SOCIAL SCIENCE

(CURRENT ISSUES IN SOCIAL SCIENCE)

SOCIAL SCIENCE

 is a category of academic disciplines, concerned with society and

the relationships among individuals within a society.
 These social sciences include, but are not limited
to: anthropology, archaeology, communication
studies, economics, history, musicology, human
geography, jurisprudence, linguistics, political science, psychology, public
health, and sociolog

EDUCATION
 The education of an individual human begins at birth and continues throughout life.
(Some believe that education begins even before birth, as evidenced by some
parents' playing music or reading to the baby in the womb in the hope it will influence
the child's development.) For some, the struggles and triumphs of daily life provide
far more instruction than does formal schooling (thus Mark Twain's admonition to
"never let school interfere with your education"). Family members may have a
profound educational effect — often more profound than they realize — though
family teaching may function very informally.

Bullying

Republic Act 10627, or the Anti-Bullying Act (the “Act”), aims to protect children enrolled
in kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools and learning centers (collectively,
“Schools”) from being bullied. It requires Schools to adopt policies to address the existence of
bullying in their respective institutions.

Bullying, as defined under the Act, is any severe or repeated use by one or more
students of a written, verbal or electronic expression, or a physical act or gesture, or any
combination thereof, directed at another student that has the effect of actually causing or
placing the latter in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm or damage to his property;
creating a hostile environment at school for the other student; infringing on the rights of the
other student at school; or materially and substantially disrupting the education process or the
orderly operation of a school; such as, but not limited to, the following:

Any unwanted physical contact between the bully and the victim like punching,
pushing, shoving, kicking, slapping, tickling, headlocks, inflicting school pranks,
teasing, fighting and the use of available objects as weapons;

Any act that causes damage to a victim’s psyche and/or emotional well-being;
Any slanderous statement or accusation that causes the victim undue emotional distress
like directing foul language or profanity at the target, name-calling, tormenting and commenting
negatively on victim’s looks, clothes and body; and

Cyber-bullying or any bullying done through the use of technology or any electronic
means. The term shall also include any conduct resulting to harassment, intimidation, or
humiliation, through the use of other forms of technology, such as, but not limited to texting,
email, instant messaging, chatting, internet, social media, online games, or other platforms or
formats.
Social bullying, or any deliberate, repetitive and aggressive social behavior intended to hurt
others or to belittle another individual or group.
Gender-based bullying, or any act that humiliates or excludes a person on the basis of
perceived or actual sexual orientation and gender identity.
As such, any person who commits any of the foregoing acts, is considered a
bully. Furthermore, any act of retaliation against a person who reports bullying, who provides
information during an investigation of bullying, or who is a witness to or has reliable information
about bullying, is likewise prohibited.

2. Where may bullying be committed?

Bullying may happen at the following:
School grounds;
Property immediately adjacent to School grounds;
School-sponsored or School-related activities, functions or programs whether on or off School
grounds;
School bus stops;
School buses or other vehicles owned, leased or used by a School; or
School buses or School services privately-owned but accredited by the School.
Bullying may also occur at unrelated locations, functions or programs, through the use of
technology or an electronic device or other forms of media, regardless if such is owned,
leased, or used by the School.

C. School Obligations
1. What are required of Schools under the Act?
Schools are directed to adopt policies, which are to be regularly updated, to address the
existence of bullying in their respective institutions. These policies are to be reported to the
appropriate school division superintendent of the Department of Education (“Department”)
during the first week of every academic year. During this period, the School shall also submit a
report of relevant information and statistics on bullying and retaliation culled from the previous
academic year.
2. What must these policies contain?
First of all, the policies must prohibit bullying as already defined. Schools must likewise define
the range of administrative disciplinary actions that may be taken against a bully, or a person
who commits retaliation. These actions must be commensurate with the nature and gravity of
the offense committed. Such actions may include written reprimands, community service,
suspension, exclusion or expulsion, as the case may be. In addition to any action taken
against a perpetrator of bullying or retaliation must necessarily include the requirement that the
perpetrator enter into a rehabilitation program administered by the School.
The School shall also educate parents and guardians about bullying, its effects, the anti-
bullying policies of the School, and how such parents or guardians can provide support in
imparting upon their charges the gravity of bullying, and to reinforce the policies of the
School. The School shall provide the students and their parents or guardians with copies of
these policies, which shall likewise be included in the student and employee manual of the
School.
The School shall likewise establish clear procedures and strategies for:
Reporting acts of bullying or retaliation. The School must provide an avenue wherein
students may anonymously report acts of bullying or retaliation;
Responding promptly to and investigating reports of bullying or retaliation;
Restoring a sense of safety for a victim and assessing the student’s need for protection;
 Protecting from bullying or retaliation of a person who reports acts of bullying, provides
information during an investigation of bullying, or is witness to or has reliable information about
an act of bullying; and
Providing counseling or referral to appropriate services for perpetrators, victims and
appropriate family members of said students;
In all cases wherein a penalty may possibly be imposed, due process must be observed to
prevent false accusations of bullying. At a minimum, the School complies with the
requirements of due process by:
Informing the student and parent or guardian of the complaint in writing;
Giving the student, with the assistance of his parents or guardian, an opportunity to answer the
complaint in writing;
Requiring the School head to issue the decision, in writing, and stating the facts and reasons
thereof; and
Allowing an appeal for the decision with the appropriate division office of the Department.
Any student, after due investigation, found to have knowingly made a false accusation of
bullying shall be subjected to appropriate disciplinary action or intervention in accordance with
the rules of the School or the Department.

