Stubborn or...

                                    (photo: Primer.com)

Di kibali makasabot? Simple instruction, you cannot follow? This is what people are asking right now as others continue to go out, ride in tandem and do their usual activities outside their houses despite the millions of pleas and requests by the authorities to STAY AT HOME. Some are drinking with their friends; others are spending their time in their backyards having cockfights.

Basically, following directions is a learned skill. The mastery of it might NOT be on the independent level as what teachers observe in language subjects.

Following oral directives, interpreting the needed steps to complete tasks, understanding critical-thinking questions, and discerning written instructions are just a few instances of how people need to know how to navigate the subtleties embedded within a language. For many, learning to follow directions is a complex task that requires explicit instruction, and the mastery of this skill involves vocabulary development, mental flexibility, and attention to details, listening skills, receptive language skills, verbal reasoning, and expressive language skills (Warren, 2011).

But are the words STAY AT HOME difficult to follow?

When persons have trouble following directions, they often encounter the annoyance and frustration of others. In fact, a true misunderstanding can even result in ridicule and sanctions.

Despite dire warnings about the exponential growth of COVID-19 cases we can expect in lieu of stringent social distancing efforts, reports continue to come out of people carrying on with life as usual — lazing outside and having gatherings.

Social psychologist Vanessa K. Bohns (2020) mentions that the vast majority of the people who are defying calls for social distancing are not doing so because they don’t care about other people. Rather, they are doing so because they don’t realize the influence their actions will have on others. They are trapped in their own heads, looking out at what is going on in the world around them, and failing to recognize their own role in it. She underscores EGOCENTRIC deeds as the main culprit.

Baruch Fischhoff, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies human judgment and decision making, had a handful of potential answers. First: “There are very few reported cases in most places, so maybe people [think], ‘This is still not here yet,’” he said. “If you haven’t been following the fact that we haven’t been testing [very much], you might not realize how deceiving the reported cases are.” He mentioned research suggesting that the human brain is well adapted to recording how often specific numbers are reported, but not as well adapted to understanding when those numbers might not be representative of reality.

Now that the supposedly COVID-19-free Caraga Region has reported its first case, a certain hush is in the local atmosphere. People might follow the features of an Enhanced Community Quarantine.

But is it really the main reason or something else?

Most of those who are outside are looking for a living. There are people who can be hungry if they do not go out and work. Although the government is doing a lot of measures to support the poor, it is incapable of doing a swift job due to prior weak processes like profiling. Also, the different departments assigned for the task are either understaffed or unskilled to dole out the needed amount to augment the daily needs of those who do not have stable jobs.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he's inclined to extend a lockdown of more than half the country's population on its main island until April 30, 2020 to further stem the corona virus outbreak. Mr Duterte, in an address late on Monday (April 6, 2020), also said he's considering tweaking this year's 4.1 trillion peso (S$115.90 billion) budget to allocate more funds to virus response, as some 200 billion pesos set aside for cash grants to poor families won't be enough (straitstimes.com). The other regions can follow suit.

The president repeatedly mentioned the request to STAY AT HOME!

Social distancing is the only way to slow the spread of this disease, and that means we’re all made responsible. “If we don’t change our behavior now, the disease will spread faster and our healthcare system will be overwhelmed.” Leana Wen (2020) warns that, as a result, “that would cause a lot more harm and a lot more deaths.”

Consequently, very few people think they need to follow directions.  But, in fact, following orders effectively is something that very few of us do.  It's not because it is so difficult.  Most of us have just never developed the habits that would make us effective followers.

True learning experiences should somehow change the individual—and these experiences cropping-up every day are springboards of people to follow orders from the authorities.

Leaders must also consider these facts so that effective movements and equitable services will be delivered in abnormal situations like a pandemic.