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Ordeals of Students Living Far Away from School

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric-Matriano/publication/
350387656_SCHOOL_PERFORMANCE_AND_SOCIALIZATION_OF_COLLEGE_STUDENT
S_FROM_BROKEN_FAMILY/links/605d25d7458515e8346feb11/SCHOOL-PERFORMANCE-
AND-SOCIALIZATION-OF-COLLEGE-STUDENTS-FROM-BROKEN-FAMILY.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6128464/

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND THE RELATED LITERATURE

Distance associated with the school’s location found out to be one of the most influential
means affecting the academic performance of students. It showed that the longer the distance
of the school from each home, the higher the risk of the student’s interest to school that causes
poor school attendance and poor performance among students (Mhiliwa, 2015). The
relationship between physical (geographic) distance and mental representation levels, whereby
greater distance magnitudes produce higher levels of mental representation and higher levels of
mental representation increase distance perception. For instance, the problem associated with
distance may result to mental illness like stress and sickness among students (Henderson,
2010).

A data from Quince Orchard High School revealed that most of the students are residing
far from the school premises since it is located miles away from the community. It is reported to
have problems regarding early bus rides and high transport fares. The study showed that
students living far from the school have lesser chance of having high grades due to lack of
interest (Perel, 2016). Students also have issues with sleep schedules that have less time to
neither review notes nor prepare for an upcoming quiz. Sleepless nights lead to stress and poor
performance (Denice, 2018).

Students living far away from school have difficulties in finding friends that are residing
around the same block as they are. The situation drives students to feel isolated from the school
and peers. Living on a block different from others, students’ commute might affect how and
when they socialize (College Resources, 2019). Furthermore, students’ residency pushes them
to look for a place that will keep them closer to school and classmates. Hence, problems like
early waking up routines take their feet on a boarding house, risking their health and family
relationships. Research showed that the most common reason for students residing in a
boarding house or lodging house is the distance of the school from home (Kennedy, 2018).

Schools abound in the Philippines including those found in remote areas have students
who are discovered to be sleepless and have no interest in learning. Students are also reported
to wake up early to attend their first class and go home late due to traffic. This has led to poor
performance in the school and has less chance of socialization for them. Also, half of the
students’ population looks for a school that offers what they are passionate to do, yet change
their minds due to financial problems. Longer distances cause students’ absenteeism and loss
of interest due to some aspects that affect their physical and mental mindset (Malipot, 2018).

In some schools in Davao City, a huge number of people are residing in a sitio which is
far from the school premises. It is reported that absenteeism and issues on dropped out
students are brought about by the distance of the school from their homes. Financial necessity
is also a problem since distance makes the fare more expensive. Students are struggling to find
a ride that will not exceed their allowances. These struggles lead them to walk to school, making
them exhausted. It shows that going to school is their everyday problem and going home is
another (Alama, 2018).
 
This research study aims to explore the experiences and struggles of students living far
away from school and how they are able to sustain the spirit to study hard. This study will
provide an avenue and give concrete information and explanations of the existing problem. The
researchers will strive hard to gather credible data sources and provide strategies that will help
students surpass the problem of distance from school.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The purpose of this research is to determine the challenges and experiences of the
students residing far away from school premises including the strategies that will help them in
coping with the said situation. This chapter reviews literature addressing research relevant to
this study. The literature offers the following subtopics: (a) Experiences of students living far
away from school, (b) Strategies adapted by the students living far away from school, and (c)
Insights from the students living far away from school.

Experiences of Students Living Far away from School

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 The highest percentage of people that are engaged in physical activities are those
students studying in schools located far away from their homes. It shows that active commuting
contributes to the increase of physical activity among students. It was found out that a number
of adolescents were higher than children in terms of walking from home to school or vice versa
(Rodriguez, 2017). In addition, the total number of both adolescents and children walking are
found out to be higher than those who commute short distances. The study shows that a
number of students are more engaged to non-active commuting such as riding a car,
motorcycle, and/or bus. Hence, public transport systems are still considered as an active
commuting compared to private transport. This study was also known that students who are
residing far from the school have less chance to become at risk or away from obesity and non-
communicable diseases since they are more engaged in physical activities everyday through
commuting (Rodriguez, 2017).