3. Who will implement these anti-bullying policies of the School?

The School’s Child Protection Committee (“Committee”) shall serve as the body which will
handle all bullying cases in the School. The Committee shall be composed of:
the School head or administrator as chairperson;
the School guidance counselor/teacher as vice chairperson;
a representative of the Schools teachers as designated by the School faculty;
a representative of the parents as designated by the Parents-Teachers Association;
a representative of the students, except in kindergarten, as designated by the student council;
and
a representative of the community as designated by the barangay captain wherein the school
is located. The inclusion of a community representative may be dispensed with by private
Schools.

4. What are the duties of the Committee?

Under the Act, they shall perform the following:
Conduct awareness-raising programs with school stakeholders in preventing and addressing
bullying;
Ensure that the anti-bullying policy adopted by the School is implemented;
Monitor all cases or incidents related to all reported cases of bullying; and
Make the necessary referrals to appropriate agencies, offices or persons, as may be required
by the circumstances.
5. How does the School treat the information in bullying cases?
Any information relating to the identity and personal circumstances of the bully, victim, or
person who reported or witnessed the incident shall be treated with utmost confidentiality by
the Committee and the School, provided, that the names may only be available to the School
head or administrator, teacher or guidance counselor designated by the school head, and
parents or guardians of students who are or have been victims of bullying or retaliation.
6. What happens if the School, or its personnel, fails to comply with the Act?
School personnel of public Schools shall be subject to administrative disciplinary proceedings
under the rules of the Civil Service or the Department. Erring personnel of private Schools
shall be subject to appropriate administrative disciplinary proceedings imposed by the private
School. Copies of such decisions shall be submitted by the private School to the Department’s
division office.
Private Schools which fail to comply with the Act and its IRR shall be shall be given notice of
such failure by the Department’s division office. The School shall be given thirty (30) days
within which to comply. A further extension of one (1) month may me be granted by the
Department’s Regional Director in meritorious cases. Failure to comply with the Act or its IRR
may cause the School’s suspension, or revocation of license.

Student Teacher Affair ( May – December Relationship)

Student + teacher: Always inappropriate. Adult + minor: Inappropriate (and illegal if

sexual). It is considered a forbidden act for teachers to fall for their
students. As teachers, they stand in loco parentis as regards their minor
wards. It is therefore unthinkable for a teacher, who under the law is a
substitute parent, to have amorous feelings towards his or her minor
student. A student on the other hand is vulnerable and therefore protected
by laws against abuses such as RA 7610, or the Special Protection of
Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act; and RA 7877,
or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995.

A student is likewise both innocent and adventurous and therefore

susceptible to abuses and fraud by a teacher who has influence and moral
ascendancy over him or her. Thus, even when a minor student voluntarily
enters into a love affair with his or her teacher, consent is disregarded by
law and the teacher may be deemed to have committed child abuse as a
criminal offense.

Sweetheart theory not applicable

In complaints for acts of lasciviousness or rape, when there is proof that
the victim and the accused are lovers, what operates is the theory that the
sexual act was consensual and therefore there is no crime. This is known
as the sweetheart theory.

DepEd’s Child Protection Policy, or D.O. 40 series of 2012, which also

protects students from all forms of child abuse, provides for a different
definition of a “child.” Under this DepEd policy, the term “child” includes
those who are 18 years of age or older but are in school. This policy
expands the definition of a “child” under RA 7610, and RA 6809 which
states that majority commences at the age of 18 years.

