ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF AWARENESS OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

OF ST. VINCENT SCHOOL FOUNDATION, INC. AND THE SCHOOL’S LEVEL OF

IMPLEMENTATION ON CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

12 - PLATO

CARIAGA, KIEL MCCORKLE

DELLOSA, JAMES EMMANUEL O.
GALAMAY, JOHN LLOYD V.
GARCIA, RAYMOND
GESTIADA, JIVY G.
GUIANG, SOPHIA NICOLE P.
LAMBINO, PENELOPE JEANE R.
LORENZO, ANGEL MAE V.
MUSNI, FRANCHESKA M.
OBCENA, TRISTAN U.
PASCUA, SARAH O.
SAPON, MARIA XELA AIDEN C.
SEBASTIAN, AXCEL N.
TIPAY, CARL TRAVIS O.

January 2025
 CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Across the world, significant numbers of children experience

maltreatment, resulting in life-long consequences for victims
(WHO 2016). Responses to child maltreatment in the Global South
in particular are under researched and under-conceptualized. A
child's ignorance of their rights, which protect them from abuse
or mistreatment, is one of the many factors affecting their
academic performance. Children's safety and wellbeing are of
utmost significance. The ideas, rules, and practices intended to
protect children from harm, abuse, and exploitation in all
contexts are outlined in this child protection policy. It acts as
a pledge to provide children with a safe and secure environment
while making sure their rights are respected and their opinions
are acknowledged.

Children are empowered and educated about their rights by

the Child Protection Policy and personal security, as well as
enabling them to achieve at their highest level in the classroom.
Child protection policies are essential for guaranteeing the
safety and well-being of children in a variety of educational
settings, including schools and other learning environments.
Evaluating students' knowledge of these policies can be a vital
tool for identifying awareness and comprehension gaps.
Additionally, it offers a chance to enhance the way these
policies are taught and reinforced.

Background of the Study

Comprehensive policies have been developed in schools and

educational institutions around the world as a result of the
growing awareness of child protection in recent years. Training
teachers and staff is often the primary emphasis of child
protection initiatives in many educational systems. But just as
crucial is the part that students play in keeping the environment
safe. To protect both themselves and their peers, learners must
be aware of their rights, recognize the warning signs of abuse,
and know how to report concerns.

Data from the Department of Education (2023) revealed that

over 1,700 reports of children experiencing abuse at school and
at home have been recorded by the DepEd in its student safety
hotline. In accordance with the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the
state is obligated to uphold and protect the rights of children,
ensuring they are afforded proper care, adequate nutrition, and
special safeguards against abandonment, abuse, mistreatment,
cruelty, exploitation, and any other harmful conditions that may
hinder their healthy development (Article XV, Section 3,
Paragraph 2). In pursuit of this constitutional responsibility,
the Philippine government, in coordination with various concerned
agencies, remains dedicated to strengthening and refining
policies focused on child protection. A number of significant
laws and amendments have been introduced, such as the Child and
Youth Welfare Code, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their
Children Act (Republic Act No. 9262), and the Child Protection
Act (Republic Act No. 7610). These legislative measures emphasize
the state's duty to provide enhanced protection for children,
shielding them from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty,
exploitation, and discrimination, as well as any circumstances
detrimental to their physical, mental, or emotional development.

To address this, the Department implemented the Child

Protection Policy (DO #40, s. 2012), which aims to provide
specialized protection for children at risk or in threatening
situations that disrupt their typical development, and to assist
relevant agencies in their rehabilitation. The policy also
outlines the specific duties and responsibilities of school
personnel, from the school head to the students themselves,
detailing both preventive and corrective measures to tackle
issues such as child abuse, mistreatment, violence,
discrimination, bullying, and other forms of abuse. The
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) serves as the
government's primary agency for welfare, tasked with establishing
guiding principles, providing consultative services to both
public and private entities engaged in social welfare activities,
and overseeing the performance of organizations to ensure their
adherence to standards related to child welfare and protection.
In contrast, the Department of Education acknowledges that
abusive situations may occur within educational settings, given
the complex challenges faced by teachers and school officials
both inside and outside the classroom.

According to Roche et al. (2021), the existing child

protection system in the Philippines is regarded as "top-down,"
having specific regulations and government policies so poorly
executed that its system features are questioned. In addition,
there is a scarcity of research on child protection efforts or
outcomes, the effectiveness of programs, and the effects on
children and young people in the Philippines who undertake child
protection initiatives (Roche & Flynn, 2020).

The rationale of this study aims to assess the level of

awareness of junior high school students of SVSFI and the
school’s level of implementation on child protection policy. This
study will provide an insight that could help
Statement of the Problem

This study seeks to assess the level of awareness of junior

high school students of SVSFI and the school’s level of
implementation on child protection policy. Specifically, it
sought answers from the following questions.

