UNIT 6: Responsible Parenthood

Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Lesson 1: Responsible Parenthood 4

Learning Targets 4
Health Check 4
Learn about It! 5
Check Your Understanding 12
Health Care 13

Lesson 2: Population Growth and Health of the Nation 15

Learning Targets 15
Health Check 15
Learn about It! 16
Check Your Understanding 22
Health Care 23

Pro-health Challenge 24

Self-Check 25

Bibliography 27

Glossary 27

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GRADE 8

UNIT 6
Responsible Parenthood

Fig. 1. Parenthood
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/10/30/21/12/family-1784371_960_720.jpg

Introduction
One of the most exciting parts of a human’s life is becoming a parent. Raising a family and
having several children can be a very challenging task. Keeping a happy and healthy family

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member is the priority of most parents. However, this can be hard to achieve with the
presence of several factors that affect the condition of family members. This unit focused on
discussing the role of parents in keeping a healthy family. The duties and responsibilities a
couple in raising their child and building a functional unit of population shall be enumerated.
Students are expected to have a better understanding of the role of their parents in guiding
them as they grow up. At the same time, students will have an overview of the difficulties of
being a parent.

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Lesson 1: Responsible Parenthood

Learning Targets
In this lesson, you should be able to:
● describe the importance of responsible parenthood;
● discuss the relationship between family size and family health; and
● enumerate the important roles and responsibilities of parents in child-rearing and
care.

Health Check
Duties of Your Parents
Modern families do not necessarily follow the limitations on the role of the mother and a
father. It exhibit more complex definition in defining the role of a modern mother and
father. Explore the roles of your mother and father at home.

Materials:
● pencil
● paper

Procedure:

1. Focus on the current role of your mother and father in your family.
2. Using the table as a guide, identify the different roles being played by your mother
and father at home.
3. You may ask your parents to validate your table.
4. Present your work in class to see if your classmates have the same observation.

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Table 1. Role of parents at home.
Mother’s Role Father’s Role

Guide Questions:

Briefly answer each question for the activity wrap-up assessment.

1. What are the distinct roles of your mother? Your father?
2. Do you think your parents are right in doing their roles at home?
3. Based on your situation at home, how do you envision the role of being a parent?

Learn about It!

Parenthood refers to the state of being a parent.

Parenthood is all about building your own family
together with your partner in life. This is the part
wherein a couple starts to have their child that must be
raised properly to make sure that their offspring will
become a functional part of the population in the future. Parenthood involves different
responsibilities and tasks. This lesson aims to discuss the duties of the parents at home and
to know the importance of building a healthy family.

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Responsibilities in Parenthood

Parenting refers to the promotion and support for the physical, emotional, social, and
intellectual development of the offspring from infancy to adulthood. Parenting is all about
the activities needed to be done to raise a child properly until they become a functional part
of society. The following are the responsibilities of parents with regards to good parenting:

Basic Needs
Both parents must provide the basic needs of their child. The basic needs of a person
include proper nutrition by providing food that the child needs to grow. Proper nutrition is
essential in shaping the health of one individual. At the same time, adequate grooming of
the children is also important to be provided. Providing proper clothes for the children as
they grow up is vital in shaping the character and self-confidence of an individual. Lastly,
parents must provide good shelter for their children. Having a decent physical home is also
significant to keep every member of the family close and intact.

Fig. 2 Proper nutrition of a child as one of the basic needs.

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/08/19/17/08/picnic-2659208_960_720.jpg

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Safety
Providing safety to the family is all about making sure that each member is safe. Parents
must be able to provide their children with a good condition of being protected and away
from harm or any other non-desirable outcomes. Humans tend to exhibit parental care.
Parents must be able to adequately protect their children as they grow up until they become
independent and acquire the ability to decide for themselves. The role of the parents in
keeping each child safe and reach its maturity is crucial. Children tend to be highly
dependent on their parents during growth and development. Keeping their family member
safe and away from any danger, accident, or diseases is one of the highest priority of every
parent.

