COMM 10: Module 5 (Part I)
Activity 2
It was a peaceful Friday afternoon. The children’s park was filled with laughter yet again and there’s no room to even wonder why. Of course, it was that day of the week! These four kids were surely excited to meet and play again after a long week of engaging in online classes. It can be easily told by how loud their laughter were and how hyperactive they’ve become with all the running they did.
Listening to these kids talk about random things was refreshing in a way that it speaks from an innocent mind. While they were walking towards the other side of the park where the see-saws and swings were, they were talking about an upcoming school activity. The girls were sharing their concerns about it and the boy in black reassured them that the activity will still be successful even with the current situation. They also talked about a certain anime series, to which all of them suddenly got excited. All of them knew about it and gave their own reaction. The girl in gray sweater even said she was disappointed with the ending. Later on, they reached the spot and had a new discussion. They were fighting over where they should play first because the three wanted to use the swing, but the boy in red wanted them to play with the seesaw. It was a cute sight and it was supposed to be a normal conversation between kids, but some of Lacson’s Filipino Communicative Behavior mindsets were reflected from the encounter.
The use of “huy” and other casual words regardless of the age is very common to Filipinos, given that the person is someone close. This is also true to the situation. The three other kids addressed the boy in red as “kuya”, yet they talk to him informally. It seemed like the boy was fine with it either and it was no big deal. Also, when they were talking about anime stuff, the concept of “Kulang sa Pansin” or “pabibo” really brought out. The same “kuya” made fun of the anime series that the girls are currently watching and said it was too “corny”. He sounded like he knew everything and even said that he is the “Number 1” anime fan and that he knows all of the series so the girls should listen to him and stop watching it. He then began to recommend his favorite movies and series, told them they were the best, and assured them that it will be a good watch. This behavior could easily be observed in him. Even in the photo captured above, he could be seen pointing to the seesaw, taking advantage of his role as the eldest. Even if majority preferred the swing, he was persistent about it and even acted angry when the other kids won’t listen. It is a common thinking among Filipinos that the value of the message has something to do with the age of the person telling it. This could be traced by how Filipino children were taught to always obey the elder as they tend to be always right. Indeed, it can be shown after the three other kids resorted to listen to him and they played with the seesaw instead.
Looking back at the aforementioned happenings, the encounter is a perfect example of a high-context communication. It can be seen through their bond and strong familiarity with each other that it is easy for them to realize nonverbal cues and respond to it. At the beginning, the boys and girls didn’t even arrive at the same time as it didn’t seem like a planned meeting, yet, even without one having to ask it explicitly, they decided to play together instead. Also, whenever the boy in red, whom the three address to as “kuya”, spoke, the others became very attentive and refrained from talking. They didn’t have to be told to do so by the kid. They way they could easily react to a playmate’s frown, to a witty remark, to a playful threat, to a simple smile, or the way they could easily tell when something should be taken as a joke or not just show how well they could rely on their nonverbal communication to understand each other.
