To Whom it May Concern

Materials: paper, pen

Instructions: Pretend that you will write a letter

to a government official. What are the things
that you would write in your letter? Write down
the issues that you would like this leader to
address.
Alma’s Idealism
She may be young, but she is made of sterner
stuff. Alma is a public servant in the making. She is
updated on the local events. She believes that
everyone must uphold the welfare of the society.
Alma is an active youth leader. Ever since high
school, Alma was known to join volunteer groups
and student organizations. She is idealistic and
wants to make a difference. She got this trait from
her parents who are both public
servants. She promised herself that when she
graduates from senior high school,
she will choose a course that is related to public
service.

One day, while walking to school, Alma saw a

poster about tree planting. A group of
people is looking for volunteers to join their
activity. Alma did not hesitate.
She contacted the organizers and signed-up. When
the activity was done, Alma felt satisfaction
knowing that she is helping others by the simple
act of planting a tree.
The youth is given the gift of time. At their young
age, they are capable of laying down the
foundations of a just society. As long as they are
on the right track and are not under the influence
of any vice, any adolescent can make a huge
contribution to society.
Given the right push, the teenagers’ idealism can
improve the conditions of any community or
society.
Their openness to new ideas keeps the fire of
change burning. Alma is one of these
teenagers who can become one of the great
leaders in the future.
Social relationships are vital to
adolescent's development.
The kind of circle where he belongs
will create an impact in his beliefs,
outlook, and convictions in life.
Social roles are part of the people
play as members of a social group
in the society. And with each social
roles the behavior changes to fit the
expectation both person and others
have of that role (McLeod, 2008)
For example, being a daughter at
home. a student in school, a friend
to a neighbor, a
guitarist to a band all at the same
time.
-When teens go through the puberty
stage incidents of parent-child
conflict may increase.
-Arguments may be issue of control
- High quality of friendships may
enhance a child's development
- They tend to identify with larger
groups based on shared
characteristics.
- They develop social skills such as
empathy, disclosure, and
leadership.
- Academic Motivation and
performance
- Peer pressure to engage in risky
behaviors such as;
- Substance abuse, stealing or other
forms of juvenile delinquency are
inevitable.
- There are certain characteristics
of adolescent development that are
more rooted in culture than in
human biology or cognitive
structures.
- Culture is learned and socially
shared, and it affects all aspects of
an individual's life.
- Community activities and civic
responsibility
Every person has a role to
play. A young child who
grows up as an adolescent
is expected to contribute
to society.
The term social structure
is described as the social model
or pattern by which the society
is organized. The pattern can be
horizontal or vertical.
The horizontal structure refers
to the relationships among
social groups as well as the
physical and social attributes of
communities where
you belong.
The vertical structure (also known as social
inequality) is the ranking
of people or groups of people in a hierarchy.
The roles of each member are defined by
the status that they hold. You have a status.
Thus, you carry a specific set of behaviors
(roles) that are expected to be shown.
The community is often defined
as a set of people with different
characteristics; sharing ties,
similar views, and participating
in joint deeds in geographical
settings or locations.
Society is defined by sociologists as the
people interacting to share a common or
general culture. These two definitions
feature a very significant component which
is the sharing of people whether it is in the
form of participating in activities or the
traditions and practices of a culture.
In a society, a division of labor is
practiced. The tasks assigned to you
are dependent on the status and roles
that you have. The status and roles are
important elements of social
structures since they determine the
strength of your influence in a
community and the larger society.
The word status can be described
as the position or rank that you
have in a community or a group of
people. The role
can be described as your expected
behavior which depends on your
status.
Leadership can be defined as the guidance
of other people in their pursuits which
is often done by organizing, coordinating,
directing, supporting, and motivating the
others. It is one’s ability to lead other
people.
Leadership is made up of processes
where you cooperate to influence
and motivate the other members
with the goal of attaining goals.
These processes are:
In an interactional perspective,
leadership is not separated from
followership (the qualities and skills
that are shown by non-leaders). Both of
them are related to each other.
This perspective views that the leaders
and members work
together. They exchange efforts, time,
and their skills to achieve joint
rewards.
Leaders increase the
motivation, satisfaction, and
confidence of the group. This is done
through the act of uniting the members
and modifying their values, needs, and
beliefs.
This is a process that promotes legitimate
influence instead of the use of power.
Leadership is voluntarily given to a person
by some or all of the members. When it is
done, it is expected that the leader is
influenced by the collective needs of the
group instead of his/her interest.
Leaders organize and motivate
the attempts of the members to
achieve both the personal and
group goals.
According to Benjamin B. Wolman in his
book entitled Adolescence: Biological
and Psychosocial Perspective
published in 1998, adolescence often
claims that their groups do not have
leaders, but quite often their groups
are referred by the name of one of its
members, who usually is the leader
Leadership skills can either be
inborn or developed. A person
may have great potentials, but
without opportunities that would