Fig. 3 Family safety.

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/01/17/20/00/insurance-1987855_960_720.png

Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is the ability of an individual to evaluate their worth subjectively. It is an
essential component of a person, especially in constructing an individual’s perception of
himself or herself. Construction of self-esteem of an individual starts at home. The parents
must guide their children on how to see their worth as an individual. Appreciation of
existence and love towards each other is the core components of building self-esteem at

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home. Both parents must direct the perception of their child towards an internal
appreciation of themselves and do not base it on the standards of the society.

Fig. 4 Construction of self esteem of an individual.

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/06/02/17/35/identity-795295_960_720.jpg

Shaping Values and Discipline

Defining values and discipline is very hard. This is the case especially if a person does not
have a specific reference for the right and wrong conduct of an individual. Values refer to the
importance of one’s action in society. Values and discipline aim to direct an individual in
doing what will be useful not only for him or herself but also for the other members of the
society. It is the responsibility of the parents to become role models to their children. The
parents initially set the standards for the foundation of their child’s values and discipline in
life. Parents must show their children the good and the bad things concerning following the
rules and laws of society.

Education
Providing good education to their child is one of the top priority of all parents. Nowadays,
education is vital in shaping an individual. It is needed to train an individual to become a
better person and to learn skills required for he or she to become a functional unit in the
society. Education is essential in supplementing all the learnings from home. It provides

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different skills needed for decision making about life. Education also allows individuals to
interact with other people and learn how to behave appropriately in front of other members
of society. Parents must provide proper schooling to their children to prepare in becoming
the next generation that will put up the community by becoming the next set of parents.

Fig. 5 Education for children.

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/11/14/03/16/book-1822474_960_720.jpg

Maintaining Health of the Family

Maintaining good health of each member of the family is very important. As parents, it is
their responsibility to prepare the body of their children to different factors that could affect
its health. During childhood, it is the responsibility of the parents to provide proper
vaccination to their babies for proper immunization for various diseases like measles,
chickenpox, and hepatitis. These initial healthcare procedures are needed to equip the
child’s body with protection against acquiring diseases from other people. Moreover,
providing excellent health is connected to proper nutrition and shelter to the children. These
factors come hand in hand in building a healthy body until the individual reach adulthood
and sexual maturity to become the next set parents for the future generations.

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 Fig.6 Monitoring of family health.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/02/17/08/11/family-2073604_960_720.png

Family Structure and Health

Family structure is the actual size and composition of the family. This is focused mainly on
defining the number of family members. Family structure is related to the size and
components of the family. In the Philippines, the average family size is consists of a mother,
father, and three children. However, there are some cases wherein the family size is so big
that it could be consist of ten members. Family size is related highly in shaping family health.

In most cases, a big family requires an equal division of family resources into several family
members. In this case, some of the children do not receive enough resources since it is
divided into several members. This scenario is one of the consequences of rapid population
growth that will be discussed in the next lesson.

It is part of the responsibility of the parents to make sure that the family size is just enough
to ensure that all the needs of each member are sustained appropriately. Provision of
proper nutrition, shelter, education, and good health must not be compromised due to large
family size.

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Fig. 7 Family size variations.

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 Check Your Understanding
Strictly follow the instruction for each part of the assessment.

A. Write true if the given statement is correct, otherwise, write false.

1. Parents play important roles in forming the future of their children.

2. Family size can affect the health status of the entire family.
3. Parenthood refers to the state of becoming a parent.
4. Being a parent requires the presence of offspring.
5. Humans tend to exhibit parental care behavior.

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 B. Put a check (✓) if the given item is included in the role of the parents and cross
(x) if it is not part of their responsibilities.

1. Providing proper education.

2. Providing shelter for their children.
3. Providing proper nutrition.
4. Controlling the life of their children until adulthood.
5. Setting good examples to develop values and discipline of their children.

