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PEER GROUP
INFLUENCE ON THE ADOLESCENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE INSCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
The purpose
of this study is to investigate the influence of peer group on adolescent and
their academic performance. Descriptive research methodology was used. Random
sampling techniques was also adopted to select about one hundred in schools
adolescents from four secondary schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo
State. Questionnaires were developed to collect data. The data collected was
analyzed using the t-test and parson. The findings of this study revealed that
peer group could either positively or negatively influence the academic
performance of in school adolescents. This research recommends that parents and
teachers should provides adequate guidance to adolescents to help them
understand how the friends they keep can either positively or negatively
influence their academic performance in school.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
OF STUDY
The educational foundation of a
child starts right from the home. It starts with informal education which being
with the parents when the child is of age he will be sent to school for final
education. At school the child is exposes to so mine people like the teacher,
classmates and health of school. All these people associated with the education
of the child certainly influence the students greatly. The academic performance
of the child are greatly influence by the students who are mostly his
classmates and peer group because he spend most of his time with them. The peer
group is therefore the first social group outside the home in which the child
attempt to gain acceptance. Each peer group has its code of conduct which does
not always confirm with advance standard. The peer group becomes an agency of
enculturation and learning. Even very young children develop a sense of self
from their perception of important people in their surroundings including
relatives, teachers and peer socio-economics status, ethnicity and parents
occupation affects how families view themselves and the process by which they
socialize their children (Bornstein, 2002). Later as children leave their home
setting their self perception and socializing skills become influenced by how
their peers view them. When children move out from family to child care
centers, school and the community at large they begin to form attachments and
friendships emerge through their play. These relationship influence behaviours.
Even infants and toddlers are observed reacting to other infants by touching
them, by crying when others cry and later by offering nurturance or comfort. At
about age three, early friendship begins to have a more lasting influence
(Parke, 1990) peer influence on behaviour gradually becomes more dominant.
Smart and Smart (2000) defines
peers as equal or in the usual meaning as friend of about the same class
members of the same society such as the boys scout, girls, guide, chorister,
football team, social clubs can form peer group. The peer group influence on
students academic performance depends greatly on the skills and potential of
the students. Derville, B. (2001) observed that as a child grows up his own
peer group of companion are likely to become of greater importance to him than
his parents and teachers. Harris (1998, 2002) and Rowe (1994) maintained that
peer groups have an even stronger influence than that of parents, although that
extreme position has been refuted by other researchers (Berk, 2005).
Gradually, children discover that
others can share their feelings or attitudes or have guilt different ones. The
perspective of others will affect ho children feel about their own families.
Children usually have a family view of their own and of other cultures. So when
confronted with other perspectives, they often need to re think their own view
points. It is often difficult for chuckler to adjust to the idea that other
families can function radically differently from their own and yet hold many of
the same attitudes and beliefs and be equally nurturing and secure. The peer
group serves as a barometer for children examining themselves and their feelings
about self and family. The peer group also influence development of children’s
socializing skills. These early friendship help children learn how to negotiate
and relate to other including their siblings and other family members. They
learn from peer on how to cooperate and socialize according to group norms and
group- sanctioned modes of behaviour. The peer group can influence what the
child values, know, wear eats and learn.
The extent of this influence,
however, depends on other situational constraints, such as the age and
personality of children of the group (Harris, 1998, Hartyp, 1983). In its most
acceptance form, the peer groups is healthy coming of age arbiter, by which
children grasps negotiating skills and learn to deal with hostility and to
solve problems in a social context. In its most destructive mode, the peer
group can demand blind obedience to a group norm, which can result in socially
alienated gangs with pathological outlooks (Peer, 1987). Despite so much change
in today’s society, the fundamental tasks of growing up still endure to find a
place in a sense of belonging, to identify and master tasks that are generally
recognized as having values and therefore can earn respect by acquiring skills
to cope with them to acquire a sense of worth as a person, and to develop
reliable and predictable relationship with other people especially a few close
friends and loved ones. Conceptualization of the term students is derived from
Latin word “stud” which means growing up. It is a period of transaction in
which the individual transforms from childhood to adulthood.
Wentzel (1989) and Lingrett (1995)
found out that as children grow and move to adulthood, involvement with and
influence of peer identification increase as modeling value of the family
decreases. In most cases, peer tends to replace the modeling value of the
family context during early childhood. As a result of the social
acknowledgement that students look for, they are under certain among of
pressure that drives them to abide by the peer convictions or rejections. The
way social interaction affect academic achievement of students is important for
parents, educators, and policy makers. The peer group’s influence on a students
especially during adolescents and early adult hood is a powerful force for both
pre-social and anti-social development. Academic performance has also been a
subject of intense study. Caltern (1998) came up with the findings that strong
relationship does exist between school adjustment behaviour and peer
acceptance. It was also found out that strong and quality peer associations are
related to poor or good academic performance and successful school transition.