provide ways to harness these
potentials, they wither.
On the other hand, a person who
seems to have no leadership
skills may suddenly bloom due to
experience, training, or simply
the possibility that they did not
have previous knowledge of their
leadership skills.
Followers are not mere tools.
They are people with cognitive
abilities, emotions, and
behaviors. It is always a
challenge for every leader to
think of ways on how to
influence the members.
Followership is the act
of working with a leader
and the members of a
group in an effective
manner.
IDENTITY - is a self-
portrait composed of
many pieces Marcia
(2002):
1.The career and work path a
person wants to follow
(vocational and career identity)
2.Whether a person is politically
conservative or liberal (political
identity)
3.Spiritual beliefs
4.Achievement and
intellectual identity
5.Sexual identity
6.Physical identity
7. Interest such as hobbies,
sports and music
8.Cultural / ethnic identity
9.Individual's personality
10.Relationship identity whether
a person is single, married or
cohabiting.
Marcia (2002) stressed
Erickson's theory of identity
development entails four identity
statuses or ways of resolving
identity crisis and he defines the
term.
- a state when adolescent have not
yet experienced an identity crisis or
made any commitments:
consequently, the individual may
drift aimlessly and become
manipulate or self- centered.
- a state when an adolescent made
a commitment but have not
experienced yet a crisis in this
status
- a state when adolescents are in
the midst of identity crisis, but have
not made a clear
commitment to an identity.
 - a state when adolescents
suffered an identity crisis and made
a commitment and achieve
continuity and stability as he/she
accept his/her self-concept and
commitments.
The Looking-Glass Self is social
psychological concept, created by Charles
Horton Cooley in 1902 (Plethorescent,
2011), stating that a person's self grows out
of society’s interpersonal interactions and
the perception of others. Cooley clarified
that society is an interweaving and inter-
working of mental selves.
In an article published by Joachim Vogt Isaken
for Popular Social Science in May
2013, the concept of this theory is the foundation
of sociological theory of socialization.
First, the assumption of how we appear to
another person. Second, the assumptions
of how people judge us based on speculations.
Lastly, we imagine the person feel for us,
based on the judgements made of us (Isaken,
2013).
Filipinos have always been tight-knit. You
belong in a society that emphasizes
interdependency among its members.
Among friends, you do not treat each other
as just friends but as parts of the family as
well. The people around you are the
extensions of your identities. However, is
this attitude always encouraged? You will
find out soon.
In the Philippines, the father is acknowledged as
the head of the family. He is considered to be the
breadwinner and provider for the family
commonly called as "Haligi ng Tahanan". The
mother on the other hand is considered to be the"
Ilaw ng Tahanan" for she takes care of the family
household which includes; rearing children,
keeping the house clean and in order and
preparing meals for the family (Cabayaran, 2015).
Children should show respect and follow orders,
their role depend on their birth orders
whether they are eldest, middle and youngest.
The eldest should be responsible and
dependable, the middle is delegated to the task
as the eldest and the youngest is the most
beloved although they should be able to do their
household chores. And the Filipino family took
premium to education they also love bonding
and getting along with each other.
The Filipino values are directly practiced by
Filipinos thru their community involvement
these will show how good we are as a
nation.
1. Bayanihan
2. Close Family Ties
3. Pakikisama
4. Utang na Loob
Bayanihan is the spirit of
cooperation and communal
attitude. This is shown by
helping each other out.
At the heart of friendships is the
value of pakikisama which is also
called as group harmony. The
group-oriented mindset of the
Filipinos is evident when you
always do things in groups.
Unlike Westerners who are
independent, Filipinos would like to
have someone with them when doing
activities, even the mundane ones like
crossing the street or buying
something.
Individualism, a trait introduced by foreigners,
takes a backseat among Filipinos. This does not
mean that they are not capable of doing things
independently, when Filipinos go abroad, and
independence is expected from them, they meet
the expectations by becoming a valuable
employee.
It is described as the sense of duty to repay
favors that are given to you. In Filipino
culture, this value is so ingrained that you are
always reminded to show your
gratitude to others who gave you a favor by
repaying through free services, labor,
or tokens of appreciation.
This means shame. This value is at work in the
social reactions of people. It is
deeply rooted in family loyalty that the person
will act appropriately to avoid giving
embarrassment or dishonor to the family.
As published by Raising Children
Network (2019), community activity
is part of ‘civic responsibility’. It’s
about doing things in our
community because we want to or
feel we should, rather than because
we have to by law.
Raising Children Network (2019)
also stated that you can take civic
responsibility and
be active in your community by:
• joining a Youth Club, a scouting
group or a local environmental or
clean-up group
• helping with a primary school play
• setting up an arts space for the
community
• being part of a youth advisory
group
• promoting causes – for example,
clean environment, recycling, get
active in sports
What you can get from being
involved in community activities
(Raising Children Network, 2019)?
• Role models
• Identity and connection
• Skills
• Self-confidence, mental health
and well-being
The traditional family structure is
considered a family support system
which involves two married
individuals providing care and
stability for their biological
offspring.
However, this two-parent, nuclear family
has become less prevalent, and alternative
family forms have become more common
(Calma, 2016). The family is created at birth