Transportation problem has significant effects to students' school attendance. Some

Positive emotions have long-lasting benefits for human development. On the other hand,
stress has become significant due to dynamic social factor and changing needs of lifestyle. It is
man’s adaptive reaction to an outward situation which would lead to physical, mental, behavioral
and emotional tension including changes. A student that commutes from far distances is very
prone to stress. This shows that the longer the duration of the trip is, the higher the possibility of
tiredness felt that will later on result to stress among the commuters. Trip duration has a
negative association with happiness and a positive association with stress (Zhu, 2018). Travel
for discretionary purposes such as leisure, exercise, and community activities is generally
associated with higher levels of positive emotions and lower levels of negative emotions than
travel for work or household maintenance. Trips with eating and drinking purposes appear to be
the happiest and trips with the purpose of spiritual and/or volunteering activities appear to be the
most meaningful. Travel with family especially children or travel with friends is happier and more
meaningful than travel alone. Moreover, study showed that students who were a walk or a
minute away from school tends to be happier and have more meaningful trip than those living
faraway. Furthermore, it was found out that travelling with a companion has less possibility of
getting stressed than travelling alone (Zhu, 2018).

Climate change is a great factor affecting students who are residing far from the school
premises. They also have higher risk of getting sick due to the different environmental changes

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they encounter everyday, especially the weather. The study showed how climate change affects
one’s energy and motivation in attending classes or meetings. Moreover, sudden change of
weather especially when it rains is considered to be one of the reasons for students to be more
tired and sick, sometimes resulting to loss of interest in school. Climate change contributes to
higher chance of absenteeism and tardiness which, if happening frequently, will result to
dropping out (Bocker, 2011).

Strategies Adopted by the Students Living Faraway from School

Delaying school start times for adolescents has been proposed as a policy change to
address insufficient sleep among adolescents, a largely sleep-deprived population, to potentially
improve students’ academic performance, to reduce engagement in risk behaviors, and to
improve health. Nearly all studies provide evidence that adjusting early class schedules
accomplishes the goal of increasing sleep duration among these students, primarily by delaying
rise times. Most of the studies have shown a significant increase in sleep duration even with
relatively small adjustment of early class schedule. Later, school start of daily class also
generally corresponds to improved attendance and less tardiness, less number of students
falling asleep in class, reduced depression symptoms, and fewer motor vehicle crashes.
Although not all studies have found that late start of daily class corresponds to improve
academic performance, no studies found a negative impact of later school start times on
academics (Wheaton, 2017).

Insufficient sleep in children and adolescents has been shown to be associated with a
wide variety of adverse outcomes in multiple aspects of their lives from poor mental and
physical health to behavioral problems and poor academic grades. Insufficient sleep has been
linked to excess weight, decreased physical activity, and increased food intake, possibly due to
alterations in appetite-regulating hormones. Therefore, early sleeping routine provides
advantage to students residing away from the school premises. It targets to sustain enough
energy in getting up early for early transport. Also, it was suggested to be an effective way of
gaining back the energy that had been lost (Croft, 2017).

Time management is very important and it may actually affect individual’s overall
performance and achievements. Students’ time management can be considered as one of the
aspects that contribute in students’ achievement. It allows them to balance everything, the
mental, social, and physical aspect of their lives. Moreover, time management includes keeping
a time log, time planning systems, and getting and being organized. A good time management
skill is learned through addressing the failures done and the fulfillment of being a good leader of
its own. Furthermore, students’ time management can also affect stress level of students as
they need to cope with their tasks and their personal achievements (Nasrullah, 2015).

