Today’s families experience problems like unfaithfulness, violence, child molestation and separation. These problems experienced in families affect the student in those families. The study findings indicate that both students and teachers agreed to the fact that family conflicts affected cognitive and affective growth. There was low class concentration if parents or guardians were fighting, because the students were always thinking about the happenings at home. It was also established that a majority of students did not share with their peers when their parents or guardians were quarrelling. More female students were exposed to violence or abuse than the male. The study also revealed that students who came from families where there was conflict did not relate well with their teachers. The study also revealed that in most schools there were counsellors from whom students experiencing problems could seek assistance.
Involving parents in learning activities with their offsprings at home is one kind of parental involvement that many educators believe is an important aspect of the students’s learning. If the family is undergoing conflict, parents will not have time for them. Men, who more often use violence, do so in order to obtain and maintain power and control over others. This will encourage such parents to embrace dialogue and understanding in an effort of trying to solve their problems. In instances where the problems are severe, they can engage the services of a counsellor so that harmony prevails. It will also contribute to the body of literature on family conflicts and its influence on a primary student`s academic performance and interpersonal skills. They can be able to offer intervention measures to students who come from families that experience conflict in an effort to help them concentrate on their studies and build good relationships with the students. It may be useful to teachers especially because they spend more time with the students at school. They can intervene by referring students to the school counsellor or by calling the parents of the students and discussing the student`s behaviour and academic performance.
One of the recommendations was that the schools and the Ministry of Education should consider training peer counsellors among the students so that they can assist their fellow students. Another recommendation was that parents/guardians who experience conflicts in their families should consider counselling options as soon as possible to avoid negative effects on their students.
By: Mrs. Judith P. Santiago | Teacher III | BNHS-SHS | Balanga, Bataan
