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IMPACT OF
SINGLE-PARENTING ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN SELECTED SECONDARY
SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
The
descriptive survey research was adopted in this study. It is an attempt to
investigate the impact of single-parenting on academic performance of students
in selected secondary schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
A sample of 200 randomly selected students were used. Another sample of 50
randomly selected parents and teachers were also used. A 4 point Likert scale
type questionnaire containing 20 items and 20 questions on social studies was
administered to the students. The content of the instrument were face validated
by my supervisor and other experts in the department. While the reliability was
ascertained at 0.5 significant level.
Two null
hypotheses were postulated and tested using the independent t-test. The first
and second hypotheses were analysed at 0.05 level of significance. The result
from this study showed that single-parenting have a negative impact on academic
performance of students.
An offspring from a broken home should have
regular contact with both parents in order to avoid having negative feelings
towards them. Teachers and caregivers should be encouraged to act as role
models for children in terms of sharing affection, meaningful and healthy
relationship and discipline.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Single-parent
families can be defined as families where a parent lives with dependent
children, either alone or in a large household, without a Spouse or partner
Popenoe (1997). According to Adams (1998), there was rapid increase in the
number of single-parent families in the latter half of the twentieth century.
This change has been used by some to argue, that there is breakdown of the
family values (defined as a married couple residing with their dependent
offspring) with negative effects on children, families and the larger society
in general. Singh (1999), and Talib (2000), suggest that single-parent families
have been present in all societies over time and should not be viewed as
deviant or problematic rather, as an alternative family form. Regardless of how
family diversity is viewed, the increase in and prevalence of families headed
by one parent (father only or mother only) has a major influence on the social,
economic moral and political context of family life.
The
expression "single-parenting" actually connotes a one-parent
household Cox and Martins (2001). The expression single-parenting, was first
formulated in 1970s. There is a general assumption that having one parent only
in a household must be deficient and therefore, by definition, bad.
As Osarenren
(2005) puts it, “single-parenthood is a situation where the upbringing of a
child/children in a family is carried out by one parent either the father or
the mother”. The single parent in Nigeria according to her, is usually the
woman. Osarenren (2005) identified different types of single-parents:
· Single-parenthood arising
from the death of the other partner.
· Couples may decide to
separate or divorce.
· Teenage pregnancy may lead
to single-parenthood in a situation where the man responsible denies ownership
of the pregnancy or he may not be ready for marriage or his family may be
opposed to the marriage.
· Sometimes, the decision to
have a child outside wedlock is voluntary especially when a woman considers
herself to be on the wrong side of age and still not married.
· There is a growing number
of women who become single-parents by choice. They have never been married and
they will never contemplate marriage. They are economically comfortable and
they tend to believe that they do not need a husband. They only want one child
or two children because they feel they can cater for such children because of
their high socio-economic status and achievements.
Akinbade
(1993) and Akinloye (1991), are of the opinion that single-parents face more
than the ordinary difficulties in raising children. According to them,
single-parents usually adopt or establish adult sexual relationships that will
not hurt their children, in order to provide role models to the opposite sex
and to deal with the feelings of not being "normal family". Onuoha
(1995) opines that single-parents have to play the roles of two parents, but
unfortunately, they do not possess the greater financial and psychological
reserves at the disposal of two parents. Again, the problem in single-parenting
is that, if the dominant parent has poor parenting skills, the child has
another person to turn to in intact family which is not the case in
single-parent families.
Researchers
such as Akinboye (1987), Bakare (1993) and Uche (1998), have shown that many
single-parent families lack many basic necessities of life because of lower
income. These researchers opined that women are usually granted the custody of
their children in the event of divorce and the bitterness they feel towards
their partners do not allow them to accept any financial assistance from their
partners who may not even want to provide for her and the child/children. This
is to the detriment of the children's welfare and education. For instance, in a
single-parenting families where the father or the mother is handicapped financially,
children in those homes find it difficult to pay their school fees as at when
due; pocket money may not be given to the children, school uniform may not be
provided, textbooks and educational materials may not be possessed by the
children due to lack of finance in the home. The resultant effect in this
situation is that the children most often dropping out of school or exhibit
truancy and absenteeism which may lead to poor academic achievement Nnah
(2000).
Nwanna
(1991) and Onwuchekwa (1988) postulate that women who become single-parents by
choice do not have financial problems because their high socio-economic status
is actually the motivating factor for their choice, although, they do not have enough psychological reserve to
sustain their children. They are career-oriented and high-achieving women.