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in

terms of;

1.1 Age
1.2 Sex
1.3 Grade Level

2. What is the level of awareness of the junior high school

students on child protection policy?

3. What is the school’s level of implementation on child

protection policy?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the level of

awareness of junior high school students and the school’s
level of implementation on child protection policy?

Hypothesis

H 0: There is no significant relationship between the level of

awareness of junior high school students and the school’s level
of implementation on child protection policy.
Scope and Delimitations

This study aims to assess the level of awareness of junior

high school students of SVSFI and the school’s level of
implementation on child protection policy.

This study will cover the junior high school students of

SVSFI as their respondents. The researchers will utilize 5-point
Likert scale to measure the level of awareness of the students on
child protection policy and the school’s level of implementation
on child protection policy.

Significance of the Study

Assessing the level of awareness of junior high school

students of St. Vincent School Foundation, Inc. and school’s
level of implementation on child protection policy will provide
more information and will benefit the following individuals and
groups:

To the Policy Makers. This research can help policymakers by

giving them clear information on whether current child protection
tests effectively measure learners' understanding and practical
use of the rules, so they can make better decisions.

To the Teachers. This study helps teachers identify

students' understanding of the Child Protection Policy, allowing
them to address knowledge gaps and ensure its proper
implementation, creating a safer and more informed school
environment.

To the Students. This study can help students by showing

them how their understanding of child protection policies is
tested and giving them ideas on how to improve their results.
 To the Future Researchers. This study will help the future
researcher to use the findings to evaluate how well the policy
protects children and how it affects educators, parents, and
policymakers.

Operational Definition of Terms

Child Protection Policy. a policy creating a safe and secure

learning environment, raising awareness and preventing possible
harm, setting up reporting and accountability procedures, and
providing assistance to victims.

Department of Education. an executive department of the

Philippine government responsible for ensuring access to,
promoting equity in, and improving the quality of basic
education.

Implementation. a process of application of a policy within a

certain thing.

Junior High School Students. students who are currently enrolled

at St. Vincent School Foundation, Inc. for the academic year
2024-2025.
 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This section presents the related literature and studies

considered relevant to the understanding of this study.

Related Literature

Foreign Literature

Woodman et al. (2022) published an article about the

children’s participation in child protection, it appeared that
children's participation relied largely on the views and skills
of individual workers, as well as their ability to incorporate
meaningful participation in limited time and in complex practice
environments where children's safety is a primary concern.
Systemic changes to address time barriers, training practitioners
to understand and implement participatory practice, and seeking
children's input into service design, will support consistent and
meaningful participation.

On the article published by Cashmore et al. (2023) about

Children’s Participation in Care and Protection Decision-Making
Matters, it is stated that from a number of countries, however,
are clear and consistent that children often feel ‘unheard’ and
that they have had few opportunities to say what is important to
them. A number of conclusions and practice suggestions are
outlined for how the law could better accommodate children’s
views.

Moreover, Smyth and Katz (2016) explored child protection

and school-based education tools. Prevention, education, and
other abuse and neglect include child sexual abuse. However,
Robles (2019) observed a correlation between negative school
results, greater ACE scores, and lower PF scores.

Related Studies

Armfield et. Al (2020), explained School Absenteeism

Associated with Child Protection System Involvement, Maltreatment
Type, and Time in Out-of-Home Care, findings revealed that
greater absenteeism was seen for children with substantiated
neglect and who had their first CPS notification earlier in life.
Being in out-of-home care for 3+ years was a protective factor
for children who had a CPS notification before age 5. Additional
adversities had a strong additive effect with CPS involvement on
absenteeism and chronic truancy.

Hermino (2017), conducted a study about Peace Education and

Child Protection in Educational Settings for Elementary School in
the West Papua of Indonesia results revealed that peace building
and child protection canbe intepreted based on: (1) strong
education in the family; (2) the importance of attention to the
socially outside of school; (3) atmosphere environment in school;
(4) strengthen of friendship peers in the school; (5) atmosphere
in the classroom; (6) methods of theaching by teacher; (7)
strengthen the role of teaches as educator; (8) strengthen
relationship teacher-student-parent; (9) exempary habituation;
(10) implementation of curriculum-based character in the teaching
learning process; (11) strengthen of character education; (12)
strengthen the role of school.

Moreover, Iqbal et. Al (2017) analyzed the Level of

Awareness Among Secondary School Teachers and Their Perception
Regarding Child Rights in the District Peshawar stated that
education system in Pakistan and District Peshawar has the policy
for Child Rights, but it is important to assure its significance
in the application or practical form.

