A lot of teenagers face struggles and crises that most of us adults find difficult to bear. For example, having an alcoholic parent, living in single parent homes due to separation of parents (in the Philippines, there is no divorce, legal separation or annulment only) or no parent at all or even living with grandparents and relatives and the worst is, living in a “blended” family. A parent or even parents leave their children in the care of their grandparents or relatives to find a high paying job in foreign countries. These are the many struggles a teenager is facing in my country. The question at hand is, how these teenagers cope and face each and every struggle that they have.
As a teacher, you see teenagers struggling daily. These struggles are reflected in their attendance in school, their performance and their behavior. It can sometimes be a reason in such cases. Being sensitive to their situation would be a plus factor for a teacher to find out what is going on in their lives. You have to know why students tend to be always absent, late or even why he/she behaves in such way. You have to build a rapport in order for you to know the student and be able to start a strategy on how to deal with him/her.
Aside from family issues, other issues like emotional, relational, sexual and physical issues are also to be considered as contributors of the struggles teenagers are facing. Parental separation resulting in single parenting and having a “blended family” is now common scenarios. Mental health professionals believe that parental separation is some kind of traumatic experience and is something a teenager will have to endure. They may respond in varied ways to their parent separation: Denial, shame or embarrassment, blame or guilt, anger, fear, relief, insecurity and low self-esteem, grief, depression, alienation and loneliness and other effects.
Yours, Lucili Pis-an,
High school teacher, Philippines
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