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 Despite the fact that commuting may produce some potential benefits, a number of
studies showed that travel time had a negative effect on individuals’ subjective well-being. Some
studies showed that active and passive travel modes have different influences on people’s
subjective well-being. Active commuting types like cycling and walking have positive effects on
emotional subjective well-being, because they are reported to be more relaxing and exciting
than passive commuting types. Moreover, the relationship between emotional subjective well-
being and travel modes was weak and often not significant. The result also showed that the use
of bicycle had the most positive effect on emotional subjective well-being. Furthermore, the
results of comparing the satisfaction across different commuting modes like walking, bike, car,
bus, metro, and commuter train showed that commuters traveling by active modes and train
reported significantly higher satisfaction than those who travel by car, bus, and metro. Travel
time had a significant negative effect on trip satisfaction. But, comparing to driving, only walking
had a significant positive effect on commuters’ subjective well-being. A study showed that
people who commuted by private cars had higher subjective well-being than people who
commuted with other modes. The study suggested for students to have their own transportation
vehicle that will be an advantage for their everyday use towards school. For example, it can be
a bicycle, motorcycle or a car provided that the students have proper documents supporting the
ownership and their license to operate it (Gan, 2018).

Insights from the Students Living Far away from School

Students who are living on a place located far from the school premises have developed
more their sense of independence. Choosing a school which is near from home can have
benefits both financially and academically. Many students living near the school premise can
minimize financial expenses and maximize students’ class performance. On the other hand,
others contend that choosing the other way becomes beneficial knowing that it helps student
grow as a student and as an individual and is very beneficial to students’ overall maturity.
Moreover, the transportation is also treated as a practice and a test to each student’s patience.
Furthermore, this everyday set-up remains beneficial if it is chosen using various bases
(Richards, 2017).

Students’ basis in choosing a school that is located far from their residence might
outweigh better reasons. Hence, students tend to have different definitions of the word ‘far’. It
might be an hour away for some and a thirty-minute ride for others. For instance, students may
be after a school with higher level of education practiced. It shows that the distance of the
school to each home does not give any credit to a student, rather it just tests a students' overall
personality in dealing with pressure and stress at the same time. Furthermore, a chosen school
must have the program of study a certain student is interested so it will not be a question if it is
either far or near from his/her home (Garcia, 2015).

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 Comfort and safety should be in one boat, in which comfort eases one’s inner self and
safety protects the outer self. A few number of students tend to choose a school that gives
comfort, either it is close or far from their homes. For some students, they do their best if they
remain at home and commute to their school. For others, they draw a two to three-hour radius
around their homes and decide that this is their maximum comfort zone while others choose to
live on a boarding house. On the other hand, school’s first and foremost concern is learning and
every benefit the school can give comes after that. Moreover, study stated that it depends on
the students on how they will let distance affect their learning, remembering their primary goal
which is to study and do well academically (Neimeyer, 2010).

Other times, students choose a school where they can fit in. Minton (2011) asserted that
students’ decision should not be because of the school's location, or distance, or because their
friends are attending that particular school. Regardless of where the school is located, it has to
offer opportunities for intellectual growth, social experiences, and critical thinking (Minton,
2011). In addition, study showed that the right school promotes individual growth. Also,
decisions that are influenced by someone might prevent students from developing as
independent, capable people with their own interests and passions. The study also showed that
students who study far from their home have higher capacity to achieve more in school and in
life (Minton, 2011).

The word “struggle” is not in dictionary before for it is clearly a state of mind. Hence, if a
person does anything with passion and love, then they will not feel like struggling. For instance,
a student who resides far away from the school treats his/her situation a struggle. Some might
agree yet some will argue with the thought that if a certain person loves and looks forward of
his/her goal in life, he/she does not treat anything as a struggle but rather, a good challenge.
Furthermore, living life with passion and interest will push people to consider each blockage in
each life a new opportunity, not a struggle (Verma, 2018).

Statement of the Problem

         This study aims to explore and explain the challenges experienced by students who reside
far from the school premises and to explore the experiences of the students in one of the private
Catholic schools in the province of Davao del Sur.

         Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the experiences of students living far away from school? 

2. What are the strategies adopted by the students living far away from school?

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 3. What insights would the students share with those who are dealing with the same
situation?

