, benign, or irrelevant. If the stimulus is deemed
stressful, they use secondary appraisals to evaluate to response options and choose
coping behaviors. Different strategies are effective for different person, they just
need up to find out what works for them.
The coping mechanism to be used depends on the students. Some of the
factors that may affect the responses of an individual are age, gender, position in the
family, span of time that the parent has been working abroad and the parent (mother
or father) absent in their family. In general, it helps to maintain the equilibrium of
their lives through they are lacking of parental guidance.
From these remarks, the researches initiated to explore more about the
stressors/problems and coping mechanisms of the OFW children in the public

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elementary schools West District of Batangas. They also thought that having this
topic would help them in coping up with stress/problem since most of the
researchers have the same condition. They were able to cope with the absence of
their parents by means of different coping mechanism even if they were not aware
of it. The researchersalso thought of knowing their awareness of the students having
this kind of condition in order for them to help the students in the future as they will
become a teacher in the future. And also the awareness of the institution about the
problem that students are going through. The formulation of new progress for the
students who has an Overseas Filipino worker parent/s will give benefit to the
students themselves. It will further improve their problem management and
academic performance.
Statement of the Problem
The primary objective of this study is to identify the coping mechanism of
Overseas Filipino Worker children in public elementary schools in West District of
Batangas City.
To achieve the desired results, the researchers seek to answer the following
questions:
1. What are the problems encountered by the Overseas Filipino Workers’
children inside the school in terms of the following dimensions of health:
1.1. academic

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1.2. social
1.3. emotional
2. What are the coping mechanisms utilized by the students as
observe/assess by the teacher?
3. Is there a significant relationship between the responses of the two
groups of respondents?
4. Based on the findings, what are the suggested measures for the teacher
to help the student in having difficulties in school?
Scope, Delimitationand Limitation
The main focus of this study is the coping mechanism of Overseas Filipino
Workers children in public elementary schools in West District of Batangas City,
the factors that trigger their problems in terms of academic, social and emotional
and the suggested measures for the teachers to help the Overseas Filipino Workers
children in coping with their difficulties.
The study is delimited to the teachers and students in private elementary
schools in Batangas City.
The study is limited only in intermediate teachers and students in public
elementary schools in West District of Batangas City.

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Significance of the Study
The research will be significant for the school, teachers and homeroom
advisers, guidance counselors and staff, local government, parents, respondents and
for future researchers.
For school, this research will be very useful for the school because it plays
an important role in caring and guiding children. It is a “natural” venue in reaching
out to children and parents by offering programs on parenting and care giving,
gender sensitivity, constructive coping mechanisms and programs for children. And
very significantly, schools play a vital role in stress management by assuring a
healthy earning environment, providing services for stress reduction, enhancing
students’ and staffs’ knowledge and skills for coping with stress, and coordinating
activities with families and communities.
For the teachers and homeroom advisers, they can be enhanced through
programs to increase their awareness and understanding of migration issues. The
teachers can recognize and understand the respondents’ behavior and their stress.
Teachers can control the negative behavior brought about by stresslike absenteeism,
enhanced morale, enriched attitudes about their personal health, and a sense of well
being.
For the guidance counselors and staff, this research can also help the
guidance counselors and staff for them to be able to give more effective and reliable

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advice and for them to better understand the respondents’ stresses. They can also
give better relaxation techniques, diet planning, communication skills, smoking
cessation, and incentives for lifestyle improvements of the respondents.
For the parents, the researchers believe that this study will be advantageous
because they would be able to recognize and be aware of things their children are
undergoing. This research may also open a communication in the family by giving
ideas and information about their problem.
For the future researcherswho will conduct the same study, this researchmay
serve as their reference for base line data. This study will also provide them ideas
that will facilitate their study to more relevant for the beneficiaries of their study.