2009-05!13!093348cristobal, Jemuel Arnan R.

THE PREVALENCE OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS AMONG CHILDREN IN FIVE OF THE MOST POPULATED PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ZAMBOANGA CITY
AND A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR EXISTING GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS
A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL ATENEO DE ZAMBOANGA UNIVERSITY ZAMBOANGA CITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
BY: JEMUEL ARNAN R CRISTOBAL APRIL 13, 2009
APPROVAL SHEET This Thesis entitled THE PREVALENCE OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS AMONG CHILDREN IN FIVE OF THE MOST POPULATED PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ZAMBOANGA CITY prepared and submitted by Jemuel Arnan Ramos Cristobal, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH is hereby accepted.
________________________ Dr. Servando D. Halili, PhD Adviser
Approved by the Oral Examination Committee with a grade of PASSED
___________________________ Dr. Rosemarie S. Arciaga, MD Chairperson
___________________________ Dr. Fortunato L. Cristobal, MD Member
________________________ Dr. Jocelyn D. Partosa, PhD Member
_______________________ Dr. Ricardo Angeles, MD Member
Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Public Health ________________________ Dr. Servando D. Halili, PhD Dean, Graduate School Ateneo de Zamboanga University
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ADZU-SOM RESEARCHES/MPH2009/CRISTOBAL,JEMUEL ARNAN R.
ABSTRACT The major objective of the current study is to determine the prevalence rate of behavioral problems among school age children studying in five of the most populated private schools in Zamboanga City. Composed of two phases, the first of which sought to address the major objective by randomly selecting 356 out of 3,177 elementary school children from the five schools included in the study. They were rated by their class advisers with the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results show that 58 children or 16.2% are found to have behavioral problems. A breakdown of this overall prevalence revealed that out of the 58 children found to have behavioral problems, 38 (65.5%) had conduct problems, 24 (41.37%) had peer problems, 23 (39.65%) had hyperactivity, and 15 (25.86%) had emotional problems. The second phase of the research involved describing each schools guidance and counseling programs through in depth interviews with each guidance counselor and the use of a formulated checklist. It was found out that majority of the existing guidance counseling programs of each school did not adequately address the identified behavioral problems among the children of these schools. Through the use of the checklist only one school out of five was evaluated as having a good guidance and counseling program, while the rest were rated as having only a fair program. The conclusion is that the prevalence of behavioral problems among school age children studying in private elementary schools may be higher than the usually expected in similar populations. In addition to this there is a need for majority of the existing guidance and counseling programs to improve to significantly address the identified behavioral problems among their students.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Looking back over everything that has transpired, the following people deserve more than a simple recognition for the support and help they have offered, so much so that this paper could not have done without. My parents for their encouragement throughout the whole MPH course, not to mention sustaining me with all the expenses for this project. My loving sister Lois for always putting a smile on my face when things seemed down. To my adviser Dr. Halili, for always being available for consultations; for his constant words of encouragement and optimism through this research. To Janice, for your steadfast prayers for me, your constant encouragement and understanding and love. Finally to my Heavenly Father, for seeing me through thus farenabling me to see His hand in my yesterday, in my today, and in my tomorrow.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE APPROVAL SHEET .................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................ vi CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING a.) Background of the Study .................................................2 b.) Related Literature ............................................................3 c.) Statement of the Problem..................................................10 d.) Conceptual Framework ....................................................12 e.)Significance of the Study ..................................................13 f.) Scope and Delimitations of the Study ..............................14 g.) Definition of Terms .........................................................15 METHODOLOGY a.) b.) c.) d.) e.) f.) g.) III Research Design ..............................................................18 Respondents ....................................................................18 Research Setting ..............................................................19 Sampling Design .............................................................20 Research Instruments ......................................................21 Data Gathering Procedure ...............................................24 Data Analysis ..................................................................26
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PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS ................................................................27 CONCLUSSION ...................................................................43
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BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................................................................................45 APPENDICES ..............................................................................................46 A. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire .........................46 B. In Depth Interview Trigger Questions .............................48
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C. Checklist to Rate Guidance Counseling Programs Per School ..................................................................49 D. In Depth Interview Verbatim Transcription .....................50 a. Ateneo de Zamboanga University .............50 PAGE b. Claret .........................................................52 c. Immaculate Conception Archdiocese School (Calarian Branch) .......................54 d. Bethany Child Development Center .........56 e. Immaculate Conception Archdiocese School (Tetuan) ....................................58 f. Zion Evangelical School ............................62
LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Conceptual Framework Flow of Activities Prevalence of Behavioral Problems Among Five of the Most Populated Private Elementary Number of Cases of Specific Types of Behavioral Problems Page 12 Page 24 Page 28
Figure 4
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LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Demographic Profile of All Children According to Grade Level Rating of the guidance counseling program of each school based on the checklist
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Table 2
Page 38
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CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING Background of the study

In the international setting the number of researches regarding behavioral problems has constantly been increasing. It is an established fact that such behavioral problems may be manifested as early as childhood. An article by Goodman and Gurian (2006) entitled About Conduct Disorders reports that an estimate of 6% of children in any given setting would have conduct disorders. In another article by Tynan (2006), emotional problems such as depression could in turn be at a prevalence rate of 1-2% among children 5-11 years old, and would increase to 8% among children 12-18 years of age. A longitudinal study done by Kokko and Pulkkinen (2000) observed children from 8 years old until they reached the age of 36. Aggressive behavior noticed at the early age of 8 positively predicted later behavioral problems at age 14, such as alcoholism, poor educational attainment, increased number of school drop-outs, resulting to a lack of occupational alternatives at the age of 27, eventually predicting future unemployment at age 36. Much of the data available at present which give prevalence estimates of child populations with behavioral problems are from the United States and Europe, while no data exists in the Philippines which give us a general picture as to exactly how many children in the local setting are expected to have behavioral problems. Several studies however have been conducted in Zamboanga City, mostly regarding only ADHD among private schools. Psychiatrists on the other hand claim to see a lot of behavioral problems among children in their private practice, with at least one new case seen out of the many already diagnosed per week. 1
There is at present a lack of documentation regarding behavioral problems in general, most of which go undetected by both parents and teachers in the setting of the school and the home. Such behavioral problems that are not known of and identified, can never be properly addressed. Therefore the identification of such existing behavioral problems is needed, and the school ought to know that such problems exist, being one of the places where the child spends most of his time. And the school, playing a very vital part in a childs development, is in such a strategic placement as to address such existing behavioral problems. In light of all this, the current research has been conducted with the purpose of identifying the prevalence of behavioral problems among five of the most populated elementary schools in Zamboanga City. It further delves deeper into investigating the kind of guidance and counseling programs of each of these schools, looking into whether or not such existing programs appropriately address the identified behavioral problems.
Review of Related Literature