and establishes ties across generations.
Those generations, the extended family of
aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins,
can all hold significant emotional and
economic roles for the nuclear family.
According to Calma (2016), there
are different Kinds of Family
Structures:
• Nuclear family: A family unit
consisting of at most a father,
mother and dependent children. It
is considered the “traditional”
family.
• Extended family: A family consisting of
parents and children, along with
grandparents , grandchildren, aunts or
uncles, cousins etc. In some circumstances,
the extended family comes to live either
with or in place of a member of the nuclear
family.
• Step families: Two families brought together
due to divorce, separation, and remarriage.
• Single parent family: This can be either
a father or a mother who is singly
responsible for the raising of a child.
The child can be by birth or adoption.
They may be a single parent by choice
or by life circumstances. The other
parent may have been part of the family
at one time or not at all.
• Adoptive family: A family where one or
more of the children has been adopted.
Any structure of family may also be an
adoptive family.
• Bi-racial or multi-racial family: A family
where the parents are members of
different racial identity groups.
• Trans-racial adoptive family: A
family where the adopted child is of
a different racial identity group than
the parents.
• Blended family: A family that
consists of members from two (or
more) previous families.
• Conditionally separated families: A
family member is separated from the
rest of the family. This may be due to
employment far away; military service;
incarceration; hospitalization. They
remain significant members of the
family.
• Foster family: A family where one
or more of the children is legally
a temporary member of the
household. This “temporary”
period may be as short as a few
days or as long as the child’s
entire childhood.
• Gay or Lesbian family: A family
where one or both of the parents’
sexual orientation is gay or lesbian.
This may be a two-parent family, an
adoptive family, a single parent
family or an extended family.
• Immigrant family: A family where
the parents have immigrated to
another country as adults. Their
children may or may not be
immigrants. Some family members
may continue to live in the country
of origin, but still be significant
figures in the life of the child.
• Migrant family: A family that moves regularly to
places where they have employment .The most
common form of migrant family is farm workers
who move with the crop seasons. Children may
have a relatively stable community of people who
move at the same time - or the family may know
no one in each new setting. Military families may
also lead a migrant life, with frequent relocation,
often on short notice.
• FAMILY LEGACIES
- it refers to something that can be
passed on the next generation of your
family such as reputation; a heritage,
etc. (Sturniolo, 2015).
• A genogram or family tree is a useful
tool to gather information about a
young person's family. This visual
representation of a family can helps
you to identify patterns or themes
within families that may be influencing
or driving the young person's current
behaviour (Strong Bonds, 2010).
• As mentioned by Moran
(2018), there are possible
traits you may want to trace
in your family. Here are some
suggestions;
1. Physical characteristics: skin tone, shape
of eyes, baldness and etc.
2. Genetic or external factors such as
artistic, personality traits like being friendly
or introverted, etc.
3. Social economic background
4. Religious values
5. Family values like educational attainment
6. Cultural background
• To symbolize a male person, a
square is used.
• To symbolize a female person, a
circle is used.
• For lesbian, put inverted triangle
inside circle.
• For gay, put inverted triangle inside
square.
Connect the two gender symbols with
any of the following rules in mind:
• For married couples, draw a solid
line underneath to connect them.
• If divorced or annulled, draw the
solid line underneath but with 2
slanted lines the middle.
• If separated, draw the solid line
underneath them but with 1 slanted
line only.
• If widowed, draw the solid line with an
X in the middle.
• If couple is cohabitating (living
together but not married), draw a
dashed line instead to connect the
two, with a small house in the middle.
Under the family connection line of
parents, attach children’s gender
symbols with the correct line.
• Draw a solid line if child by natural
means.
• Draw a dashed line if child is
adopted.
• If identical twins, connect the two
gender symbols together with a solid
line and connect the two gender
symbols to the family connection line.
• If twins are not identical, no need to
connect the gender symbols together
just draw line from both gender
symbols and connect together at the
family connection line.
• If child is still unborn, meaning
mother is still pregnant with
him/her, a triangle takes the place
of the square or circle.
• If child is dead due to miscarriage
or abortion, write M or A
respectively.
• Draw an X inside gender symbol
if person is already dead.
• You may choose to write age of
death inside the gender box with
X.
• To illustrate the quality of the
relationship between two people,
draw any of the following lines
between the gender symbols:
• Two solid lines: very close
• Dashed line: distant relationship
(meaning not close, minimal contact)
• Zigzag line: hostile or in conflict (not
in good terms at all)
• One zigzag line with arrow: physical
abuse
• One zigzag line (that looks like the
zigzag line of a hostile relationship):
• emotional abuse
• Two zigzag lines with one arrow:
sexual abuse
• Genograms are useful in illustrating
the medical history of a family.
Individuals creating genograms are
free to use colors or symbols to
depict specific diseases. Just make
sure to note your symbols in the
legend. Provided below is an
example:
• If you would like to cite specific
traits of individuals in your family,
you are free to do so. Again, just
include symbolisms made in the
legend.*Note: You may customize
your symbols according to your
preference as long as it is not in
conflict with other existing symbols.