mula sa isang balita (MALAYA)
Kids of OFWs prone to emotional problems
BY GERARD NAVAL
CHILDREN of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could be prone to emotional, behavioral and mental problems, psychiatric doctors said yesterday as they aired concerns over the continuous exodus of Filipino workers.
In a forum in Quezon City, officials of the Philippine Psychiatric Association said the continued deployment of workers overseas could affect the development of their children.
Dr. Felicitas Soriano, PPA president, said while there is no official study on the behavioral effects of migration on children, "clinical exposure" showed that several OFW children are having emotional problems.
"What will become of our children? We observe that many OFW children are becoming insecure and drug dependents," said Soriano.
She added that some OFW children also become materialistic and spend their parent’s money on gadgets and internet gaming because of lack of guidance.
Dr. Grace Macapagal, in-house psychiatrist for crisis intervention rehabilitation in the Department of Social Welfare and Development, said that in cases where the mother or the father leaves to work abroad, there is an indirect effect on the children left behind.
"Migration of one parent or both is a very painful time for children and can cause bad emotions to stir up," she said.
In the case of an absentee father, Macapagal said, boys belonging to OFW families develop gender identity problems which become more "obvious when they grow old."
On the other hand, there is the "feminization" of OFWs, or where more women are now working abroad, leaving the care of children to their husbands. This is causing a role where fathers are left to care for children even if they are not prepared.
Macapagal added that there are also instances where the eldest daughters become the "substitute" for the mother.
"Minsan it’s the eldest daughter who takes up the role of the OFW mother. Sometimes they also take the sexual roles of the mother to some fathers," she related.
The doctors said one way of combating these problems is the utilization of an extended family in which relatives could act as surrogate parents.