Farrales (1997) conducted a study which focused on determining the prevalence of behavioral problems among children 5-12 years of age who consulted at the Zamboanga City Medical Center Out Patient Department. With the use of a Random Questionnaire Checklist, out of 50 respondents, 15% were found out to have maladjustment problems underlying the presenting medical complaints of cough, fever and colds. While the aforementioned study focuses more on possible co-existing, if not causative psychological problems along with medical complaints, such results show that emotional problems can be existing but subtle and easily overlooked, remaining
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undetected unless sought for. If such is the case, then most certainly it is vital we determine the true prevalence of behavioral problems among children, as many may present with physical ailments, but are with nevertheless underlying serious emotional problems. Fernandez (2006) conducted a research looking into the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among Grade I students of Baliwasan Central School, Zamboanga City. This study involved 374 students evaluated by their parents and subject teachers. Results showed that out of the total population, 5.3% were identified to have ADHD, an estimate which falls under the prevalence rate proposed by the American Psychological Association. This study is similar to the current research in terms of its dealing with a specific type of behavioral problem among school age children, assessed through a behavioral problem checklist administered to subject teachers of the children included in this study. Although the current research aims to determine four different types of behavioral problems, namely Emotional Problems, Peer Problems, Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity, this study by Fernandez could give the researcher an estimate of how many children might be found out to have hyperactivity problems in the given setting. Another research done by De Leon (2007) entitled The prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among students of private elementary schools in Zamboanga City sought to address the most commonly diagnosed behavioral problem among children in the United States, which has been estimated to be within 3-5% of the child population. Through proportionate random sampling, 401 students from 19 different private schools were included in the study, and with the use of the SWAN scale, 6% or
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24 children were found to have ADHD as rated by their teachers, while only 3% or 12 children were in turn found to have ADHD by their parents. This study is similar to the current research in that both deal with behavioral problems among school age children. The difference is that the former specifically focuses on ADHD, while the current research aims to emphasize namely on four different types of behavioral problems, namely Emotional Problems, Peer Problems, Conduct Problems, and Hyperactivity. Results could yield other prevalent behavioral problems not initially identified in prior studies. Cristobal (2008) did a research entitled The Effect of Lecture Intervention on the Knowledge of Parents and Teachers Regarding Behavioral Problems of School Age Children in Three Elementary Schools within the Municipality of Sergio Osmena. Through the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), class advisers identified 225 children out of 923 (24.4%) to have behavioral problems. A breakdown of the different types of behavioral problems noted were as follows: Peer Problems were the most numerous, reaching a rate of 46.8%, followed by Conduct and Emotional Problems, with 21.9% each. The least of behavioral problems noted was Hyperactivity, reaching 10.7%. According to the above studies, ADHD has been most of the time focused on regarding determining its prevalence rate among school age children. But according to the last study mentioned, in a rural setting, determining the prevalence of four different types of behavioral problems yielded that hyperactivity was one of the least prevalent. Results of the current study could be compared to the current study, to determine other behavioral problems other than hyperactivity and ADHD, which might even be of
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greater number which could still remain undetected. This research is also similar in several respects to the current thesis in that it sought to determine the prevalence of four different types of behavioral problems mentioned above through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results can in turn be compared, scrutinizing the prevalence rate of such behavioral problems in the public and private school setting. In addition to these, the current study desires to take a step further and delve into the guidance counseling programs of several schools chosen to take part in this research, to determine whether or not they are appropriate in addressing the identified problems at hand. Goodman and Scott (1999) in their study entitled Comparing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), is small beautiful? Published by the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, evaluated the efficacy and accuracy of both tools in detecting moderate to severe cases of 64 prediagnosed children with behavioral problems. Yielded results showed a high correlation for both questionnaires, being equally able to discriminate between children of low and high risks despite that the fact that the SDQ had only 25 items while the CBCL has 118 items. In addition, out of 64 parent informants, 41 (64%) preferred the SDQ over the CBCL. This aforementioned study affirms the use of the SDQ as a good screening tool for detecting behavioral problems in children, which is even as good as the tried and tested, but very long and tedious CBCL. The current study will be making use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to screen and identify children with possible behavioral problems. Another study by Goodman et al (2006) entitled Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to Screen for Child Psychiatric Disorders in a Community
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Sample published by the British Journal of Psychiatry, had the goal of assessing the SDQ as a potential for improving the detection of child psychiatric problems. A sample of 7984 children 5-15 years of age from the 1999 British Child Mental Health Survey were included in this study, with parents, teachers and students themselves as informants. Results showed that identified cases by the SDQ yielded a 94.4% specificity and a 63.3% sensitivity for detecting behavioral problems. The paper concluded that, for community screening programs, using the SDQ would potentially increase efficacy in the detection of behavioral problems among school age children. Shifting the emphasis from research involving behavioral problems among children to at this point focusing on articles regarding Guidance Counseling Programs, the following literature has been obtained by the researcher: In a book entitled Introduction to Counseling and Guidance (Gibson and Mitchell 1999) the authors highlighted one of the more popular Guidance Counseling Programs devised by the American School Counselors Association (ASCA) in the year 1997. Such programs exist to promote and enhance childrens learning process, with 3 areas of emphasis, their development in academics, career, and in their personal and social areas. This programs rationale states that a good guidance counseling program should be developmental in nature, proactive and preventive with a goal of providing all students with equal chance for life long success. Another school of thought was developed by Gyspers and Henderson, discussed in a book entitled Counseling in Schools: Essential Services and Comprehensive Programs (Schmidt, 2003), called the Comprehensive Guidance Program Model. This approach to the formulating of a guidance counseling program emphasized 4 areas that
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need to be addressed by the program, namely individual planning to cater to each students needs, responsive services involving counseling and crisis intervention, integration of the guidance curriculum into the school curriculum, and systems support to maintain the program. This approach stresses the importance of guidance counselors to have the appropriate training before being responsible for the schools guidance programs, that they must be certified and accredited, with a degree and license to practice their said profession. It also stresses the importance of structural competency, a clear vision and mission for the existence of the program. An equally popular model for guidance counseling programs is the Strategic Comprehensive Model, where this school of thought emphasizes that all programs must address four specific areas, namely normal development, prevention, remedial measures, and the addressing of crisis. School programs should cater to the school children to enhance their academic, personal and social competencies at an early age, to ensure normal development and progress. With early detection through testing and observation, necessary measures may be taken to address the identified problems, referring to the preventive phase of this program. The third aspect, remedial, refers to specific programs that address real problems identified, resorted to when the first two phases have failed. Crisis intervention refers to actual crisis debriefing, in case of traumatic experiences from children, grief counseling and crisis resolution. The fourth model is called the Essential Services Model by John Schmidt (Counseling in Schools: Essential Services and Comprehensive Programs, 2003). It emphasizes on 3 specific areas of development, similar to the prior models, namely the childs educational development, as well as career, personal and social development.
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Through this model, it was suggested that guidance programs be grouped into four major headings, which are counseling services, consulting services, coordinating services, and the appraisal of the schools programs. With the aforementioned articles and researches, it can be concluded that several studies regarding behavioral problems among children have already been conducted, both in the local rural and urban settings. Results of these studies yield a generally large prevalent rate of behavioral problems among this age group, especially in the community setting. Such prevalence is yet to be determined for the urban setting, while ADHD falls within the proposed estimate by the American Psychological Association. Through the review of related literature it can also be concluded that the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a tried and tested tool, good for screening use in identifying children with behavioral problems. Regarding the researches done by Fernandez (2006) and De Leon (2007), both dealt with a specific type of behavioral problem, namely ADHD. The latter took a step further to look into a citywide prevalence rate of ADHD among children studying in all private schools of this city. The current research is unique in comparison to these former researches in the fact that it deals with establishing the prevalence rate of behavioral problems among 5 of the most populated schools in this city, namely Hyperactivity, Emotional Problems, Peer Problems and Conduct Problems. It also takes a step further into looking into the guidance counseling programs of each school, determining whether or not such programs address the behavioral problems identified. With the emerging trend of incorporating guidance counseling programs into the school setting, virtually all schools have adopted this new approach to holistic education. However at present there are no national guidelines that provide ideal models for
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guidance counseling programs. In the United States, however, numerous models are already in existence, of which 4 of the more popular models were named above, as recommended by the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Guidance Counseling Office. Looking into these specific programs would give us a picture of the ideal programs that our schools in the local setting should pattern their guidance programs after. It would also give us a measure as to whether or not such existing programs in our schools are sufficient to meet the childrens needs, and address certain behavioral problems which were identified by the current research.
Statement of the problem:

This study aimed to address the question: What is the prevalence of behavioral problems among children studying in five of the most populated private elementary schools in Zamboanga City, and what is the description of their existing guidance counseling programs?
General objectives:
To determine the prevalence of behavioral problems among children studying in five of the most populated private elementary schools in Zamboanga City and to give a description of their existing guidance counseling programs.
Specific objectives:
1. To determine the prevalence of the following behavioral problems: Emotional Problems, Peer Problems, Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity, through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) among children studying in 5 of the most populated private elementary schools in Zamboanga City . 9
2. To describe the Guidance Counseling programs of each school in terms of their appropriateness in addressing the most prevalent behavioral problems based on in depth interviews and a devised checklist patterned after the four models of Guidance Counseling Programs used by the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance Counseling Office.
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Conceptual framework:
In depth interview w/ guidance counselors
Evaluation of programs w/ a formulated checklist
PREVALENCE OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS
MATCH (?)
EXISTING GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
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The above figure illustrates in a nutshell the gist of the whole research. Having 2 phases, the first of which sought to determine the most prevalent of behavioral problems among 5 of the most populated private schools in Zamboanga City. This was achieved through the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire devised and validated by Dr Robert Goodman. The second phase of the research purposed to look into each of the five private schools guidance counseling programs, through in depth interviews with their guidance counselors, and with the use of a researcher-prepared checklist. The purpose behind this was to determine whether or not such existing programs were appropriate to meet their students needs in addressing the identified behavioral problems.
Significance of the Study:

Though several researches have already been done in this city regarding behavioral problems in children, most of which have dealt with a specific type, namely ADHD, identified as the most common of behavioral problem among school children in the United States. However, other studies done in the rural setting have shown that comparing prevalence rates of behavioral problems, hyperactivity has been the least prevalent (Cristobal 2008). This comes to show that there might be other behavioral problems still undetected among school age children in the urban setting, showing us a lack of documentation in this area. According to a recognized Psychiatrist in this city, the issue of behavioral problems among school children is not given enough attention to by research. There are no exisiting concrete data regarding such issues. her private practice, she sees at least 1
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new case of behavioral problem among children a week, and much more she claims remain undetected. Equally important is the issue of the appropriateness of the guidance counseling programs of todays schools. It seems that since the trend nowadays is for every school to have such a program, our primary and secondary educational institutions simply come up with a guidance office and implement their own guidance programs in ways that they deem appropriate. The question of whether or not such existing programs are of quality and sufficiency to meet the childrens needs, and appropriate in addressing already existing behavioral problems is yet to be answered.
Scope and Delimitations of the Study:

The current research is limited in several aspects: first of all as this study dealt with school age children of only 5 private schools, and results cannot be generalized to reflect the prevalence rate of behavioral problems to include other private schools and those children studying in government public schools. Secondly results as well cannot be generalized to include children who are not affiliated to any educational institution. The tool to be used to screen and determine children with early manifestations of behavioral problems is a 25 item checklist entitled the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire by Robert Goodman. Cases did not have any cross evaluation by a professional Psychiatrist. One of the tools used to give a description of the appropriateness of the said guidance counseling programs of each school in addressing the identified behavioral problems was a checklist devised by the researcher aided by the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Guidance Counseling Office. There are no existing checklists that serve as
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quick rating tools for guidance counseling programs. There are however several theories which suggest ideal programs that ought to be included in any given guidance counseling plan. The mentioned checklist was patterned after these guidelines, edited by the Guidance Office of the college of Ateneo de Zamboanga University, and was pretested at a nearby private school in this city. Trigger questions were also formulated to facilitate discussions for in depth interviews with each of the guidance counselors.
Definition of Terms:
Maladaptive Behavior: refers to full blown behavioral problems seen in later developmental stages of life as a result of failure in early detection of these behavioral problems in childhood and subsequent lack of interventions to address them.
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): the tool used to determine and identify behavioral problems among school age children. This is a checklist of 25 items devised and validated by Dr. Robert Goodman in 1997 that measures four behavioral constructs among children, namely Peer Problems, Conduct Problems, Emotional Problems and Hyperactivity.
Peer Problems: as defined by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, refers to behavior seen as rather solitary, tends to play by himself, is generally not liked by others, is picked on or bullied by others, and gets on better with adults than with same age children.
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Conduct Problems: as defined by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, refers to behavior such as: often hot tempered, generally disobedient, frequently fights with other children or bullies them, often lies and cheats and often steals things.
Emotional Problems: as defined by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, refers to behavior such as often complaining of headaches, stomacheaches, has many worries, is often seen as unhappy, downhearted or tearful, nervous or clingy in new situations, has many fears and is easily scared.
Hyperactivity: as defined by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, refers to behaviors such as restless, overactive, cannot stay still for long, constantly fidgeting or squirming, easily distracted with wandering concentration, does not think before acting, and does not see tasks through to the end.
Behavioral Problem: this refers to the difficulty index according to the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. It is the total sum of the scores (Total Difficulties Score) of each of the behavioral constructs except the Prosocial Construct. When these total scores reach 16-40, children are confirmed to have a Behavioral Problem.
Guidance Counseling Program: a comprehensive program devised, managed and run by the guidance counselor/s of the elementary schools included for this study. Its purpose is to aid in the schools vision and mission, by ensuring the equal development of all their students in academics, as well as personal and social growth.
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Appropriateness of Guidance Counseling Programs: refers to the description and evaluation of each guidance counseling program, as to whether they meet the appropriate criteria followed by the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance and Counseling Office. Such evaluation will be achieved through in depth interviews with the guidance counselors, as well as evaluation through a checklist to be filled up by the researcher during the interviews. At the end of each evaluation, the programs will either be identified as appropriate or not in terms of addressing behavioral problems among children identified through the current research. The scoring method for the checklist is as follows: out of 23 items, a score of 10 and below would mean that the existing guidance counseling program is poor, if a score of 11 to 17 is achieved, such program is described as fair, and if a score of at least 18 and above is achieved, the program is described as good.
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CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY Research design:

