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THE EFFECT OF BROKEN HOMES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study examined the effects of broken home on academic performances of secondary student schools in Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted with the sample consisting of 200 students and teachers drawn from ten randomly selected secondary schools in Esan West Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. One validated instrument (Effect of Broken Homes on Academic Performance of Secondary School Questionnaire (EBASSQ) was used for data collection and the data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistic. three null hypotheses were answered. The results showed that there were no significant effects on secondary school students in term of broken home. There were no significant differences in the academic performances of secondary school students from broken homes and unbroken homes. There is no significant effect on the academic performance of secondary school students in term of socialization of the home. It is recommended that school counsellors should be employed in all schools where they should provide necessary assistance to students especially those that are from single-parent families or broken homes to enable them overcome their emotional concerns. Implications of the findings for the parents and the school counsellors were highlighted.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The home is the primary institution for children, home as perceived by Abdulganiyu (1997), Christe (2009), defined home as a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Haven’t define the concept of home it is therefore important to define family. The family can therefore, be looked at as a social group characterized by common resident, economic, cooperation and production. When a child is born, the family is the first primary group with which they come into contact. Transmission of social values of right and wrong, what is morally and religiously accepted or condemned by the family, it follows therefore that by the time a child attained five to seven years of age he must have learnt what are his rights, obligations and roles within the society.

However, the background of a student goes along way to determine his/her individuality. As the child enters schools, he/she will start manifesting different attitudes and expectations. In addition they may be of the same age group, developed at different rates and so may be able to cope with the intellectual and social task of the school in varying extent. However, a home can either be stable or broken.

A stable home is one in which both parent (mother and father) lives together with their children, while a broken home is the one in which one or both of the parents are not living together with the children. It is the level at which the home operates that determine the academic achievement of a students in school. Broken homes been it unstable can influence the achievement of a students academically. Also, children that have suffered from neglect or lack of love (in broken homes) are known to be psychologically imbalanced to face the realities of life. When there is disunity in the family, or a difference between a mother and a father, the child is caught in the middle and will be at disadvantage. According to Blackby (2000), adequate research needs to be conducted in this direction to ensure smooth transition of children from early stages to adulthood.

Many authors have defined the home and deal fully and give various definitions to it. According to Homeby (2004), broke home is a home in which the parents are separated or divorced or are no more together as a result of death. In the same way Udry (2004), define a broken home means a house in which the parental are no more living together. Other researcher studies been carried out on broken homes seem to agree that broken home are associated increase aggressive and juvenile delinquency in children. From such home (broken home) children from this lack proper care and security. In assessing the definition such as a situation (broken home can result to poor academic achievement in student as once the child misses such opportunity of guide, securities affection and assistant where necessary).

          Home and the Childs’ family provide the best and first education since the child serve as teachers. The parent laid the foundation for the desired social, moral, emotional spiritual and intellectual well being of the child. The training a child received from home is of imperative in his/her total personality formation and the academic performance as a student in secondary school. It can also be observed that the pattern of life in the home (stable or broken), the economic and social status of the family in the community and many other conditions that give the performance of student in the school,

          Abdulganiyu (2002), started that research have shown that children differs in various ways as a result of variable of their home background such as socio-economic status, parental attitude to school and child rearing practices. These home background variables are also found to be positive related to children’s academic performance.

          Also Giwa (1997), have also investigated the various factors within the students home background or family that affect their academic performance in school, variable such as socio-economic status, family size, birth order, parental attitude child rearing practices parental absence or presence have been found to affect social and intellectual learning experience of children in school.

          This is so, because children are born with some psychological, emotional and intellectual needs such as need for love and security, the need for new experience, the need for praise and recognition and need for responsibility. Many of these needs are not offered to the children of broken home which influence their performance in school. The extent to which these needs are met during the formative years of children between birth and the age of six or seven in the extent to which they enter school well equipped or ready to deal with the social and emotional aspects of schooling. Based on the observation above and in line with the assumption that economic and social future of many children in most localities is being undermined by cultural practices that promotes widespread divorce amongst couples and brought unnecessary hardship to the growing children.

It is pertinent at this juncture to point out in spite of all the needs expressed as to be met by the students most especially secondary school students, this research also has intended to seek for how much secondary school student is affected in academic achievement, either as a result of his home been stable or broken.

Statement of the Problem

In our society, children are sometimes exposed at an early age to all sort of dangers arising from malnutrition, diseases and various temptation of surviving due to absence of one or both of their parents. Student’s life in broken homes is observed to be associated with emotional stress that can impair intellectual development, thereby giving way for such children to grow up without being trained properly. However, absence of one or both parents deprives young children of the stable love, care, security and total support they have been accustomed to and tend to make children different in the eyes of the peer group. If children are asked where the missing parent is or why they have a new parent to replace the missing parents, they become embarrassed and ashamed. They may also feel guilty and unwanted by the society, such stressful situation leads to psychological, emotional and intellectual imbalance in growing children. These subsequently result to quitting from school or poor academic achievement of secondary schools student as education require critical thinking, relax mind and proper family support to be able to perform to expectation in the school. Hence it becomes necessary to investigate factors that cause broken homes with a view to finding solution to the problems for psychological well being of growing children in our society, and these lead us to look at the effect of broken homes on the academic performance secondary schools students in Nigeria.

Research Questions

The following research questions are formulated to guide this study.
1. Does the home have any significant effect on secondary school student in Nigeria?
2. Does broken home have any significant effect on the academic performances of secondary school students in Nigeria?

3. Does the socialization of the home have any significant effect on the academic performances of secondary school students in Nigeria?

4 Is there any significant different in the academic performance of secondary school student from broken homes and these from unbroken home?

Research Hypotheses

1. There is no any significant effect on secondary school students in term of broken homes.
2. There is no any significant difference in the academic performances of secondary school students from broken homes and from unbroken homes.
3. There is no any significant effect on the academic performances of secondary school students in term of socialization of the home.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this research work includes the following.
To assess the impact or effect of broken homes influence on secondary schools students in Nigeria.

To find out the causes of broken homes and the solution in Nigeria.

To seek for solution for widespread divorce among couples.

To find out how absence of one or both parent influence secondary schools students academic performances in school.

To suggest ways of women and men unnecessary divorce

Significance of the Study

The purpose of this study is to find out causes of broken home on academic performance of secondary schools students in Nigeria.  This is with a view to suggest ways of minimizing and overcoming the problem. Home play very significant role in child personality formation and socialization, broken homes are identified as one of the factor that undermined the socialization process at home, which consequently affect the performance of student. If the concern of education, secondary schools in particular is to look after socialization process of the child as well as his intellectual development, then this research work would be of great importance to parents and educators, teacher and society at large that absence of one or both of the parent affect children educational career.

Lastly, it will be of benefit to future researchers as the finding will serve as a source of literature review.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

Though, the questions which prompted this study were found to be in existence in different part of the country, most especially in the northern part of the country, it is not possible for this research to cover all such areas. This is because the research/ researchers cannot obtain data from all places concerned due to lack of time and resources (both human and material resources). As the title of the research reads, the research will be limited to only Esan West Local Government Area of Edo state and it should be noted that the work may not represent some areas in the local government and not all people during the course of the research exercise will cooperate, hence the research is bound to experience limitation.

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