Significance of the Study

         This study mainly focuses on the challenges of students living far away from school. This
study aims to see how distance affects students in the means of physical, mental, and
emotional health including their academic achievements and failures which are essential in
attaining their dreams and goals for the future.
   
Thus, this study will be beneficial to the following:

1. Students. This study will give benefits to students because they will be able to impart
their strategies in coping with the problem related to distance. 

2. Teachers. This study will benefit the teachers for they will be able to offer a wide range
of understanding and patience, and provide help to students who are trying their best to
overcome their problem with distance.

3. School Administrators. This will also benefit the school administrators to be able to
help identify the students who deserve to be given credits for the hard work and
determination of going to school and to be able to give guidance during the realizations
of early activities and late dismissals.

4. Parents. This will also benefit the parents for they will become more understanding and
generous in giving allowances to their children.

Theoretical Framework 

This study was informed by two theories: Self-Determination Theory (SDT) which was
developed by psychologists Deci and Ryan (1985), and the Motivational Theory developed by
Maslow (1940). 

The Motivational Theory by Maslow (1940) argues that motivation is a driving force for
most of human behavior and its inherent growth and development tendencies. It emphasizes
the degree to which an individual's behavior is self-motivated and self-determined. When
applied to education, the self-determination theory is concerned with promoting in students an
interest in learning, the value of education, and confidence in their own capacities and
attributes. 
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 According to Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Motivational Model (1940),
motivational theory also explains that learners' goals affect the way they engage with academic
tasks. Motivation is concerned with the will that students bring to a task and their level of interest
which guides their behavior, and their belief about the 9 causes of their success or failure. 

Weiner (2004) elaborates that students' beliefs about the causes of academic success or
failure affect their emotions and motivations. For example, when students attribute failure with
the lack of effort and effort is perceived as controllable, they experience the emotion of guilt and
consequently increase their involvement in school activities for improved performance in their
examinations and general life. 

In this study, the researcher determined the relationship that exists between Motivation
Theory and Self-determination Theory on the location of the school and academic performance
of learners. Individual learners’ motivation towards education in community secondary schools
should be complemented by school’s friendly environment to attract and motivate students for
engaged learning in community secondary school. When a school is located far from where the
students reside, they would drop out from schools due to longer walking distance to and from
the school. On the other hand, poor support from parents/guardians marked by a lack of follow-
up on students would demoralize students as it would be difficult for the parents to diagnose the
learning trends of their children. Through parents’ follow-up on their children’s learning progress,
it would be easy to realize other needs as exercise books, paying of school fees in time,
provision of means of transportation, and other needs of their children. 
Similar to the emphasis by Maslow (1940), Deci and Ryan (1985) emphasized on
learner’s motivation. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) postulates the ability that educators have
for moving the learner from a motivation state which was developed regulated and maintained
through the teacher or classroom rules to become self-motivated students. These theorists add
that through punishment or teacher-imposed incentives, the value of education could be instilled
and become valued by students who are motivated through valuing particularly when such
learning is related to their lives. By delivering the content which is of direct relation and use to
students, SDT argues that one‘s innate needs are satisfied and fundamentally change human
behavior. It is essential to educational planners and implementers to note that the motivation
cannot be taken for granted without appropriate environmental factors as they can either
encourage or thwart the innate tendency to act to satisfy the needs (Deci & Ryan, 2002). 

To this study, the two theories are relevant as they all emphasize motivation as a
powerful engine to make students and teachers work intensively to achieve the desired goals. In
this case, the school surroundings are essential since environmental factors attract both
students and teachers as key partners in quality education provision.

Definition of Terms

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         To have a deeper and clearer understanding of the study, a number of terms used in this
study are defined operationally.

Ordeals. This refers to the experiences and challenges by the students living far away from
school premises. 
Strategy. It is a plan of actions that will help students in dealing with their problem with
distance.
Insight. This refers to the deepest understanding of students living far from the school
premises.
Phenomenology. This refers to a process of exploring the experiences and struggles of
students living far away from school premises.