This research is a cross sectional study with two phases. The first aimed to identify the prevalence of behavioral problems among the 5 most populated private elementary schools in Zamboanga City, utilizing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The second phase aimed to determine whether the existing guidance counseling programs by these schools appropriately address the needs of the children, as well as the identified behavioral problems. This in turn will be achieved through in depth interviews among guidance counselors of the schools included in this study, as well as a devised checklist rated by the researcher during the interviews.
Respondents:
For the first phase of the study, class advisers of children studying within the 5 most populated elementary schools in this city served as informants who rated the children with the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires. For the second phase of the study, guidance counselors of the same schools underwent in depth interviews with the researcher to determine the appropriateness of the existing programs to address the behavioral problems identified. A checklist was also formulated in aiding to achieve this goal. Inclusion Criteria, Phase 1: 1. Children randomly selected per school to represent the sample population
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2. these children were selected according to the population size of each school and stratified according to grade level and section Inclusion Criteria, Phase 2: All heads of the guidance counseling offices of each school included in the study
Research setting:
The current study was conducted among 5 of the most populated private elementary schools in Zamboanga City. There are currently 21 elementary schools operating in this city certified by the Department of Education for school year 2008-2009. Schools with the most number of grade school enrollees were Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Claret Elementary School, Immaculate Conception Archdiocese School (combined ICAS tetuan and ICAS calarian), Pilar Elementary School and Bethany Child Development Center. Since Pilar Elementary School did not approve the researchers request to conduct the current study in their institution, this was replaced with Zion Evangelical School, which was next in line in terms of number of elementary students. The breakdown of the number of elementary students per school are as follows: Ateneo de Zamboanga University with 1, 265 students, Claret Elementary School with 758 students, Immaculate Conception Archdiocese School with 543 (Tetuan and Calarian branches combined), Bethany Child Development Center with 354 students, and finally Zion Evangelical School with 257 students, bringing us to a total of 3,177 students in all. Out of the five schools included in this study, three of them are of Catholic background, namely the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Immaculate Conception Archdiocese School and the Claret Elementary School. The remaining two schools,
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Bethany Child Development Center and the Zion Evangelical School were of Protestant background. All of them however are open to accept enrollees from any religious sect.
Sampling design:
A total of 3,177 elementary students are presently studying in the 5 most populated schools included in this paper. For the first phase of this study, with the use of the Slovens formula the researcher computed for the sample size, obtaining a number of 355 students to represent the total population. This was achieved by summing up the population of each individual school (N) multiplied by the square of 0.5 (constant), the answer of which is added w/ 1, then divided by the total population of all five schools (N). The next step was to obtain a relatively equivalent sample size from each of the five schools, considering that their individual populations were of differing numbers. Simply to divide 355 by 5 (the number of schools) would not suffice. In order to compute for the proportionate sample size per school, the researcher used the following formula: school population was divided by the total number of the population (N) and multiplied by the sample size. For example, using this formula to compute for the proportionate sample size of Claret Elementary School, its school population (758) was divided by the total population of all five schools (3177), multiplied by the sample size (355). The answer obtained was 85, representing the number of children the researcher needed to randomly select from Claret Elementary School. With the use of this formula the researcher achieved to come up with a proportionate sample size for each school; for Zion Evangelical School it was 29
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students, for Immaculate Conception Archdiocese School it was 61, for Claret Elementary School it was 85, for the Ateneo de Zamboanga University it was 141, and for the Bethany Child Development Center it was 40. Each proportionate sample size per school was divided by the number of sections each school had from grades 1 to grades 6, in order to have a stratification per section. Using the fishbowl method, students were randomly selected per section to represent the total population. Those selected were rated by each of their class advisers through the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). For the second phase of the research, in depth interviews were held separately for each of the Guidance Counseling Heads of each school, to give a description of their existing guidance counseling programs. A devised checklist was also utilized during the interview to achieve this purpose.
Research instruments:
In order to determine the prevalence rate of behavioral problems among school children enrolled in the 5 most populated private schools included in the current research, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was utilized. This tool was formulated by Robert Goodman (1997) and was first published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Volume 38. It is a brief behavioral screening questionnaire with 25 items that provides a balanced coverage of assessing children and young peoples behaviors, emotions and relationships. This questionnaire is currently used worldwide by epidemiologists, developmental and clinical researchers, routine clinical and educational practitioners, and has been translated into 30 different languages.
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The SDQ assesses 25 attributes, some positive and others negative. These 25 items are divided between 5 scales of 5 items each covering Conduct Problems, Peer Problems, Emotional Problems, Hyperactivity and Prosocial Behavior. Each item can be rated as either Not True, Somewhat True, or Certainly True, with a set of corresponding points. The resultant scores if tallied can range from 0 40. All scores except the Prosocial Behavior are summed to generate a Total Difficulties Score. If the total sum for scores of the negative constructs reaches 16 40, then the child is considered to have a behavioral problem. Out of the total study population, the prevalent behavioral problem is determined by counting the number of children with Difficulty Index scores described by the SDQ. In addition to determining the total number of children with behavioral problems, the prevalence of the four different constructs (Hyperactivity, Emotional Problems, Peer Problems and Conduct Problems) was also done, while identifying the construct with the highest number of children as the most prevalent of the four. These SDQs were rated by each of the class advisers of students randomly selected from 5 of the most populated private schools of this city. The second phase of the research involved in depth interviews with each guidance counselor of each school in order to look into their specific guidance programs, to determine if they indeed are appropriate to address the needs of the children, and in terms of addressing the identified behavioral problems by the researcher. A checklist was also devised to help achieve this goal. The researcher sought advise from the guidance counselors of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance Counseling Office. With their help, the
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researcher came up with trigger questions to ask for the in depth interviews. A checklist was also devised with their aid in order to be filled up by the researcher, determining what programs and services should be present for it to be considered an appropriate guidance counseling program. This was patterned after the Four Models of Guidance and Counseling used by the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Guidance Counseling Office, composed of 23 items. Of items that were found to be present in a certain guidance counseling program, these were marked with a yes, and those that were absent were marked with a no. The scoring procedure was as follows, schools which had a total of 10 yes marks or below were rated to have a poor guidance counseling program, those who faired between 11-17 were rated to have a fair program, while those who had a mark of at least 18 and above were rated as having a good guidance program. Both the trigger questions and checklist were first pretested and dry run in a local private elementary school not included in the current research.
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Data Gathering Procedure:
Visit DepEd, obtain formal list of all certified and registered private elementary schools of Zamboanga City Inquire as to which 5 schools are the most populated
Formal visitation of principals of the 5 most populated schools, requesting permission to include their schools in the research Computation of sample size, with random selection of students to be rated by advisers Administer SDQ checklists to class advisers, give ample time for completion Collection of questionnaires, collation and analysis of data Develop interview trigger questions and checklist to investigate guidance counseling programs In depth interview with guidance counselors
Writing of formal paper
Figure 2: Flow of Activities
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The following portion maps out the steps the researcher took in the conduct of the current research. After visiting the Department of Education office of this city, a formal list of all certified and registered private elementary schools of this city were obtained, and 5 schools with the most number of enrollees from grades one to six for school year 2008-2009 were looked into. These were the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU), with 1, 265 students, Claret Elementary School with 758 students, Immaculate Conception Archdiocese School with 543 students (both Tetuan and Calarian), the Bethany Child Development Center with 354 students and finally Zion Evangelical School with 257 students. After computation of sample size with the Slovens formula and stratification of samples per class, random selection was done via fishbowl method. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was then given to each of the class advisers of students selected to be rated by them. Ample time was allowed for these advisers to complete these checklists, and upon collection data was collated and analyzed. A group of trigger questions was then devised with the help of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance and Counseling Office, as well as a checklist of guidance counseling services. With these the researcher did an in depth interview with each of the guidance counselors of the five schools included in the said study, to determine whether or not the programs of their guidance offices are indeed appropriate in addressing the identified behavioral problems by the researcher through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Upon obtaining the needed information, formal writing of the paper was then done.
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Data Analysis:
To determine the prevalence of behavioral problems among school children studying in the 5 most populated private schools of Zamboanga City, frequency distribution was utilized.
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CHAPTER III PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

