DISCRIMINATION AND ITS EFFECT ON SOCIAL LIFE 1

Discrimination and Its Effect on Social Life of Students

Jon Ernes Dulnagen Espada

2018

Being a high school student is so difficult. It needs determination, discipline and

attitude to complete high school. There are so many requirements to be submitted to pass

in all the subject areas. But can a student who is depressed comply in completing all the

requirements? There are so many causes of depression but let us focus on discrimination.

Nowadays, many students have experienced discrimination in or out of their

school. There are so many kinds of discrimination that every student is facing. There’s

age, ethnic/culture, disability, gender/sex and many more but what is discrimination?

Discrimination is something that a specific person feels when a group of people doesn’t

accept or make fun of him/her. Discrimination is the act of discriminating against people

especially on the grounds of ethnic/culture, sex/gender, or age. It is what the researcher

mostly observed to students who are victims of discrimination.

Social life of a student must be protected. Social life of a person is his connection

to the society. But if a person is discriminated because of his/her own age, gender, and

etc., his status in the society will change. That person will be ashamed and can have some

mental disorders like depression. It is observed that this is what happens to most junior

high school students.

The researcher also experienced being discriminated by his fellow students. He

experienced ethnic/cultural discrimination because he is an “Igorot”. He felt shy because

most of his classmates were “Tagalog” and “Ilocano”. But he stood and fight for his
DISCRIMINATION AND ITS EFFECT ON SOCIAL LIFE 2

ethnicity and the ethnicity of the Cordilleran. He showed people that he is proud of being

an “Igorot”.

The objective of this research is to determine the effects of discrimination to high

school students who are victims. The goal is to know why they are the target of

discrimination and how does it affect their social life. The researcher wanted to know the

reason why other students discriminate their co-students in their school. Another

objective is to know the different kind of discrimination that is experienced by junior

high school students.

The researcher wanted to conduct this study because discrimination is becoming a

problem to students. He wants to show the effects of discrimination to other students so it

could stop. He also wants to inspire students who are victim to be strong and help them to

stand against discrimination.

Review of Related Literature

Discrimination is the act of discriminating against people especially on the

grounds of ethnic/culture, sex/gender, or age (Soanes,C.&Stevenson,A.(Eds.).Concise

oxford English dictionary.2004). It can have an effect on the victim’s social life, mental

health, physical health and many more. Discrimination is so cruel that it could kill a

person. Sometimes, because of depression and anxiety of the victim, it leads to suicide.

But the researcher is focused on the junior high school students who are victims of

discrimination. This research is focused on the effects on their social lives.

Social life is a related to a person’s status in the society. For a student, he/she has

his/her own status in their school. In the study conducted by D. Futrelle (2013), if a
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student is a victim of discrimination, they might quit school, or do poorly at school. This

is because students feel discomfort, and loose interest in studying hard. There is a drop of

morale, trust and confidence on the part of the students.

Pager & Shepherd (2008) and Blank, Marilyn & Citro (2004) offer discussion of

competing definitions of discrimination and maintain that most definitions fall in one of

these two camps. Discrimination is often distinguished from other related phenomena

such as racism, sexism, prejudice, or stereotypes in that discrimination refers to set of

behaviors, whereas the other concept refer to ideology, attitudes, or beliefs that might, or

might not, translate into discriminatory actions.

“Ang mga kabataan ay ang pag-asa ng bayan” stated by Rizal, J. He believes that

every childhood is the hope of our country. But because of discrimination, his belief is

affected. The researcher observed that students are mostly the target of discrimination in

schools. Students discriminate their co-students. They judge a specific student because of

his/her race, age, gender, and even their physical appearance.

Social life is related to a person’s status in the society. For a student, he/she must

protect his/her own status in their school. In the study conducted by Futrelle (2013), If a

student is a victim of discrimination, they might quit school, or do poorly at school. This

is because students feel discomfort, and loose interest in studying hard. There is a drop of

morale, trust and confidence on the part of the student.

According to Huynh (2012) people who are discriminated against can undergo

significant negative result. Discrimination can be severely impacted as a result in general

DISCRIMINATION AND ITS EFFECT ON SOCIAL LIFE 4

well-being, self-worth, and social relations. But recognizing exactly how perceived

discrimination affects an individual is much less accepted. Discrimination has many

harmful effects on the society when individuals are treated unfairly. The effects of

discrimination are depression, stress, and anxiety.