Their career remains their priority, thereby neglecting the psychological needs
of the child. They usually have more than enough provision of their physical
needs. But they face greater denial of a father figure because often times this
category of single-parents do not relate or get in touch with the fathers of
their children, The effect is that the children probably grow up not knowing
who their father really is.
1.2Theoretical
Framework
Some
theories of families have been postulated by some family sociology scholars.
Family exist in every society in one form or the other. There are various
definitions of family include – Biological, Psychological and Sociological.
According to
George Peter Mudlock cited by Schulz (1976), “Family is a social group which
characterised by common residence, economic, co-operation and reproduction. It
includes adult of both sexes, at least two who maintain socially approved
relationship with one or two children or adopted”.
Ely Chinoy
borrowed from American College Dictionary, “Family is define as parents and
their children dwelling together, any group of person closely related by blood,
as parents, children, uncles, aunties and cousins.
1.2.1The
Functionalist Theory of the Family
In any type
of human relationship, the functionalists stress the integration of parts
within a whole and the social system to which the parts belong.
The
functionalist emphasized the resources that the individual brings to the
relationship and the functions that he or she performs in the relationship.
They also emphasized three major areas of functions in the study of the family.
They include:
a. The relationship between the family
and the larger society.
b. The relationship between the family
and the social institutions.
c. The relationship between the family
and the individual person.
In
discussing the relationship between the family and the larger society, the
functionalists focused on the role that the family plays in the socialization
of new members of the society. They assert that only a small unit like the
family can carry out this function on behalf of the larger society. This is the
function of socialization of children which is done through parent-child
interaction. The emphasis in the discussion of relation between the family and
other social institutions is on the relationship between the family and social
institutions like economies, education, government, etc. The functionalists
assert that each and everyone of these institutions affect the family and they
in turn are affected by the family. In the relationship between the family and
the personality of the individual, the functionalist stress the effect of the
family on the individual, that is, the family influences the individual and how
the individual can influence the family. The functionalist also emphasized the
division of labour for the maintenance of the family. This point is more
pronounced in the work of Talcot Parsons, Bales Slates and others. Talcott
Parsons and his colleagues pointed out that the division of labour or role
different exists among all members of the family between the husband and wife,
between the parents and children and between adults and younger members of the
family. They are of the opinion that adequate performance of the differentiated
roles, work well for the stability and good maintenance of the family as a
social unit.
1.2.2
Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory
Most
scholars who work with children believe that development is sequential and
gradual. The famous Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) propounded an
important theory of cognitive development. Piaget’s theory states that children
activity construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages
of cognitive development namely. The Sensory-motor stage (0 – 2 years),
Pre-operational Stage (2 – 7 years), the Concrete Operational Stage (7 – 11
years) and the Formal Operational Stage (11 – 15 years). Piaget (1954) believe
that we adapt in two ways, assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs
when individuals incorporate new information into their existing knowledge.
Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust to new information. Piaget thought
that assimilation and accommodation operate even in the very young infant’s
life. New born reflexively suck everything that touches their lips
(assimilation), but after several months of experience, they construct their
understanding of the world differently. He postulated that each of the stages
is age-related and consists of distinct ways of thinking.
Like Piaget,
Russian Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934) also believed that children actively construct
their knowledge. Vygotsky emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of
language, and social relations. Three claims capture the heart of Vygotsky view
Tappan (1998):
(1) The child’s cognitive skills can be
understood only when they are developmentally analysed and interpreted;
(2) Cognitive skills are mediated by
words. Language and forms of discourse, which serve as psychological tools for
facilitating and transforming mental activity; and
(3) Cognitive skills have their origins in
social relations and are embedded in a socio culture backgroup.
1.2.3 The
Social Orientation of Children
Socialization
is not a process unique to childhood. According to the sociological theory
known as symbolic interactionism, socialization is required for each new role
an individual acquires over the life-course. Nevertheless, most of us generally
understand socialization to mean the process of creating socially responsible
beings out of primarily asocial beings – that is, infants and children (asocial
in the sense that they are ignorant of the rules and roles of the society and
must acquire these over time). Socialization is considered to be more general
than either enculturation, or acculturation. Enculturation refers to the
specific process of transmitting a particular culture from one generation to
another (e.g. minority members of a society teaching their children about
minority issues such as discrimination). Acculturation refers to the process of
acquiring a new or different culture (e.g. as an immigrant to another country)
Denver (2000).