Other scenario:
Students getting older, teachers getting younger
Because of the present senior high school curriculum implementation,
students are getting older and teachers are getting younger. At Grade 12,
students are already expected to be 18years of age. And because
professional teachers now are as young as 20 years old, the generation
gap between teachers and students has been rendered insignificant. A lot
of them now belong to the same generation of millennials. And this
phenomenon has increased the incidents of teacher-student relationships.

When the teacher is married, it is both illegal and immoral to maintain a

relationship with a student. When the student and teacher in a relationship
engage in PDAs (public displays of affection) in school, it is also easy to
cite them for immorality and inappropriate behavior. When there is proof
that a sexual relationship exists and the student is a minor, a crime exists
under RA 7610 and consent is not a defense.

Effect of social media

Student-teacher relationship cases in this day and age is problematic for
school administrators. This is because student-teacher interaction is no
longer limited in-campus. They now interact in social media and beyond
school hours. And when both the student and the teacher belong to the
same generation and their age difference is irrelevant, the moral
ascendancy or influence can no longer be presumed especially when they
interact not as such students and teachers but simply, as persons.
Feelings of attraction and admiration among them are almost inevitable.

Challenge of curriculum revision

The current budget for education stands at P553 billion — a 60-percent increase
over the past three years. In 2015, the budget stood at P346.66 billion. This alone
manifests a commitment to invest in Filipino human capital.

The “trifocalization” approach to Philippine education also makes it one of the most
vibrant systems in the world. Like a tripod that ensures a steady foundation of
operations, three agencies handle different levels of education — the Department of
Education (DepEd )for basic education, the Commission on Higher Education for
tertiary and graduate education, and the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority for technical-vocational courses and middle education.

The basic and tertiary education systems underwent a transformation under the K-to-
12 program. From a basic 10-year education period, two senior high school levels
were added. Grade 11 was introduced in SY 2016-2017, and Grade 12 was
introduced in SY 2017-2018.

The 1966 Magna Carta for Teachers also needs urgent review and updating.
Promoting basic education requires a plurality of actors that can provide outcomes-
based learning. The goal of making education more inclusive through ALS and IPED
likewise needs the collaboration of educators coming from all backgrounds.

Multilevel partnerships between the public and private sectors and between industry
and community partners are important ways to address basic education gaps. The
process of accrediting education providers based on desired learning outcomes
needs to be fine-tuned and aligned with the pressing concerns of basic education.
 Other current Issues:

 Corruption
 Curb the population
 Quality of education
 Declining English proficiency
 Budgetary constraints
 Rising cost of education
 Low pay for teachers
 Proposal to extend school years
- It’s the recent proposal to extend both grade school and high school by one more year,
making it a total of 12 years before a student braces himself for at least another four
years in college. This is one particular issue that confronts
 Ad infinitum
- Errors in textbooks, the inability of a significant number of elementary and high school
teachers to speak correct English, rising tuition fees beyond what poor and middle-class
families can afford, lack of facilities to accommodate the exploding number of students,
and the universities.
 Erroneous text books
-Text books with grammatical and historical errors have been exposed.
 Focusing on social justice
-The major issue confronting Philippine education today is how to develop an educational
system that simultaneously works for academic excellence and social justice

GEOGRAPHY
 Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main sub fields: human
geography and physical geography. The former focuses largely on the built
environment and how space is created, viewed and managed by humans as well
as the influence humans have on the space they occupy. This may
involve cultural geography, transportation, health, military operations, and cities.
The latter examines the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation and
life, soil, oceans, water and landforms are produced and interact.[16] Physical
geography examines phenomena related to the measurement of earth. As a
result of the two subfields using different approaches a third field has emerged,
which is environmental geography. Environmental geography combines physical
and human geography and looks at the interactions between the environment
and humans.[17] Other branches of geography include social geography, regional
geography, and geomatics.

1. Rizal Provinces -quarrying and mining

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will suspend
quarrying operations in Rizal as it may be one of the causes of flooding in
Marikina.
The national leadership that the provincial government had ordered the
immediate cancellation of all mining and quarrying operations right after the
devastation wrought by Typhoon Ondoy. The Mines and Geosciences Board
(MGB) later submitted a report noting that close to 80 percent of the nearly
 180 hectares being quarried were permitted by the national government itself
through the DENR-MGB.

In 2013, Rizal Governor Nini Ynares approved a resolution passed by the

Provincial Board declaring a moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and
approval of permits, contracts, and operating agreements on quarrying and
mining activities in the province.Governor Nini pleaded to the DENR to
declare on its own a moratorium on the renewal of permits and licenses of
medium and large-scale mining activities and operations.