The following presentation of results have been divided into the following parts, the first of which refers to the demographic profile of the children, followed by the prevalence of behavioral problems identified, and finally a description of each guidance and counseling programs through in depth interviews and a formulated checklist.
Demographic Profile of Children: Table 1: Demographic profile of all children according to grade level School A Grade I Grade II Grade III Grade IV Grade V Grade VI TOTAL 16 12 8 8 20 8 72 School B 10 15 15 15 15 15 85 School C 25 20 25 16 20 20 126 School D 9 6 6 9 6 6 42 School E 6 5 5 5 5 5 31
The above table shows how many students per grade level of each school have been randomly selected to be evaluated by their class advisers through the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Out of the 3, 177 children from five private schools selected to take part in the study, 356 children were randomly selected to
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represent the total population, stratified according to section per grade level. For School A 72 children were randomly selected, for school B 85 children, for school C 126 children, for school D 42 children, and finally for school E 31 children. Out of this sample population, the male to female sex ratio was quite equal, with 181 females (51%) and 175 males (49%) respectively. Prevalence of Behavioral Problems among Children: The following results refer to the prevalence of behavioral problems among the children included in the study, as well as the breakdown of the four types of behavioral problems identified by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
58 (16%)
behavioral problems no behavioral problems
298 (84%)
Figure 3: Prevalence of behavioral problems among 5 of the most populated private elementary schools in Zamboanga City
The above figure shows that out of the 356 children selected to represent the total population of 3,177 children studying in 5 of the most populated private schools in Zamboanga City, 58 of them were found to have behavioral problems, or 16.2% of the total population.
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Out of this total number of children identified, 42 of them were males (72%) while 16 were females (28%). Apparently behavioral problems seem to be more predominant among male children compared to females.
peer problems conduct problems emotional problems hyperactivity 0 5 10 15 20
24 38 15 23 25 30 35 40
Figure 4: number of cases of specific types of behavioral problems
The above figure in turn shows us a breakdown of the specific types of behavioral problems identified through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Take note that one child may manifest several types of behavioral problems and not just be confined to a specific type. Results show only the number of children with the specific types of behavioral problems, but do not show the individual results per child. Out of the 3,177 children from 5 of the most populated private elementary schools, 356 children were randomly selected to represent the total population. And out of 58 children found to have behavioral problems, 38 (65.5%) were found to have Conduct Problems, behavior expressed as one who often bullies, gets into fights, cheats, steals, lies and is generally disobedient. Peer problems is the next most commonly found behavioral problem, with 24 children (41.37%) manifesting such symptoms. Specifically these children are seen to not have any friends, generally get along better with people of older age, who tend to play alone, and who are not liked by other kids. 28
Hyperactivity was also found in 23 out of 58 (39.65%) of the children identified with behavioral problems. This behavior is seen in children who are unable to sit still for a period of time, with very short attention span, who often get into temper tantrums, who do not see tasks through to the end. Finally emotional problems among the children were also observed, amounting to 15 out of 58 (25.86%) of the children with behavioral problems. These are children who often complain of headaches and stomacheaches, who are often clingy and nervous, with many fears and worries. In comparison to statistics given in the international setting, prevalence rates of behavioral problems are not quite the same. According to an article by Doodman and Gurian (2006) entitled About Conduct Disorders posted at the NYU Child Study Center reports that 6% of children in any given setting may be expected to have conduct disorders. In the United States, as reported by Tynan (2006), such disorders range from 2 to 9% of all children. Emotional problems as depression may in turn be seen among 5 to 11 year olds at a prevalence of 1 to 2%, while among 12 to 18 year olds it would reach a rate of 8%. And according to the American Psychological Association, ADHD cases may range from 2 to 5% among children of any given population. These statistics, though foreign give an idea that behavioral problems may range from 2 to 9%, depending on the type of problem being talked about. Results show that out of 5 private elementary schools included in this study, 16.2% of children have behavioral problems, an alarmingly large number. In contrast to a similar study done by Cristobal (2008), where he looked into the prevalence of behavioral problems in 3 public schools in the setting of a rural community, results showed that 24.4% of children had behavioral problems. This is an
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equally large amount, although such behavioral problems seem to be more prevalent in rural setting. The above breakdown of behavioral problems suggest that the most common type found among elementary school children in the 5 most populated private schools of this city is conduct problems. This is quite alarming, as defiance and aggression among our children is common place, probably stemming from a number of factors and causes. One could possibly be due to family background, aggression seen at the setting of the home are picked up by the children and manifested elsewhere. One issue pointed out by virtually all the guidance counselors is that a lot of their problematic children come from broken homes and have parents who are separated, some even come from parents who abuse them physically. Such family background could have a negative effect on the children, manifested as physical aggression, that if left unattended to would lead to future maladaption in the adulthood (Kokko and Pulkkinen, 2000). In reference to the results mentioned above, the second most common behavioral problem is Peer Problem. This problem is manifested as children having difficulty in socialization and establishing friendships and peers. Such behavioral problems may in turn be caused by deeper issues, most probably that of poor self image and low self esteem. Hyperactivity, accordingly the most common behavioral problem in the United States only ranks as the third most common behavioral problem in our local setting. Although such cases have not been cross referenced by Psychiatrists, they nonetheless could be cases of early manifestations that could eventually lead to ADHD, if left undetected and ignored. The least of the four behavioral problems identified by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is Emotional Problems, where several
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children were noted by their advisers to manifest constant fears and worries, clinginess to new situations, and a frequent appearance of being sad and downhearted. Such cases in turn could come from deeper problems of the home that ought to be delved deeper into.
Description of the Guidance Counseling Programs of Each School: With the help of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance Office the researcher developed trigger questions which were used for the in depth interviews with the guidance counselors of each school included in the study. The following section is a summary of their answers during the interview, together with a few statements taken verbatim. A complete compilation of each interview is found at the appendices section. Referring to the duration of the individual guidance counseling programs of each school, majority of them already had such programs for more than 10 years now. The longest running guidance program was that of School E, which is in its 13th year now. Only 2 schools had guidance programs which have been operational for less than 10 years, referring to School D, with a program since 7 years ago, and School A in turn with a program which is in its 4th year at present. Each school claimed that their individual mission and vision all are the same with that of their respective schools. Training received by the Guidance Counselors of each school has also been looked into. Three of the schools counselors claimed to have been in their position for more than 10 years now. Out of the three, only School A has a counselor who is licensed to practice her profession as the head of the guidance office.
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I took my masters in counseling but am without thesisrecently a group of guidance counselors in Zamboanga were accredited to be certifiedso I am licensed. The counselors from School B in turn have had some training in counseling but are not yet certified guidance counselors. We are four counselorsone of us had masters in guidance counseling in Diliman, I also received my mastersas well as another one of usno thesis yet, but we have complete units for the course It is interesting to note that School E, the institution with the longest running guidance program has a counselor for all these years who does not have any training in guidance counseling whatsoever. From the time I started at 2003, I am a pastor, a master in Christian education and doctorate on Christian education, my background really qualifies as to hold the guidance counseling office, although they still want me to take up masters in Guidance Counseling The remaining guidance counselors claim that they have been working in their profession for less than 5 years now, with both counselors from School A and C claiming they have received masteral training in guidance counseling, but only the latter received her license as a certified guidance counselor. School D in turn has a guidance counselor who has been in office for less than one year, who acknowledges that she has had no formal training in guidance and counseling. Its been so difficult when I started, I had no idea what to doI had no background at all at counselingwhen I am confronted with the different
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problems, I dont know how to start dealing with the childrenso difficultno training, no seminarsbut if I am to choose, I dont want to take this job, but whatever task given to me I will do my best Manpower has been another issue which was discussed among the guidance counselors of the five schools in this study. Majority have only one guidance counselor, while all of them work without any assistants to do clerical and filing work. They are overworked, and overwhelmed with all the responsibilities of the guidance office. There are no other guidance counselors, I am by myself, and this is so difficult, to be by myselfI teach, I handle everything, filing, everythingI even plan to go abroad!...if I have the opportunity I would leave this workits difficult
But I am by myself, lack of manpower, especially during the mornings, im not even sure if these are even my rolesI am at a loss how to handle them In reference to the updating of these counselors regarding the latest information on guidance and counseling, two of the schools counselors agree that they have not taken part in any seminars or training workshops for this school year. School C attends such training workshops in a regular basis, both local and national congresses. The rest of the schools attend local seminars at least once a year. The general framework of the guidance counseling program of each school has not been patterned according to standards set by a recognized guidance and counseling program. Most of the programs in general have been in existence before the present
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counselors took office. Through the years these programs have evolved and have been added upon according to what was seen fit to address certain needs the guidance office identified. As to the specific programs each school offers, all of them generally do counseling. The programs offered by the counseling office of Schools A, D and E have similarities in the fact that all counselors here agree that their programs are still in need of much improvement. Basically their main focus is counseling those who are referred to their office because of misbehavior in class or problems with academics. In other words, not all students get sessions with the counselors, only those who are referred. They also schedule meetings with the parents of these children to talk to them, and agree with certain measures to take in addressing these problems. Counseling, one on one, anybody can just come inbut usually these are referrals from teachers who cannot handle the children(we also) meet with the parents to inform them how the students are
if the offense is serious, I call them up (parents) and have a conference with them(we) come up with an agreement, and usually parents are unreceptive They also agree that most of the problems are from the high school students, with little attention given for counseling to the grade school, as they seem to not have much behavioral issues to deal with. The function of the guidance counselors in these schools seem to overlap with that of the school disciplinarian. School A, B and C in turn offer more holistic and complete services. In these schools, the heart of each program still falls on counseling. Both the latter 2 schools
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schedule at least one session of counseling each school year for all students. Those with failing grades and those who are problematic are scheduled for several other counseling sessions. Only School A does not have such counseling for each student, due to the lack of their manpower in the guidance counseling office. In turn, only School C offers group counseling aside from individual counseling. Counseling and referrals are also done with the parents and teachers. All three of the aforementioned schools conduct several workshops catering not only to the students, but also to parents to improve on parenting skills, and teachers to enhance their knowledge on guidance and counseling. Among the lectures catered to the children are those about career information, lectures on friendship and communication, drug addicion, etc. Another commonality between the three schools mentioned above is that they all have individual profiling of each of their students, arranged as files in the guidance office. They also offer testing for the children, most of which are tests that measure learning styles, learning difficulties and personality tests. Only the guidance office of School C claims to have referral of certain cases they encounter to specialists like psychiatrists and pediatricians. In addition to the above mentioned, only Schools B and C do formal evaluations in a regular basis to determine the effectiveness of these specific programs. A general misconception among many individuals is the fact that behavioral problems are not common among our school children. In fact, it could be noted that almost all of the guidance counselors interviewed claim that their programs in the guidance office are geared to address the high school, to a certain extent neglecting the elementary school children. They claim that such behavioral problems are more rampant among the former than the latter. Such misconceptions cloud majority of the minds of
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today, further contributing to the lack of identification of such behavioral problems among this age group. Results from the current research prove that such behavioral problems among our children not only exist, but exist in an alarmingly large number. And ironically, majority are left undetected and unidentified. If such is the case, if nothing would be done, then these children with early manifestations of such behavioral problems would develop into further problems in the adulthood identified as possible poor school performance, drop outs, early alcoholism and drug addiction (Kokko and Pulkinen 2000).
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Rating of each guidance counseling program based on the checklist Aside from the in depth interviews conducted, a checklist was also devised to look into each guidance counseling program of the 5 schools included in the study. Table 2: Rating of the guidance counseling program of each school based on the checklist
Variables Manpower Ideal ratio of counselor to students Licensed guidance counselors With assistants for clerical work Facilities Must have separate guidance office Office with good space, privacy Tables and chairs for sessions Counseling Program Individual Counseling for all students Walk in counseling and referrals from teachers Group counseling for students Counseling for teachers and parents Crisis debriefing Consulting Program For students, instruction on career, education, advice Provides parents and teachers updates how the child is Seeks consultation from parents and teachers on childs behavior in class and home Coordinating Program Testing: academic, career, emotional and social Profiling for student records Referrals to specialists Seminars for parents Seminars for teachers Seminars for children: educational, social, for academics and career Coordinating with other departments within the school Coordinating with other organizations outside the school Appraisal Program TOTAL SCORE School A No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes School B No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes School C Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes School D No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes School E No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes
No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No 12(fair)
Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes 14(fair)
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 23(good)
No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No 11(fair)
No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No 11(fair)
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With the use of a checklist devised with the help of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance Office, as well as several trigger questions used for in depth interview, it was found that most of the schools, though with guidance counselors who implement their own guidance counseling programs, are inadequate to meet the needs of their children. Probably the school that comes closest to having a complete and holistic guidance program is that of School C. However, with consultation with the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance Office, this too is still inadequate. The checklist was filled up during each interview by the researcher, serving as a guide in identifying the available programs of each guidance office. This checklist was derived from the 4 most commonly used guidance counseling standards from the United States. Ideally, any given guidance counseling program should have all of the mentioned services for it to be considered appropriate in meeting the needs of the children. Scoring was also devised by the researcher, to identify how each school has fared in terms of the evaluation of their guidance counseling programs, either Good, Fair or Poor. Those schools who have been rated to have 10 or less out of 23 of the programs identified have been rated with a mark of Poor, while those who were rated to have 11 to 17 in turn were rated to be Fair, while those schools with a rate of 18 above received a mark of Good. Out of the five schools rated with the checklist, only School Bs guidance counseling program was rated as good, while the rest of the schools were found to have guidance programs which ranked as fair. Looking into the relevant details of the above checklist, in reference to manpower, only School C meets the standard as to appropriate ratio for each guidance counselor to number of students. All other schools have a single guidance office for both grade school
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and high school, while School C has a separate office and program for each. In turn only 2 schools have licensed guidance counselors, namely Schools A and C, while the same schools among the rest have assistants for clerical work. In terms of facilities, all guidance counseling programs meet the general guidelines for the physical set up and arrangement of the guidance office. With reference to the counseling program, only Schools B and C schedule individual counseling for all students, while the rest of the counselors cater to only problematic students. In addition to this, only Schools A and C offer group counseling. The latter school as well is the only school which addresses certain crisis debriefing, and offers counseling for both teachers and parents. However all of the schools in the study provide consulting programs for the students, teachers and parents. Only 3 schools offer testing services, namely A, B and C, as well as student profiling. Only School C refer special cases to psychiatrists and pediatricians for further evaluation and treatment. In turn all schools offer lectures and seminars on appropriate topics, while only a few offer relevant topics for the parents and teachers. Finally all guidance counselors coordinate with other departments within the school as well as with organizations outside the school, while only 2 schools regularly appraise their programs, namely Schools B and C. Since there is at present a lack of a standard in the local setting for which to pattern the guidance counseling programs, schools in the Philippines rely on the patterns devised by several international organizations. Those of which were mentioned by the Department Head of the College Guidance Office of Ateneo were the Comprehensive Guidance Program Model, the Essential Services Model, the Strategic Comprehensive
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Model, and the model devised by the American School Counselors Association (ASCA). Accordingly, guidance programs by schools must be tailored after one of the four different models mentioned. In formulating the trigger questions for the interviews done with the guidance counselors, these four models of guidance counseling were taken into account. The formulating of the checklist for rating each guidance program was patterned after the four different models as well. Similarities among the four models were as follows, each recommends that those who would man the guidance program be certified and licensed guidance counselors, with adequate training and experience. Such programs ought to be patterned to complement the schools vision and mission, addressing 3 areas of a childs development, academic, career, and most importantly personal and social. It must cater not only to the children, but to the parents and teachers as well, with programs that specifically address each group. All guidance programs should start its implementation for students as early as the kindergarten level, all the way to high school. These models proposed that the appropriate ratio of guidance counselors to children is at least 1:250-500, with the presence of assistants to aid in clerical work. The essential services that are expected for the guidance program to provide may be divided into counseling services, consulting services, coordinating and appraisal services. Majority of the schools do not have licensed guidance counselors who are handling the guidance program, which is in direct violation of the standards set by the four models identified. In addition to these, most of the schools claim that there is not much need to address the children in the elementary level, as it may seem that there are
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not much problems encountered with them. These problems, according to them are heavier and more pressing in the high school level, where most of the programs cater to. This is not congruent with the findings of the current study, as 16.2% of children are found to have behavioral problems, and these clearly go unnoticed. Another short coming of these existing guidance programs is the over emphasis on the academic development of the children, with less attention to the social and personal aspects of development. Testing is also inadequate, as most schools do not have any services in this area, and those that do, prioritize on the academic testing and IQ testing, neglecting equally important issues concerning childrens personal and social development, as mentioned earlier. Since one of the limitations of guidance counselors is the fact that diagnosis and treatment of behavioral problems are out of their jurisdiction, the most that can be done by them is early identification of suspected behavioral problems, testing of personality, and further observation of such children, while referral to specialists is truly expected of them. Sadly out of all schools which have been interviewed, only School C does referrals to specialists. The rest either do not notice any behavioral problems among their students, or simply intervene in their own ways, claiming that what they do seems to work.
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CHAPTER IV SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECCOMENDATIONS

In reference to the general objective stated at the start of this paper, the prevalence of behavioral problems among school age children studying in 5 of the most populated private elementary schools is 16.2%. The specific prevalence of each of the four behavioral problems included in this study is as follows: Conduct problems with 38 cases (65.5%) out of 356 children randomly selected to represent the total population. This is followed by Peer Problems with 24 cases (41.37%), then Hyperactivity with 23 cases (39.65%), and finally Emotional Problems with 15 cases (25.86%). Regarding the description of the existing guidance and counseling programs of each of the schools, an in depth interview was done with each of the guidance counselors. A checklist was also used to describe each program. Out of the 5 schools, only one was rated to have a good guidance counseling program, while the rest were rated to have fair programs in terms of their appropriateness in addressing the identified prevalent behavioral problems among children in their schools. In conclusion, there is a significant prevalence of behavioral problems among school age children. Specifically the most prevalent behavioral problems are Conduct Problems, followed by Peer Problems. Prior researches have proven that conduct problems manifested at an early age, if not identified and addressed, would develop into worse problems in the adulthood seen as alcoholism, school drop out, and unemployment. But despite such significant prevalence of behavioral problems, there is a general inadequacy of existing guidance counseling programs in the schools which fail to address the identified behavioral problems.
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The current research has yielded quite a large number of behavioral problems among just five private schools. And alarmingly, Hyperactivity and ADHD, which has been the focus of several papers already conducted, appears to be the third most prevalent behavioral problem, superseded by Conduct Problems and Peer Problems respectively. It is suggested that further research be done in a much wider scale, probably involving both private and public schools in the local setting, as to establish a concrete prevalence of behavioral problems among children for the entire city. It is also recommended that further investigation and evaluation of the existing guidance and counseling programs be done among the elementary schools. As mentioned earlier, most of the schools guidance and counseling programs were found to be inadequate in addressing such behavioral problems. Currently the Ateneo de Zamboanga University College Guidance and Counseling Office is conducting a city wide study regarding the evaluation of the different guidance programs made available by different schools in this city. It would be interesting to see what the evaluations would turn out to be. After all, without such evaluation and research, there would be no room for improvement of these existing programs.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Cristobal, J. 2008. The effect of lecture intervention on the knowledge of parents and teachers regarding behavioral problems of school age children in three elementary schools within the municipality of sergio osmena. De Leon, Warlito 2007. Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd) among students of private elementary schools in zamboanga city. Farrales, A. 1997. A survey on behavioral problems on children seen at the zamboanga city medical center. Fernandez, C. 2006. An estimate of the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among grade one students in baliwasan central school, zamboanga city. Gibson, Robert L, Mitchell, Marianne H (1999) Introduction to Counseling and Guidance (Fifth Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Goodman, Robin and Gurian, Anita. 2006. About conduct disorders. NYU Child Study Center. http://www.aboutourkids.org/aboutour/articles/about_conduct.html Goodman R, Ford T, Simmons H, Gatward R, Meltzer H 2006. Using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire to screen for child psychiatric disorders in a community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry 177:534-539. http://bjp.repsych.org/cgi/content/full/177/6/534 Goodman R and Scott 1999. Comparing the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) and the child behavior checklist (CBCL), is small beautiful? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 27:17-24. http://www.findarticles.com/plarticles/mi_mogoz/is_1_27/ai_54422552/pg_1 Kokko K and Pulkkinen L. 2002. Agression in childhood and long-term unemployment in adulthood: a cycle of maladaption and some protective factors. Developmental Psychology. 36:463-472 Tynan, Douglas. 2006. Conduct Disorder. http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2793.htm Schmidt, John J (2003) Counseling in Schools: Essential Services and Comprehensive Programs (Fourth Edition). Arlington Street, Boston.
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APPENDIX A Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