Peer influence is one of the most frequently referred to forms of negative peer
influence. It is particularly common because students are forced to spend large
amount of time in fixed groups (school and sub groups within them) regardless
to their opinion of these groups. In addition to this, they lack the maturity
to handle it. Also students naturally wish to behave negatively towards those
who are not members of their peer groups. However, students can also have
positive effect for example if one is involved with a group of people that are
ambitious and working to succeed one might feel pressured to follow suit to
avoid feeling excluded from the group.
Positive peer influence on academic
performance depends on the students self identity, self esteem and self
reliance. Peer influence can mobilize student’s energy and motivate for success.
Peer can and do act as positive role models. Negative behaviour that his or her
value might otherwise reject. If a student is influence negatively from peer it
affects their academic performance. Stronger student do have an impact on their
peers and actually help improve the over all academic performance, for example,
if student are friends to secondary school dropout, they have tendency to be
absent from school, have lower grade and less positive attitudes towards
school, they are less popular and less likely to plan to attend higher
institutions. If dropout maintains contact with friends who have stayed in
schools, however, these friends may provide moral support for returning to
school. Attitude and aspiration of peers as well as peer expectations and
standards affect individual’s efforts and achievement in school for many
secondary school students, achieving in school is in direct conflict with peer
acceptance.
However, it is through the peer
group that students are most likely to be introduced to problem behaviour such
as drinking, smoking, diligence and low academic performance. Positive peer
influence generates more alternative solution to problem, proposed more mature
solution and are less aggressive than students who are influenced negatively.
Students are attracted to join peer groups because such groups provide them
with sources of information needed to be empowered academically, vocationally,
psychologically or otherwise and give the feedback about the appropriateness of
their emotions especially when students are highly stressed or under stressed
(Schachter, 1989).
STATEMENT OF
PROBLEMS
The influences that peer group have
on ones academic achievement is enormous. The ways and manners by which peer
influence affects students academic performance needs to be researched and
documented. This will assist parents and counsellors to understand the pattern
of peer influence and ways to curb negative influence.
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
Bad teaching
methods on the part of the teacher could be encouraged by negative activities
in the peer group.
Lack of
school materials can make the children to be indolent at school work which
could help to encourage negative activities in the peer group and this help to
lower academic performance.
Indiscipline
in schools could encourage negative activities among members of a peer group
and this can lower academic performance.
PURPOSE OF
THE STUDY
The purpose of this study or
research work is to achieve the following objectives on the academic
performance of students on secondary school in Egor Local government Area of
Edo State.
examine the
concept and nature of peer group
discuss the
challenges associated with students
analyze
means by which peer group influence in school students
discuss the
effects of peer group influence on academic performance of students.
SIGNIFICANCE
OF STUDY
This study is important for several
reasons. Firstly, the study will give the researcher an in-depth insight into
how the activities of the peer group really influence. Secondly, the researcher
will also create a source of awareness for teacher and parents that
uncontrolled negativities among peer groups to which their children belong can
lower or increase the academic performance.
Lastly, the study will help to
highlight area where peer groups activities could have negative effect on the
part of the school children so that they could be checked by the parents and
teachers.
SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
This research work focuses on the
influence of peer group on student’s academic performance. This research work
covers four selected secondary schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo
State.
LIMITATION
OF STUDY
As a result of the short time
available for the conduct of the short time available for the conduct of the
study, the researcher limited her study to cover four schools in Benin City.
Due to time factor and transport cost, all the school selected are concentrated
in particular are in Benin City.
DEFINITION
OF TERMS
For the purpose of clarification,
the following terms which are used in the content of study are hereby defined.
Peer group.
This refers to children or adolescents who are of the same age or maturity,
level and have regular contact with each other.
Peer group.
Peer influence can be described as the pressure adolescents feel from their
peers.
Academic
performance. This has to do with children programmes at school work in the area
of ability to read and write, ability to speak good English, to solve problems
in mathematics and ability to use their initiated under any circumstances.
Adolescent.
This refers to the transitory period where a child moves to adulthood. The
adolescent years fall with 12-18 years.
Social time.
This has to do with discipline and good responses to academic work by both
teachers and students alike. The ability to submit willingly to constituted,
where this exist, there is adequate room for academic achievement.
In- school
adolescent. This refers to the adolescents who are still in the formal school
system as opposed to those who have dropped out of school.
Social
status. This has to do with the academic and home background of the parents of
the children who are subject of this research. It is observed that children
from higher social background usually perform better to some extent in academic
work than those from the lower social background in the area of ability to
speak simple and correct English and to write.
Truancy. It
is unjustified absence from school on a child’s own initiat5ive without the
permission of parents or school. a truant is any child that is irregular at
school for he finds other places more attractive than school work, and all it
stands for. He may be an individual who just does not want to go to school and makes
plan to do some other things else. He wanders away from these difficulties and
in at least held the drift into delinquency.
Truancy is a
series of sociological problem which can lead to juvenile delinquency and
ultimately to crime. The pupils who play truant are generally difficulties in
anxious and highly sensitive in class and have difficulties in their dealing
with other people there.
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