Parkeand
(2000) described socialization as “the process whereby an individual’s
standards, skills, motives, attitudes, and behaviours change to conform to
those regarded as desirable and appropriate for his or her present and future
role in any particular society”. Each of this definition leaves open the
possibility that adults, in addition to children, can be socialized into new
roles and responsibilities.
Most
approaches focus on parental-child relations in infancy, childhood, or
adolescence, ignoring ongoing parent-child relations across the life-course
(for an exception) see Pillemer and McCartney (2001). The focus of this entry
is primarily on socialization-both formal and informal of children in different
contexts, and in different countries around the world.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
For sometime
now, especially, in the last decades, there was rapid increase in the number of
single-parent homes i.e. mother only families and father only families. In
Nigeria, single-parent families case are quite rampant. During the course of my
teaching practice, I found out that students from single-parent homes tend to
suffer a lot of denials, they lack parental care, have low social adjustment,
suffer inferiority complex and suffer from juvenile delinquency syndrome.
Another, children brought up in single-parent families play truancy, come late
to school, most of them are delinquent and lack academic materials.
Osarenren
(2005) said that many children who were reared in either mother-only or
father-only families suffer set backs in their academics achievement than those
brought in intact homes due to the absence of one parent.
Single
parenting homes have failed to effectively play the role of both parenting
families and this has in many ways affected the child academically, mentally,
morally and socially. The area boys/girls phenomenon is a factor that stands
out as a problem in the society and is often associated with single-parenting
families Nnah (2000).
1.4 Purpose of the Study
This study
therefore investigated the effect of single-parenting on academic achievement
of students in Mainland Local Government Area schools and how they affected in
the academic performance of students in schools.
The
following undermentioned are the specific objectives of this study:
(1) To establish whether students’
attitude to academic work is influenced by single-parenting.
(2) To evaluate the academic achievement
of students from intact home and those from single-parent homes.
(3) To ascertain if students from
single-parenting exhibit juvenile delinquency syndrome in our society.
(4) To determine whether students from
mother-only families perform better academically than those from father-only
homes.
1.5 Research Questions
For
effective conduct of this study, the following research questions were raised:
(1) Does single-parenting have any effect
on students’ attitude to academic work?
(2) To what extent is students’ academic
achievement affected by the type of home?
(3) Can single parenting cause juvenile
delinquency syndrome in our society?
(4) Do students from mother-only families
perform better academically than those from father-only families?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The
undermentioned hypotheses will assist the conduct of this study:
(1) Students academic achievement will not
be affected by the type of home.
(2) Students from mother-only families
will not perform better academically than those from father-only families.
1.7 Significance of the Study
This study
is focus on the beneficial of the following individuals:
Students:
The findings
and recommendations of this study will assist boys and girls who live in their
father-only or mother-only homes to cope with the situation of
single-parenting, as well as keep out of marital conflict between their
parents.
This study
equally will assist girls who live with either father-only or mother-only
families to cope with the situation in which they find themselves. Also,
students should made to appreciate the value of education.
Parents:
The findings
and recommendations of this study will be of great benefit to widows who were
rendered single-parents due to the death 'of their spouses in that they would
understand better that widowhood is not the end of life.
It would
also enable husbands whose wives are dead (widowers) to cope with the
unfortunate situation of fathering their children and becoming single-parents
due to the death of the spouses. The recommendations of this study will help
such husbands to brace up and encourage themselves in bringing up their
children in such a way that they will be able to perform well in their academic
careers.
The
Teachers:
Teachers
would be beneficiaries of this study, because, the study will afford them the
golden opportunity of knowing how to detect students who come from
single-parent homes and how to help them in teaching and learning activities.
The teacher
should take note of individual differences in the classroom and the academic
performance of their students from various homes such as intact and
single-parent homes and try to provide adequate remedy through the use of
different teaching techniques and extra lessons in order to help them.
Government:
The
solutions provided by this study will go a long way in helping the government
and the Ministry of Education to tackle the problems of single-parenting and
the resultant poor academic performance of many children brought up in that
type of homes.
1.8 Scope of the Study
This study
covered the impact of single-parenting on academic performance of students in
selected secondary schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
1.9Delimitation
of the Study
The study
focused on the impact of single-parenting on academic achievement of students
in selected secondary schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
This study
is limited to five secondary schools in Mainland Education District, which has
been chosen as an
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