ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF CHILD PROTECTION POLICY: A BOON OR BANE?

VANNESA JOY JASO BUNGAOS

Abstract


This phenomenological study examined whether the Department of Education's Child Protection Policy (CPP), under DepEd Order No. 40, Series of 2012, serves as a boon or a bane for veteran public secondary school teachers in the Division of Kidapawan City in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG16). Using Colaizzi's (1978) method, seven purposively selected educators with 15 to 35 years of service participated in in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed through systematic extraction of significant statements, formulation of meanings, and clustering into emergent themes, validated through member checking. Twenty emergent themes revealed that the CPP operates simultaneously as a boon—offering child protection framework, promoting restorative discipline, and clarifying professional responsibilities—and as a bane, through the erosion of disciplinary authority, student misuse of rights, weak home-school support, and increased emotional labor. Educators adapted by employing preventive discipline, private handling of misconduct, systematic documentation, peer collaboration, and technology-based accountability measures. Over time, most participants grew from initial hesitancy toward a more confident and rights-informed professional identity. The study concludes that the CPP is inherently dual in nature—neither purely enabling nor purely restrictive—and recommends sustained scenario-based professional development, stronger Child Protection Committees, and more proactive family engagement to maximize the policy's positive impact.

Keywords


Child Protection Policy, Boon or Bane, Veteran Educators, Classroom Discipline, Phenomenology, SDG16, Kidapawan City Division

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.65010/seairj.v7i2.261

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