Discrimination harms health by causing personal distress. Grollman (2014) stated

that being fired from job, for example, hurt a person’s sense of fairness and well-being as

well as his/her economic fortunes. Some have found that victims of discrimination often

have heightened physiology responses, including elevated blood pressure and heart rate.

Moreover, discrimination-related stress is linked to a mental health issues, such as

anxiety and depression, even a child.

According to a study conducted by Brown (2015) it is not surprising that children

are most likely to experience discrimination at school because this is the place where they

spend most of their time. The most experienced type of discrimination is verbal insults

and unfair treatment.

Gordon (2006), professor in the Fielding school’s Department of Community

Health Sciences, did a study to determine the extent to which Asian Americans who

reported being the victims of discrimination were more vulnerable to developing

clinically diagnosable mental disorders. Much of the research has focused on symptoms

of sadness and anxiety resulting from the mistreatment, and that’s very important, but we

wanted to look at clinical outcomes (Gordon, 2006).

Mental disorders that are caused by discrimination are hard to cure especially for

students. It is hard for them to cope up with their studies when they feel depressed. They
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can’t focus on reviewing the topics of their lesson. Poor treatment based on race,

ethnicity, sexual orientation and other factors can occur through interpersonal insults as

well as through more insidious routes. “If you don’t get a job and you’re left to wonder

whether it had to do with your race or gender, that can have an impact on your mental

health,” Gordon says.

Why does discrimination occur? Discrimination occurs if a person is treated less

favorable than other person in the same or similar circumstances on the basis of a

prohibited round of discrimination. According to Ballman (1986) discrimination exist to

be continuing uphill battle when she represents employees in discrimination cases. The

researchers stated that discrimination have impact on minorities and women. While some

states are making move to limit discrimination against the person who have been

discriminated and those with poor credit.

Methodology

Research Design

This research used a descriptive and statistical survey design which aimed to

determine the effects of discrimination to high school students’ social life and to collect

data on the population of the people surveyed about discrimination.

Sampling Procedure and Instrumentation

This research used a survey questionnaire as a tool in gathering data. The content

was validated by the English teacher. The researchers asked first the permission of the

respondent if they are willing to participate in the research. The researchers chose to
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conduct a survey to easily get the numerical data or the answer of the answer of the

respondent. This study used non-experimental method in gathering information regarding

in discrimination and its effect to high school students’ social life.

Reference List

Ballman, D. (1986). The writer’s guide to the courtroom: Let’s quill all the lawyers.

Practicing employment law, including negotiating severance agreements and

litigating discrimination, sexual harassment. Florida.

Blank, R. M., Marilyn, D. & Citro, C. F. (2014). Defining discrimination: In

measuring racial discrimination on the immigrant child.

Brown, C. S. (2015, September). The educational, psychological and social impact of

discrimination o the immigrant children.

Futrelle, D. (2013, February 19). Effects of discrimination. TIME. Retrieved from

https://eschooltoday.com/discrimination-and-prejudice/effects-of-

discrimination.html

Gordon, D. (2016). Discrimination can be harmful to your mental health. UCLA experts

view mental health status of victims as a public health concern. Retrieved from

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/discrimination-can-be-harmful-to-your-mental-

health

Grollman, E. A. (2014). Multiple forms of perceived discrimination and health among

adolescents and young adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 53, no 2.
DISCRIMINATION AND ITS EFFECT ON SOCIAL LIFE 7

Huynh, Q. L., Devos, T. & Dunbar, C. M. (2012). The psychology cost of painless but

recurring experiences of racial discrimination. Cultural diversity and ethnic

minority psychology 18. 1: 26- 34. Print.

Pager, Devah & Shepherd, H. (2018). The sociology of discrimination: Racial

discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and consumer markets. Annual

review of sociology 34: 181- 209.

Soanes, C. & Stevenson, A. (2004). Concise oxford English dictionary (11th ed). Oxford:

Oxford University Press

Williams, D. R., Neighbors, H. W. & Jackson J. S. (2003). Racial/ethnic discrimination

and health: Findings from community studies. American Journal of Public Health.

93(2): 200- 208.