Health Care

Dividing Roles of Parents

You are now aware of the general role of the parents in a family. Earlier, you listed the roles
of your mother and your father. Now, try to analyze the overlapping roles of your parents.

Materials
● pencil
● paper

Procedure
1. Using the roles you listed in the earlier activity, construct a venn diagram for the roles
of your mother and father.
2. Using the figure below, determine the overlapping roles of your parents in your
family.
3. Present the venn diagram you constructed in class.

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 Roles of parents at home

Guide Questions

Briefly answer each question for the activity wrap-up assessment.

1. What are the specific responsibilities that only your mother can do?
2. What are the specific responsibilities that only your father can do?
3. What are the specific responsibilities both of your parents must do?
4. Do you think it is important for you to know the role of your parents at home?
5. Is it necessary to have a distinction between the role of your parents at home? Why?

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Lesson 2: Population Growth and Health of the
Nation
Learning Targets
In this lesson, you should be able to:
● discuss the effects of rapid population growth on the health of the nation; and
● enumerate the common modern family planning methods (natural and artificial).

Health Check
Differences in Family Size in the Population
Filipino families tend to be really large in terms of size. Most people think that the more
family members, the happier life will be. Try to know the usual family size in your classroom.

Materials:
● pencil
● paper

Procedure:
1. Count how many family members you have.
2. With the guidance of your teacher, determine your classmates’ family size.
3. Make a tally and determine what is the average family size within your classroom.

Guide Questions:
Briefly answer each question for the activity wrap-up assessment.
1. What is the most common family size among your class?
2. Which is more common, a small or big family size?
3. Do you think regulating family size is important? Why?

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 Learn about It!

A population can be defined as the number of all

individuals that live in a particular area. It refers to the
collective number of human individuals present in major
cities or provinces in the country. Humans are capable of
reproducing, wherein new individual arises and becomes
part of the new generation. Because of this, a specific
place may experience population growth. Population growth refers to the rapid increase in
the number of individuals in a population. A population may increase if resources, such as
food, water, and shelter, are readily available. Since resources are limited for use and
consumption, the growth of a population is also limited.

Effects of Population Growth on Health

Food Scarcity

The rapid increase in population also means more

individuals that require food to eat. Food scarcity refers to
the situation wherein the supply of food do not meet the
demand of the community. Due to the high number of
population, the quantity of food that comes from
agriculture and manufacturing industries are not enough to
feed everyone. Food scarcity can lead to undernourishment
of the people and eventually lead to the decline in health
status of the people in the population. This is evident in
developing countries where malnutrition is prevalent
among the people. This is due to the lack of proper diet
because each does not have equal access to food supply in
one place.

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Transmission of Diseases

Increase in population can lead to a rise in the population density. Population density
refers to the number of individuals occupying a specific area or region. The increase in
individuals clumping or aggregating together in a limited space can increase the risk of
diseases transmission. Diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, virus, and even parasites can be
easily transmitted from one person to another due to the increased chance of contact
between each. This fast transmission of diseases can lead to the development of an
epidemic wherein a large portion of the population is infected with a certain kind of
conditions. In worst cases, this can lead to high mortality of people affected by the diseases.
For example, one of the diseases that can be transmitted efficiently in an area with dense
people is tuberculosis or TB. This disease can be transferred easily through exposure to the
saliva of infected individuals. Sneezing and coughing in a compact area can quickly spread
the causative agent of this disease.

Fig. 10 Transmission of diseases.

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Poor Environmental Sanitation

A growing population also means an increasing volume of wastes generated by people.