The DENR has instructed Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Regional
Director Samuel Paragas to coordinate with Environmental Management
Bureau (EMB) Regional Director Noemi Paranada and EMB Director Engr.
Metodio Turbella in issuing a joint stoppage order on quarrying operations in
San Mateo and Rodriguez, Rizal..

• REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7942

• [AN ACT INSTITUTING A NEW SYSTEM OF MINERAL RESOURCES
EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, UTILIZATION, AND CONSERVATION]
• This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Mining Act of 1995."

All mineral resources in public and private lands within the territory and
exclusive economic zone of the Republic of the Philippines are owned by the
State. It shall be the responsibility of the State to promote their rational
exploration, development, utilization and conservation through the combined
efforts of government and the private sector in order to enhance national
growth in a way that effectively safeguards the environment and protect the
rights of affected communities.

2. Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project’

The Department of Agriculture’s Balik Sigla sa Ilog at Lawa (BASIL) project

that will identify major lakes and river basins nationwide that need to be
seeded with fingerlings.

Malacañang “ought to do a Boracay” on Laguna Lake and Manila Bay,

“Fish prices have gone up in Metro Manila partly due to the rapid degradation
of our municipal waters. Even subsistence fisherfolk can no longer catch
enough fish to feed their families.

The price of “galunggong” (round scad) has surged to as high as P180 per
kilo in wet markets around Metro Manila.

In a bid to stabilize the price of the widely-consumed fish variety, the

Department of Agriculture issued an administrative permitting the importation
of 17 million kilos of galunggong for direct sale to wet markets.

Aquatic life in our municipal waters is being suffocated. This is why we have
fish kills or mass die-offs everywhere.
 “The seeding of Laguna Lake with millions of fingerlings will mark the start of a
nationwide program which intends to repopulate the country’s inland waters,
including rivers and streams with indigenous fish species,”

The DA will seed an initial five million fingerlings at the Laguna Lake.
“The local government units will also be asked to monitor the continued
dumping of industrial wastes and effluence into the lake by factories,
“The local government units will also be asked to monitor the continued
dumping of industrial wastes and effluence into the lake by factories,
Clearing and dismantling operation at the 90,000-hectare Laguna Lake

Fish pens in the area cover almost 13,000 hectares while the ideal carrying
capacity of the Laguna Lake is around 9,000 hectares only.

Data showed there are over 1,000 legitimate fish pen operators in Laguna
Lake while unregistered operators number to about 2,200.

Laguna Lake supplies close to 40 percent of the total fish demand in Metro
Manila.

HISTORY
 History is the continuous, systematic narrative and research into past human
events as interpreted through historiographical paradigms or theories.
 History has a base in both the social sciences and the humanities. In the
United States the National Endowment for the Humanities includes history in
its definition of humanities (as it does for applied linguistics).[18] However,
the National Research Council classifies history as a social
science.[19] The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by
which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and
then to write history. The Social Science History Association, formed in 1976,
brings together scholars from numerous disciplines interested in social history

Manila Zoo Rehabilation

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) tagged the zoo
to be a major pollutant of Manila Bay.

On January 21 2019, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada issued a memorandum to

close Manila Zoo “until further notice.” He also set the Department of Engineering
and Public Works (DEPW) and the Department of Public Services (DPS) to work.
The DEPW and the Department of Public Services (DPS) were instructed to
“submit a program of work for the construction or installation of water treatment
facilities or sewerage treatment plans for the Manila Zoo and other [c]ity
facilities.”

This follows the undergoing Manila Bay Rehabilitation Project. The cleanup
covers the Manila Bay region, which includes Region 3, Region 4A, NCR and
some part of Nueva Vizcaya.
 DENR gave the local government four months to construct the wastewater
facility. The zoo will open once the project is finished.

Manila Zoo began its operation in July 1959 and is currently the home of over 100
animals.

PSYCHOLOGY
 Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of behaviour and
mental processes. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to
various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily
lives and the treatment of mental illness. The word psychology comes from
the Ancient Greekψυχή psyche ("soul", "mind") and logy ("study").

Out-of-wedlock pregnancies to suicides

Suicide rates are low in the Philippines, increases in incidence and relatively
high rates in adolescents and young adults point to the importance of
focused suicide prevention programs. Improving data quality and better
reporting of suicide deaths is likewise imperative to inform and evaluate
prevention strategies.
The Philippines, with a population of approximately 90 million, is one of the
most populous countries in the Western Pacific, yet very little is known
about the epidemiology of suicide and suicidal behaviour in the country [4].
The only predominantly Catholic country in Asia, it is an archipelago of
7,106 islands, with 66% of the population living in urban areas [4-6]. Around
33% of the population are impoverished, in spite of reported economic
growth in recent years