On the study conducted by Dardo and Vistal (2019) about the

level of implementation of the child protection policy program
and problems encountered, results showed that the school lacks
time and preparation to make the students fully aware about the
child protection policy program, and one of the reasons was
because of the curricular activities piling up to be done by the
school

Tingcang (2024) study on the level of teachers’ awareness

and level of implementation of the child protection policy in
Carmona National High School revealed that there is a need to
strengthen both the awareness and implementation of the Child
Protection Policy in the school. It is substantial in crafting
various guidance programs. The result of the study serves as the
basis of the possible guidance programs that can be crafted in
the school to adhere to the Child Protection Policy.

Asio et. Al (2020), in their study about Child Protection

Policy Awareness of Teachers and Responsiveness of the School:
Their Relationship and Implications showed that teachers were
aware of the Child Protection Policy program of the Department of
Education. However, the responsiveness of the schools is not very
high. There were significant differences in the results observed
in the awareness of teachers and the responsiveness of the
schools. In addition, there is a moderate relationship between
the awareness of teachers in the Child Protection policy with the
responsiveness of the school about the program. Based on the
aforementioned findings of the study,the researchers have
provided some implications of the study for future references.

Cervancia et al. (2019) urge in their study

that the DepEd Child Protection Policy be implemented with
an emphasis on monitoring the system used by schools and
investigating the capacity of activities provided to
instructors in both public and private educational settings

Conceptual Framework

This study will revolve on two variables which are the;

level of awareness on political issues, and the voting preference
of student voters.

This study will examine the relationship between the level

of awareness on political issues and the voting preference of
student voters.

Level of Awareness School’s level of

on Child Protection implementation on
Policy Child Protection
Policy

Figure 1. Conceptual Paradigm of the study.

Theoretical Framework

One theory to note to this study is the Protection

Motivation Theory which helps understand how individuals are
motivated to protect themselves against health threats by
adopting recommended actions. It emphasizes the importance of
factors such as perceived vulnerability and severity of the
threat, belief in the effectiveness of the recommended action,
and self-efficacy in performing the action. PMT has been
extensively tested through experimental studies and has shown
consistent support for its main variables, with self-efficacy
being the strongest predictor of intentions and behavior.
Similarly on Child Protection Policy, it promotes intervention to
help avoid children having any forms of abuse or discrimination.

Figure 2. Theoretical Framework of the study.

 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the Methodology that will be utilized

the researchers. This section includes the Research Design,
Research Site, Selection Criteria and Participants,
Instrumentation and Data Collection, Methods of Validation,
Statistical Analysis, and Ethical Consideration

Research Design and Methodology

This study will utilize a quantitative correlational

research design. The correlation design aims to determine whether
a variable is related to another variable. This study examined
the connection between the awareness of junior high school
students of SVSFI on child protection policy and the school’s
level of implementation on child protection policy.

Research Site

This study will take place at the St. Vincent School

Foundation, Inc. located at Legaspi Street Poblacion Sur,
Paniqui, Tarlac. This educational institution holds an integrity
that will make this research with no transparent.

Selection Criteria and Participants

This study will have the Junior High School Students of St.
Vincent School Foundation, Inc. as their respondents. The
researchers will utilize a random sampling method to the students
of SVSFI.

Instrumentation and Data Collection

The study’s main tool is 5-point Likert scale, which will

focus on the awareness of the junior high school students on and
the school’s level of implementation on Child Protection Policy.

Statistical Analysis

In order for the researchers to analyze and interpret the

data gathered, descriptive statistics such as weighted mean,
frequency, percentage, and rank distribution, and verbal
interpretation were utilized for numerical analysis and for
comparing magnitude. The statistical technique used for this
study is Chi-Squared.

2
(Oi−Ei)
x 2= ∑
Ei

Where; x 2=chi squared

Oi = observed value
Ei = expected value

Ethical Considerations

The ethical considerations of the study prioritized

minimizing its potential impact on Junior High School students at
St. Vincent School Foundation Inc. To achieve this, the
researchers committed to truthfully and respectfully representing
the students and the school. Instead of making broad assumptions
or generalizations about the students or their perceptions, the
researchers concentrated on analyzing the methods and tactics
used by the respondents. They also carefully considered how best
to disseminate their findings, ensuring they were presented in a
way that avoided stigmatizing students or reinforcing negative
beliefs.

The researchers took additional steps to ensure ethical

compliance throughout the study. All participants, including
students, were fully informed about the study and their rights as
participants. To safeguard privacy and confidentiality, each
participant was assigned a unique identity code. In line with
Republic Act 10173, or the Data Privacy Act of 2012, the
respondents’ responses were securely protected. Any data
collected was stored safely, with all personally identifiable
information removed. These measures ensured the research was
conducted responsibly, with respect for the participants, and
that the findings were presented accurately and ethically.
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Protection Policy Awareness of Teachers and
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Implications. International Journal of Education,
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