Increase in population growth can lead to poor environmental sanitation due to improper
waste management. This can result in worsening environmental pollution in water and land
bodies. Poor environmental hygiene can lead to the development of various diseases. Dirty
places can allow the growth of pathogenic organisms like bacteria, fungi, and virus and make
it easier for these organisms to infect humans. Regulation of population growth is needed to
control the generation of wastes in the environment. Proper waste disposal is harder to
implement if there is a continuous increase in the amount of waste generated by humans. In
the Philippines, the typical effect of population growth is the problem of having proper
landfills where solid wastes can be disposed. The absence of appropriate sanitary landfill
facilities leads to the development of dumpsite areas in the country that exposed the
population to the risk of acquiring infectious and chronic diseases due to exposure to
accumulated solid wastes.

Fig. 11 Dumpsites for disposal of solid wastes.

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/06/25/18/06/scrapyard-2441432_960_720.jpg

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Methods for Controlling Population Growth

Family Planning

Family planning is a general term for educational and social activities that enable individuals
to be more aware of the consequences of having a big family size. Family planning primarily
involves bringing awareness to people regarding the positive and negative things about
having a small or big family. It also allows couples to plan the number of offsprings and the
family size they want to have in the future. Family planning aims to enable each to be aware
of outlining the timing reproduction and the corresponding responsibilities of having a child.
This is to avoid rapid and consecutive birth in the family and decrease the average family
size in a region.

Awareness on the Use of Contraceptives

Contraceptives or birth control methods refers to the techniques that can be done to
prevent unwanted pregnancy of female. Using birth control methods is one of the primary
core of family planning. With the use of birth control methods, a couple can avoid having an
unwanted pregnancy and limit the number of possible offspring in the family. Awareness on
the use of contraceptives among individuals is highly important as it does not only control
population growth rate, it can also be used to avoid transmission of sexually related
diseases. In the Philippines, there are several forms of birth control method used:

● Natural Methods - these refer to the natural method of preventing unwanted

pregnancy. There are several natural methods of birth control:
○ Abstinence - refers to the avoidance of doing sexual activity between couples.
○ Calendar method - relates to the prediction of fertility cycle of the female.
Calendar method is based on body signs and changes during the menstrual
cycle to determine the period of ovulation. Avoiding sexual activity during
ovulation period can prevent unwanted pregnancy.
○ Withdrawal - is a simple method that avoids the release of the sperm inside
the female vagina during sexual intercourse.

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● Artificial Methods - these refer to the use of chemicals and other contraceptive
products to preventing unwanted pregnancy. There are several natural methods of
birth control:
○ Contraceptive pills- these are hormonal pills that alter the hormonal cycle of
the female reproductive system. Contraceptive pills inhibit the female
reproductive organs to prepare for pregnancy. With this, it avoids the
fertilization of the egg with the sperm that leads to prevention of unwanted
pregnancy.
○ Condom - is an elastic product worn by male individuals during sexual
intercourse. Condom catches the seminal fluids of the male during ejaculation
to avoid entry of sperm in the female reproductive tract.
○ Spermicide - is a chemical that can kill the sperm and prevent it from entering
the female reproductive tract and avoid successful fertilization of the egg.
Spermicides are normally in the form of a gel or foam barrier that trap and
destroy the sperm.
○ Diaphragm - a method of birth control being wear by women during sexual
intercourse. It is a soft and thin rubber cup containing spermicidal jelly that can
be placed in the vagina to prevent sperm to enter the reproductive tract.

Fig. 12 Methods of birth control.

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Legislative Actions

For some countries with a very high number of populations like China, legislative rules are
implemented known as the “One Child Policy.” This legislation only allows a couple to have
a single child to reduce the growing number of population in the country. The government
provides proper family planning and contraceptive support for free to avoid further increase
in the population growth rate and maintain small family size among new generations of
parents.

Fig. 13. ‘One Child Policy’ in controlling population growth.

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 Check Your Understanding
Strictly follow the instruction for each part of the assessment.