For each item, please mark the box for Not True, Somewhat True or Certainly True. It would help us if you answered all items as best as you can even if you are not absolutely certain or the item seems daft! Please give your answers on the basis of the childs behaviour over the last six months or this school year. Childs Name Date of Birth Not True Considerate of other peoples feelings Restless, overactive, cannot stay still for long Often complains of headaches, stomachaches or sickness Shares readily with other children (treats, toys, pencils, etc) Often has temper tantrums or hot tempers Rather solitary, tends to play alone Generally obedient, usually does what adults request Many worries, often seems worried Helpful if someone is hurt, upset or feeling ill Constantly fidgeting or squirming Has at least one good friend Often fights with other children or bullies them Often unhappy, downhearted or tearful Generally liked by other children Easily distracted, concentration wanders Nervous or clingy in new situations, easily loses confidence Kind to younger children Often lies or cheats Picked on or bullied by other children Often volunteers to help others (parents, teachers, other children) Thinks things out before acting Steals from home, school or elsewhere Gets on better with adults than with other children Many fears, easily scared Somewhat True Certainly True Male/Female
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Sees tasks through to the end, good attention span Signature .. Parent/Teacher/Other (please specify) Thank you very much for your help
Dr. Robert Goodman, 1997
Date
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IN DEPTH INTERVIEW TRIGGER QUESTIONS INTRO TO THE SCHOOLS GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAM: - how long has the program been ongoing? - What is the Vision and Mission of the schools guidance office? - Please share about the whole guidance counseling program that you have MANPOWER: - how long have you been head of the guidance counseling program? - What is your experience? Any qualifications and training? - How many staff members do you have? - Is the ratio enough to meet the childrens needs? - What are the qualifications of those who work as staff member? - Any means of updating yourselves? GUIDANCE COUNSELING PRORGAM: - where did you pattern the program from? - What is the breakdown of your programs in specific? Please share o Do you have testing? What type o Do you offer counseling? What type? How? o Do you cater to walk ins and referrals? o Do you address certain crises? o What programs do you have that address the childs development, prevention, remedial, crisis? - how do you integrate the different programs you have into academics and the whole school experience? - Any networking and coordination? o With other departments (DSA, disciplinarian office, etc) o With other schools? o With specialists? - any consultations with parents and teachers or vice versa that you do? APPRAISAL: - how do you know that your programs meet your goals/are effective? CASES: - usually what cases do you see among the gradeschool? - What specific programs do you have to address these? PRESENT MY DATA TO THE COUNSELORS
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CHECKLIST TO RATE GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS PER SCHOOL

