DEPED MEDICAL GROUP OF BATAAN, A BIG HELP TO SCHOOL CHILDREN

Contributed by Shy-Anne N. Santos – Balanga City, Bataan

The medical group of DepEd Bataan is a big help to school children both in the elementary and secondary levels in the public schools of this Division. Not only do they provide medical services, they also help in conducting trainings, seminars or meetings, explaining the changes and development of both elementary and secondary students

According to Erikson, between the ages 6 and 14 – identified as the middle childhood and early adolescence stages are of important developmental advances, for it is during these stages that children establish their sense of identity. During these years, children make strides toward adulthood by becoming competent, independent, self-aware and involved in the world beyond their families. Biological and cognitive changes transform children’s bodies and minds. Social relationships and roles change dramatically as children enter, join programs, and become involved with peers and adults outside their families.

Equally dramatic changes occur in the social contexts where youngsters spend time. A six-year old boy is likely to be enrolled in a local neighborhood elementary school-perhaps within walking distance from home. By age 14, he will have changed schools at least once, moving into a junior high school or middle school.  He may be looking forward to his classes, or he may have already psychologically turned his back on formal schooling. He may have sampled out-of-school activities from scouts to basketball to handling a paper route.  Because the experiences both boys and girls have in school and other activities will shape their development through the pivotal age period, efforts should be made to optimize these experiences.

The grand theorists Freud and Piaget saw middle childhood as a plateau in development a time when children consolidated the gains they made during the rapid growth of the preschool period, and when they are prepared for the dramatic changes of adolescence.

Researchers have corroborated Erikson’s notion that feelings of competence and personal esteem are of central importance for a child’s well-being; for instance, children who do not see themselves as competent in academic, social, or other domains.

Teachers and nurses must be aware of the developmental changes that take place from age 6 to age 14 and the transformations in children’s reasoning during middle childhood and in physical development during puberty.

Reference:

J.S. Eccles. The Development of Children Ages 6 to 14. In Achievement and Achievement Motivation .J.T. Spence.ed. San Francisco (2995)