A. Write true if the given statement is correct, otherwise, write false.

1. Rapid population growth is caused by the lack of education of reproductive

health.
2. Overpopulation can lead to food scarcity.
3. Overpopulation has nothing to do with environmental degradation.
4. Waste production tends to increase due to rapid population growth.
5. Contraceptives can reduce the population growth rate.

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 B. Put a check (✓) if the given item is considered to be an effect of rapid population
growth and cross (x) if it is not related at all.

1. Food scarcity
2. Malnutrition
3. Poverty
4. Poor environmental sanitation
5. Waste disposal problem

Health Care

Knowing Contraceptives Better

Now that you are more familiar of the common ways to control population growth, try to
know if your barangay is implementing family planning programs.

Materials

● pencil
● paper

Procedure

1. Visit your barangay health clinic.

2. Know the number of individuals that usually go to the health service clinic for family
control advice.
3. Interview the health personnel and ask about the common family control methods
being recommended to the people in your barangay.
4. Share what you have learned from the interview once you go to class.

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Guide Questions

Briefly answer each question for the activity wrap-up assessment.

1. What is family planning?
2. What is the role of family planning in controlling population growth?
3. Based on the data you collected from the health clinic, do you think people are aware
of the importance of family planning?
4. What is the most common family planning method implemented in your barangay?
5. Do you think family planning is effective in controlling population growth?

Pro-health Challenge
Song for Family Planning

Raise awareness about the importance of family planning by writing and performing a song
in your class. Make sure that the sure can quickly catch the attention of public and efficient
in providing information about the importance of family planning. Perform your song in
class, and your teacher shall grade it.

Criteria Beginning Developing Accomplished Score

(0-12 points) (13-16 (17-20 points)
points)

Content Content is Content is Content is

(Focus on details/events are incomplete complete complete and
clearly evident; it is clearly and not but not organized
related to the topic.) organized organized

Creativity No creativity Minimal Well creative

(artistic output) and rushed creativity and much
output and effort effort exerted
in the in the output
output

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 Key Guide Question

What are the role of the parents in maintaining a healthy family?

Reflective Questions
Briefly answer each question.
1. What is parenthood?
2. Why do you think it is important for individuals to know the responsibilities of
parenthood?
3. What are the roles of parents in maintaining healthy family members?
4. How can population growth affect health in the community?
5. How can you help in raising awareness about the importance of family planning?

Self-Check
At the end of this unit, each student is expected to achieve the following goals:

I think I need more I have a minimal I am confident that I

Skills understanding of it. can do this with ease.
time and
assistance.
Discuss the
importance of
responsible
parenthood
Describe the
relationship between
family size and family
health.

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Enumerate the
important roles and
responsibilities of
parents in child
rearing and care.
Identify the effects of
rapid population
growth on the health
of the nation.
Enumerate the
common modern
family planning
methods (natural and
artificial).

Wrap Up

Components of responsible parenthood

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 Bibliography

Botkin, Daniel B. and Edward Keller. 2011. Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet:
John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Cunningham, William P. and Mary Ann Cunningham. 2010. Environmental Science: A Global
Concern: McGraw Hill.

Gega, Peter C. and Peters, Joseph M. 1998. Concepts and Experiences in Elementary School
Science. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., U.S.

Handwerker, Mark J. 2004. Science Essentials Elementary Level. New York: Jossey-Bass Inc.,
U.S.

Peters, Joseph M. and Stout, David L. 2011. Science in Elementary Edition, Methods,
Concepts, and Inquiries. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., U.S.

Glossary
Birth control The techniques that can be done to prevent unwanted pregnancy
of female.
Family planning A general term for educational and social activities that enable
individuals to be more aware of the consequences of having a big
family size.
Parenting The promotion and support for the physical, emotional, social,
and intellectual development of the offspring from infancy to
adulthood.

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Parenthood The state of being a parent.

Population The number of all individuals that live in a particular area. It refers
to the collective number of human individuals present in major
cities or provinces in the country.
Population growth The increase in the number of individuals in a population per
specific area.

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