WICAS Manpower Ideal ratio of counselor to students Licensed guidance counselors With assistants for clerical work Facilities Must have separate guidance office Office with good space, privacy Tables and chairs for sessions Counseling Program Individual Counseling for all students Walk in counseling and referrals from teachers Group counseling for students Counseling for teachers and parents Crisis debriefing Consulting Program For students, instruction on career, education, advice Provides parents and teachers updates how the child is Seeks consultation from parents and teachers on childs behavior in class and home Coordinating Program Testing: academic, career, emotional and social Profiling for student records Referrals to specialists Seminars for parents Seminars for teachers Seminars for children: educational, social, for academics and career Coordinating with other departments within the school Coordinating with other organizations outside the school Appraisal Program ICAS CLARET ADZU ZION BETHANY
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VERBATIM TRANSCRIPTION OF IN DEPTH INTERVIEWS ADZU INTERVIEWER: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING FOR THE GUIDANCE OFFICE? 11 years nowthe guidance program started at that timewe were 2 teachers at that time, no formal training or experience THE NEXT Q THAT I HAVE MAM, IS THAT ASIDE FROM THE VISION AND MISSION OF THE ADZU, DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN VISION AND MISSION? Sure we do have, its really the, first we wish to contribute to the optimum development of the children in our guidance program. Not only the counselors, but also the teachers and parents and communityfor reffereal ABOUT MANPOWER, MENTIONING EARLIER THERE WAS JUST TWO OF YOU..AS OF NOW HOW MANY ARE WORKING AT THE GUIDANCE OFFICE There are 3 counselorsstarted 5 years ago since we are also increasing in number and populationI was trying to assert we have to maintain 1 is to 5 ratio of children to counselors so we could really optimally help the children, since less people would mean less counseling. As we evolved, GC is growing in importance to the admin.. I was able to get one more, with psych background and masteral degree.the pioneering 2 of us sent to study after 2 years, took masters in guidancethere are 3 of uswe divide the work, I take jr. prep 4-5-6, 1-2-3, plus assistant students for inventory and filing. YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THE RATIO OF GC TO STUDENTS, SO YOU ARE 3 GC AND YOU DIVIDE THE WORK AMONGST YOURSELVESTHE NEXT QUESTION, FOR YOU THE RATIOIS IT ADEQUATE? I feel we need more, with the problems coming up, the demands of improving and adding more services, follow up of graduates, researchesone of the things the accreditors require us to focus more onresearch on behavioral problem of childrenwe lack manpowermore guidance counseling sessions for children ANOTHER QUESTION, ANY MEANS OF UPDATING YOURSELVES, DO YOU JOIN NAT CONGRESES TO UPDATE YOURSELVES OF CURRENT GC PROGRAMS Yes we do, I include that in the budget, we see to it we are members of the Philippine guidance, PAP, pacersI do it twice a year, having to comply to the guidance act, that no one can sit as a coordinator unless he or she is accredited guidance counselor, which takes effect this march..i was an ex-nunI took my masters in Guidance and 49
counselingbut havent taken the board examsbut just recently a law was passed, RA 9252, the Guidance Counseling Actthey granted a few of us our lisence, certified as guidance counselors IS THE BUDGET ADEQUATE? We do have a budget, having meeting with the unit heads, but all budgets are mergedwhere we get funds for attending seminars, budget for student assistant, budet for suppies, carreer education, parenting, research. I think it is enough THE GC PROGRAM ITSELFANY PATTERN YOU FOLLOWED? There was an existent program many years ago, I just added, improved on itwe have GC meeting with the colleges, trying to look at their programs, read comprehensive counseling programs, just adding into what we see needs improvement WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS YOU HAVE? The heart is the counselingof course the testing, the admission, diagnostic test, giving of the reports and feedbacking of the test results, inventory: all kids have files and data is there, parent background, failure scores, etcguidance program for teachers to enhance their counseling skills2x a year in sept and summer invite guest speakers to professionalize guidance skills for teachers, communication skills, how to handle parents and improve their gc skills.other programs involve helping improve and enhance parenting skillsalso with career guidancethat is the gistyes we also have profiles per student FOR THE COUNSELING We have individual and group SPECIFICALLY WHAT TESTS? Personality tests, children personality questionnaire, the early school personality questionnaire, autis lennon (?)RPM AND CEM diagnostic tests Grade one they take the cpq, and grade two, esp in grade 3, autis lennon and RPM 4-6 grades, intelligence tests and achievement tests ANY TEST FOR EARLY DETECTION OF BP None DO YOU CATER TO WALK INS? Yes we doand same for parents when they need to talk
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TO ADDRESS CRISIS., KIDNAPPING, DEBRIEFING I had onea child of an employee 4 years ago, I had training in debriefing and trauma counselingwe were the first batch HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES WITH COUNSELING PROGRAM,DEV PROG Those who have failing marks are supposed to be called for guidance, look into what is happening, provide make up classes and tutors.those in poor performance we have remedial classes, we talk to the children, talk to the parentswhen a child is being referred to me, we look into their files and records to see what is happening There is a networking with the GC offices of the high school, the college DO YOU DO ANY REFERRALS TO CERTAIN PSYCHIATRISTS WHEN YOU SEE A SERIOUS PROB Yes, we have a list of peopleat brent someone who could do testing, neurologiststo do further evaluation and diagnosis HOW DO YOU EVALUATE THE PROGRAMS YOU HAVE Once a year, but lately not so oftenthis is an area we have to improve on, it should be quarterly WHAT CASES DO YOU USUALLY SEE? Mostly hyperactive children, who have short attention span, bordering into ADHD, cannot be contained within the classroom, learning difficulties, defiance and aggressiveness, stress in the family when parents are OFWs, CLARET
HOW MANY YEARS IN EXISTANCE? As the guidance counselor, I took work 1997, when I came here the program was already hear, it started maybe a few years earlier, im not sureevery year we update, we change the programs DO YOU HAVE A MISSION AND VISION? The same with the schools WHAT ARE THE PROGRAMS? We have orientation for the new parents, and presentation of employees every start of school years.only the new parents and give them the policy of the school and the tour
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We have individual inventory for filing and data for the children, these are filled up by the teachers and parents, included here are learning style inventories, tests from ADZU. Results are written down in the file sheets. This was done just last year Other tests are SBA, for the kidsqualifying tests and entrance tests for all levels, ongoing Examination for new employees as they come we schedule the tests we forward to the HRO We have counselingsand every child has a schedule for counselingnot just walk ins or referreed by the teachers, not just the problematic children Additional programs we have are seminars for the children, self awareness, friendship, most for all high schoolhuman sexuality, career choices, making of vision boards, exposure and information drivewe bring them to the different colleges, expose them to different jobs to be exposedcareer talk we invite professionals who are alumni of the school so the students can see the products of the schools, career talk, etc Other services, we rate and appraise the different departments and the programs we have, the faculties and the students are given sheets to evaluate everything, and give their personal feedbacks, to evaluateto see what we could improve onwhat can they say about the different services. We tabulate and forward the results to the HRO MANPOWER? We are four counselors in the office. One of us had Masters in GC from diliman, I also received my masters training, as well as another of usbut we just all lack dissertation, no thesis yetbut we have complete units for the course. IS THE MANPWER ENOUGH? No it is not enough, as we do all things here in the office ANY MEANS OF UPDATING YOURSELVES Ateneo provides seminars, we attend them annually or 2x a year WHERE DID YOU PATTERN THE PROGRAM? When I started it was already existingwe would improve on them, update the programs, etc DO YOU CATER TO WALK INS? Yes those who would want to talk, anytime we would entertain, not just students, also to teachers and parents HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE THE PRGORAMS TO ACADEMICS referrals to the disciplinarians for misbehaviorreferrals by teachers to the guidance office for children who are problematic in behavior, pati sa mga bagsak na grades 52
DO YOU LINK WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS FROM INSIDE THE SCHOOL AND FROM OUTSIDE? Yes we do USUALLY WHAT PROBLEMS DO YOU HAVE FOR CHILDREN Mostly bullying ANY PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS TEHES ISSUES? Usually counseling takes effect WICAS
HOW LONG HAS THE GC PROGRAM BEEN EXISTING I started 4 years ago, I was in the classrooms at first. I was informally helping in the programsin my own little way as values teachers I could help, give counselingthen I went formal educations in guidance counseling, but am without my thesis I started as the guidance counselor 4 years ago, the school started 1993around 15 years, and the GC program started 4 years ago formally then we were able to get into testing, started information sheets, the problem here is teachers just come and goits so difficult to lose teachers then have to re train new ones all over again HOW ABOUT YOUR OWN MISSION AND VISION? It is integrated with the school only, as we are a catholic institute, we are existing to promote holistic formation, excellence in education. TALKING ABOUT MANPOWER, IS IT ENOUGH? There are no other guidance counselors, I am by myself, and this is difficult, to be by myselfI teach, I handle everything, filing, everything it is not enough I even plan to go abroad! I also took up care givingthe administration is passed from one to the next, next year it will changethe organization is not so goodand if I have the opportunity I would leave this work,its difficult ANY MEANS OF UPDATING YOURSELF? with the busy schedule, I havent had the chance to attend seminars or workshopsAteneo offers them I think once every yearbut recently I have been so very busy DO YOU HAVE STUDENT RECORDS IN THE GC OFFICE: no we dont have that WHERE DID YOU PATTERN YOUR GC PROGRAM?
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It was just formed according to the childrens needswhat is needed we address as best we could DO YOU OFFER ANY TESTING? We offer testing, mostly for the high school none for the grade school. We get our tests from the ADZU, they do the interpretation and scoring and send the results back to usnone about behavioral problems, none about diagnosis of emotional problems and personality WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS OF CHIDLREN? Most problems are in high schoolusually if for grade school problems would be hyperactivity, teasing DO YOU CATER TO CRISIS DEBRIEFING, ETC No we dontI have no training for that WHAT OTHER PROGRAMS WE HAVE Counseling, one on one, any body can just come inbut usually these are referrasl from teachers who cannot handle the childrenmeetings with the parents to inform them how the students are We give personality test for children, diagnostic to determine their learning, their learning problems, no behavioral problems At times we have home visitations HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE YOUR PROGRAMS WITH ACADEMIC PROGRAMS OF THE SCHOOL? The gc office links with the teachers, to help the students, the teachers inform me about children problems, I talk to them and address them, so we help each otherand to determine disciplinary actions Also interact with the parents, I call them and determine what the problems are, and come up with plans as to how to deal with the problems DO YOU LINK WITH THE ADZU? No we dont DO YOU REFER ANY PROBLEMATIC CASES WITH PSYCHIATRISTS? No we dont HOW DO YOU APPRAISE YOUR PROGRAMS ..
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BETHANY
HOW LONG HAS THE GC PROGRAM BEEN IN EXISTENCE Well, the gc program I think had existed since the time of teacher darling probably, but before we had it, teacher henry was handling the guidancebut it started with teacher yen, and from then on we had it, teacher Darlene, then to teacher daisy, then unknowingly given to meI dont have any background at allI have to handle whatever is entruseted to me. At the start I really was lost, I dont know what to do, but witht eh guidance of teacher enang and teacher conny..though its so hard for me, I am already old, then having to deal with all these problems, but with Gods grace. Now I remember, it started I think 7 years agoa certain psychologist was hired and she for the very first time started the guidance counseling program, things were going quite well, but after she left, we had to start all over again from nothing AS HEAD OF THE GC OFFICE, WHAT ARE YOUR ROLES? I usually deal with cases, its sad to know that as a gc I thought the role would just be counseling, but I found out that since our system is just like this, I have to play many roles, I have to do the disciplining, the guidance, the counseling, etc HOW ABOUT MANPOWER? But I am by myself, lack of manpower, especially during the early mornings, im not even sure if these are even my roles, late students who come, or those with problematic behavior are usually sent to me. I am at a loss how to handle them, if I would detain them with me, they would miss their classes. If I would ground them I would do so only for the first class, then I will send them back to class, re scheduling for another appointment for counselingI dont want them to miss their classes. SO YOU ALSO DEAL WITH PARENTS? Yes of course, mostlyif the offense is serious, I call them up, have a conference with them and before implementing any punishment I tell the parents, come up with an agreement, and usually parents are unreseptive, they refuse to accept HOW IS THE COUNSELING Most of the time by referrals from the class adviserswhen they cannot handle things anymore by themselves. But my office is just open to anybody who would wish to come in DO WE GIVE ANY TESTS? I think only for special cases only, for students who manifest serious problemsbut these tests are given at ADZU, maam connie recommends them to ADZU, but on our own we do not have any tests of our ownnone also for academics, etcno tests, lack of founds WHAT OTHER PROGRAMS? 55
We have family focus annually for the parents, for child rearing, if the need arises for those who cannot be controlled at school, we call it the home bound studieswhen they are suspended, they still are under close supervision, they still have to do their assignments and tests, but at homethey are not allowed to come into school for a certain period of time, we do not kick them out immediately. WHAT OTHER PROGRAMS DO WE HAVE? For pupils with low academic performance, we refer them to teacher connie, for whatever measures to be taken for help. I even help them, in what way we could. Counseling individually also helps. My office is open for walk ins HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN AS THE HEAD? This is my first year! Thank God its already closing, and I survived! Its been so difficult, when I started, I had no idea what to doI just was able to swim trhough the currentsI had no background at all at counseling.when I am confronted with the different problems, I dnot know how to start dealing with the children and how to talk with the parentsso difficultno training, no seminars, etcbut if I am to choose, I dont want to take this jobbut whatever task given to me I will do my best. WHAT IS THE VISION AND MISSION OF THE GUIDANCE COUNSELING OFFICE It is integrated with the vision and mission of the school itself a child center for development and transformation education in this cityour mission is to equip the child for life and living
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND, ANY EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING TO HANDLE THE GC OFFICE DO WE HAVE RECORDS OF STUDENTS? Yes, but they are not the sole records for guidance counseling officethe academic records are mixed with other records, their failing marks, offenses, problems we have with thembut not just for the guidance office. I have no formal training at all!...in fact when I was given this task, if I just could say no I wouldbut since we lack the manpower, I accepted it, just trusting the Lord HOW MANY STAFF MEMBERS ARE RUNNING THE GC PROGRAM? We have one teacher who is the disciplinarian, another teacher, maam connie who acts as my adviser, other than that I am by myself ANY MEANS OF UPDATING YOURSELF? With the busy schedule there has been no opportunity to join training and seminar workshops GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAM, WHERE WAS IT PATTERNED FROM? 56
We just look into what is needed by the children, and just adjustjust try to fit the needs and trust the Lord WHAT OTHER GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS DO YOU HAVE? DO YOU CATER TO CRISIS DEBRIEFING? No we dont HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE THE GC PROGRAM WITH THE OVERALL ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES? As much as possible the teachers from different departments, or the department heads meet at a regular basis, and we interact, we share our ideas, update each other and look into ways as to how we could help each other DO YOU LINK WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS OF THE SCHOOL, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL? Yes we doour greatest might be with the ADZUwhen we seek their help in terms of testing HOW DO YOU EVALUATE THE PROGRAMS THAT YOU HAVE? That is one thing that we must really look intobut as of now the GC program is still in development and is not so advanced USUALLY WHAT CASES DO YOU SEE, PROBLEMS AMONG THE GRADE SCHOOL CHILDREN? Mostly naughtiness, at an early age, cursing and swearing and saying bad words, too much teasingsometimes fighting, hyperactivity
ICAS FIRST OF ALL, HOW LONG HAS THE GC PROGRAM BEEN IN EXISTENCE I was designated as the head since 1998, time of monsignor david, his first program was to have a guidance counseling program. At next year I started with just simple programs.with my assistant, mr ibanesuntil present I am just by myself with Mr ibanezI just started with individual profiles for the childrenthen we hooked with UZ with their testing materials.OSLAT an IQ tests for all kids as basis for performance, finding any learning problems of children, and with that we have PERSONALITY TESTS, with their mental abilities and their performance at class and attitudesthats where we started, and little by little we get from ADZU some other tests, CEN as a diagnostic tool also for learning levels of the children The results we put into recordslike example we found children to have problems with reading comprehension, as a result our academic activities were also tailored to meet the needs of the children. Textbooks were also changed with the standardized tests.last year with the tests, we also started with APSA also an aptitude test, and the nice point is
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that what is the result of each tests are consistent for giving an intelligence level for the children and determining learning needs and weaknesses As of now our books have to jive with the needs of the children as identified by the exams I used to give iq and personality tests at the beginning of the school year, but given to the high school only, not for the grade school. This is also used to help the ranking system of the high schools Other tests at the middle of the school years, to test how far they have gone.that is for the testing service. Other programs we have I give individual and group counseling. But this individual counseling only for those referred. I cannot cater to allthe proper talaga is that GC should be full time. In y case, I am teaching the children in the AM, also teach at the college, in the noon I work in the GC office. Since we lack the manpower, counseling are for those children who are referred to my office, who can no longer be controlled and dealt with by their advisers. Poor academics, and other problemswhat can be handled by the advisers, they handle. It is a requirement ideally that all children have a appointment at least 1x a year to have counseling with the GC, but in our case due to lack of manpower I only handle those cases that are referred.as the need arises I have group counseling too.but very informal, only when children come in we sit in groups, informally Usually the counseling would focus on the academics of the children. When there are problems that are quite serious we call the parents, but must be careful as some problems are very confidential. But so far there are no impossible cases. Another program is that class advisers do home visitations for children with problems. When I have some problems with decision making I also go to the principal so that my decisions would hold water, would have aouthority WHAT IS YOUR MISSION AND VISION? Ummmwe have the same mission and vision of the schoolyes ANY PROGRAMS FOR THE CHILDREN? None at all, most for the HS. For the elementary we have a program on religious studies, in charge of values studies, she is the one also who is handling the children. But not so much with problems on children, they handle it among themselves YOUR OFFICE IS OPEN? It is open for walk ins, any time they can just come in, both students and teachers, even parentsmost of the time the problems are with families, separated familiesothers neglect their children due to the busy work they have, absent parentsbut most of the parents are cooperative naman din 58
TESTING MATTERIALS? We do have but all tests are for academic purposes, for IQ levels, learning stylesbut no psychological teststhe checking and interpreting are done by the center itself, and results are just sent to us. OTHER PROGRAMS: We also have career development week, for the graduating students to help them decide what career they want to pursue, what to study in college, paving the way for future careers and professions. We have tapped the TESDA, and the PESOthe peso is the one responsible for offering summer jobs, for the students to find good ways to make use of their free time in college.and they give mga P3000 per student for the whole summer I will be inviting DOLE also by tomorrow for the high school students, for career developmentother schools they have only 1 day, I emphasize career development for the children who are about to graduate, fro 1 week Follow up services.for example when a student is referred to my office for failing marks at the first semester, I follow them up to see how they do we also have outreach programs for the faculty and staff, the entire ICAS family, as part of the program for teachers daywe collect clothes, food, to give to the lumbangan community, which is our adopted family.the indigent families of this community are what we prioritize. Evaluations, instead of having that in our officesgiven at classes, sheets where students will evaluate the programs they have, give feedback, write their comments, so that we would be able to improve in our weak areas. Another program we used to have is this peer counselors we used to have before but I canceled it due to some overlapping with the campus ministrymost of the children find the campus ministry a lot more enjoyable, due to the singing, etcso we just work with the campus ministry Another program I have to work on is the updating and computerization of each students profiles In terms of manpower we dont have any help at all, it is just me as the head, and I have one assistantI am the only one with a lisence for GC We have IQ and personality tests for the high school We also have the same tests for the grade one students
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For the fourth year we give a test called Occupational interest survey, to determine what course would best fit themthe results would guide their choice of college Self test is also given to the fourth years, for determining relationships of kids with their parents, given by my assistant who is handling values subjects I also have counseling and group counseling Conference with parents, also done, as the need arises HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE THE PROGRAMS WITH OTHER PROGRAMS OF THE SCHOOL we coordinate with the campus ministrywe also coordinate with the school disciplinarian in cases of needing to implement decisions of punishment to the children
IN TERMS OF TRAINING MAAM, COULD I ASK FOR YOUR BACKGROUND IN GC? I took up my masterals in GC but am without dissertation.just recently a group of GC in zamboanga were accredited to be certified GC for this cityso I am licensed SO IS MANPOWER (NUMBER) NOT A PROBLEM? As I said earlier, eh we are just 2 in the office, and so this is very taxing for us, very tiring HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR PROGRAMS ARE EFFECTIVE: We just receive good feedback from the parentswe see the results WHAT ARE YOUR MEANS OF UPDATING YOURSELF: With the busy schedules, we still find time to take part in seminarsjust one week ago we had a seminar in ipilI was sent there WHERE DID YOU PATTERN THE GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS THAT YOU HAVE? We just somehow adopt to the need of the children, we evaluated and accept feedback as to what areas need improving, and just add to the program, and it has slowly evolved through the years DO YOU OFFER SERVICES TO CATER TO CRISIS? DO YOU REFER PROBLEMATIC CASES No we dontso far we havent had big problems that need to be dealt with by otherswe were able to handle things well FOR CHIDLREN, USUALLY WHAT CASES DO YOU SEE, HAVE PROBLEMS WITH? Mostly hyperactivity 60
ZION FIRST OF ALL HOW LONG HAS THE PROGRAM BEEN IN EXISTENCE I think since established at 1996, but zion came from evangelical school, they separated and formed a new schoolthe former school was closed, this was opened, at 1996, I was one of the pioneering parents DOES THE GC OFFICE HAVE ITS OWN VISION AND MISSION It is integrated with the vision and mission of the schoolthe general vision, is to train up a child in the way he should go and when he grows old he will not depart from itthe mission is that we see to it the children go through their academics, and successful in the future, that they would be globally competitive IF WE COULD TALK ABOUT MANPOWER, YOU ARE THE HEAD, DO YOU HAVE OTHER GC? None, I am by myselfthere are others who help, from the ADZU, their guidance group also helps, and the guidance org of the zamboanga chapter under leadership of mrs delantar, GC of WMSUI am the only GC here at zion, but normally the teachers are also GC, as well as the principalbut they would just come into the guidance office when cases cannot be resolved in the classroom FOR YOU, IT IS HARD FOR YOU TO BE BY YOURSELF AND IS THE MANPOWER LACKING? I still teach values, and other subjectsyes it is lackingthe school wants me to focus at the GC office WHERE DID YOU PATTERN THE GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAM? When I started as the guidance counselor several years agoumm yes 2003, I mentioned kaninathe program was already existingsince the start of this school at 1996we just added, upgraded, whatever the Lord led us to do, where to improve on SPECIFICALLY WHAT PROGRAMS DO YOU HAVE? When I came in there were no such activitiesone of the plans I have this school year, to have parents seminar on career and parenting, we have observed that all GC office have the same problems, students with problems come from broken families, from bad environment, squatters, etc which influence the development of the childthat is why it is important to have these seminars. Teachers also have seminars on counseling, also a seminar for students on drug addiction, resource speakers to handle these who are knowledgeablealso we will have a project called tracers where we will trace our graduates, are they doing ok, are they jobless, etcpresently I am the president of the 61
career guidance network in region 9, we would like to know if our students have the right professions, no mismatch of careerand then another program I suggested is that we will have spiritual retreats for the children and chapel our every Monday, important to deal with the spiritual needs firstthe root of all problems in behavior is the sinful nature of man..we have to deal with this first. We will be having spiritual activities also with teachers, they need spiritual growth as some do not have biblical background, we must address that area, we will have cell groups for students, to invite pastors to lead cell groups, also to have spiritual retreat for childen, especially the HS level as the gradeschool is still quite manageable. Another recommendation teachers must do home visitations of their problematic students, look into the family background of the children, the environmentthe parents, to know how to deal with the children. From the time I started at 2003, I am a pastor, a master in Christian education and doctorate on chirstian education, my background really qualifies as to hold the GC office, although they still want me to take up masters in GC, so I will enroll with WMSU or ADZU DO YOU DO ANY ONE ON ONE COUNSELING? Yes, but they would just come in, walk ins, my office is just open to anybody anytime. There is a wrong notion of guidance counselors, when I was student the GC we had was so masungit, and un approachableim trying to change that notion and show the students they can come anytym freely DOES EACH STUDENT HAVE A SCHEDULE FOR COUNSELING? They just come inwalk in Most come in are High school, grade school kids not so much, those who come in are sent in by their teachers due to truancy, etcsome cases are of broken families, abandoned children, very important to have the love of childrenwhen I dealt with one child, by the name of.mark Daniel Franciscohis father is in luzon, with another woman, the mother is here with another manevery time the child would come tot eh mother, the mother would drive him out, and her attention is given to the other man and other children she has, the lola is the one taking care of the child..one thing we do here is we check on the family background
DO YOU HAVE ANY RECORDS? FAMILY BACKGROUND? ETC No, but I want to make a information sheet for each studentwe do not have, but other schools havenow I am coming up with this, we only have very little data, this information sheet would help to give us a background on the parents, the family the problems of the child that would help, we could see the problemswe can see the behavior of the child and know how to deal with themthere is another child we have requested the loved ones, since the father died, the mom works abroad, he has half brothers from another woman, the child seems confused, and lacks attention.we have to make them understand.the child really, I dont know how he is treated by the uncles 62
and lolos, he gets angry agad, he would have aggression and anger inside, that even teacher cant control him, he poked a teacher with a pencil, grade 2we called the attention of the uncles and aunties, and they are so young! How is he treated at home? He even brought x rated pictures and dvd! Grade 2! Imagine the environment he is growing up indrawings in his notebook are sexual parts, demons, ugly facesyou could see something is wrong! You could see trhough his drawings that he has hatred and angerhow do we deal with this Lord? DO YOU NETWORK? We coordinate with the teachers, ADZU, we network to integrate the GC program with academics, etc. DO YOU HAVE ANY TESTS? No we dont have, that is what I would like to ask ADZU, they told me we could just come and they would provide for meI want to integrate it into the information sheet, witht they psych testsadzu and pilar have theses. Before you can get that you will spend maybe 80k with just one questionnaire, from manilayou have to make an orderexpensive. I told ADZU just give us please, we dont have that amount of money
USUALLY WHAT CASES YOU SEE Hyperactivity, truancy. ANY MEANS OF UPDATING YOURSELF WITH CURRENT GUIDANCE COUNSELING TECHNIQUES, ETC? When there are seminars in ateneo the school sends me to attendlast year I attended one seminar on guidance and counseling HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE THE GC PRORAM WITH THE ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES? we coordinate with the disciplinarian officewhen students have failing marks they are referred herewe coordinate with the teachers and parents DO YOU REFER TO SPECIALISTS: No we dontall the cases we had by far we dealt with by ourselves HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR PROGRAMS ARE EFFECTIVE? We listen to feedback from parents, teachers, studentsthose we helped, by Gods grace, their parents thank us often saying their children really changed positivelyby that we know we are doing a good job
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2009-05!13!093348cristobal, Jemuel Arnan R.

