Broken Family: Its Effects to The Academic Performance of Students At Bestlink College Of The Philippines

Abstract

Family is the basic unit of society. This is the most important component of a country. A home is where a family lives. It may be alternated to the word “house” but a house is more appropriately referring to the material structure, whereas “home” refers to the intangible things that bind together the family members. It is the immeasurable love and care that keeps the mother, father and their children together. However, there are times when the family disagrees with each other, causing separation or what is called the broken family. Does the breaking of the family affect the behavior and school performance of the children? The study used the descriptive method of investigation with 15 students in the SHS, GAS Strand, at BCP who are from broken families. Their identities were withheld to protect their family background. A set of the questionnaire was distributed, their data were analyzed and interpreted using simple percentage, ranking, and weighted mean. The majority of the respondents are females with rented houses, Catholics, and revealed that one of the parents has an extramarital affair as the main cause of separation. A number of them have personal differences with others while others have financial problems. These cause the respondents' physical, emotional, and health problems affecting the decrease of school performance. There is a clear indication that family separation affects the whole being of the respondents including their physical, psychological, and mental development. Absenteeism and dropping out of school are the manifestations of the problem. As such, victims are invited to the guidance center for counseling spiritually and involvement in the school's extracurricular activities. Teachers build a closer-friendly relation with the help of the classroom student council for reviving their self-esteem and personality.