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THE PREVALENCE OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS AMONG CHILDREN IN FIVE OF THE MOST POPULATED PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ZAMBOANGA CITY

AND A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR EXISTING GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS

BY: JEMUEL ARNAN R CRISTOBAL APRIL 13, 2009

________________________ Dr. Servando D. Halili, PhD Adviser

Approved by the Oral Examination Committee with a grade of PASSED

___________________________ Dr. Rosemarie S. Arciaga, MD Chairperson

___________________________ Dr. Fortunato L. Cristobal, MD Member

________________________ Dr. Jocelyn D. Partosa, PhD Member

_______________________ Dr. Ricardo Angeles, MD Member

PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS ................................................................27 CONCLUSSION ...................................................................43

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING Background of the study

Review of Related Literature

Statement of the problem:

In depth interview w/ guidance counselors

Evaluation of programs w/ a formulated checklist

PREVALENCE OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

EXISTING GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Significance of the Study:

Scope and Delimitations of the Study:

CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY Research design:

Data Gathering Procedure:

Writing of formal paper

Figure 2: Flow of Activities

CHAPTER III PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

peer problems conduct problems emotional problems hyperactivity 0 5 10 15 20

Figure 4: number of cases of specific types of behavioral problems

No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No 12(fair)

Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes 14(fair)

No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No 11(fair)

No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No 11(fair)

CHAPTER IV SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECCOMENDATIONS

APPENDIX A Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

CHECKLIST TO RATE GUIDANCE COUNSELING PROGRAMS PER SCHOOL

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