The Impact of Peer Influence and Parental Support on the Academic Achievement of Upper Basic Education in Secondary School
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To determine the relationship between parental support and academic achievement in upper basic education in Makurdi, Benue state
- To determine the relationship between peer group influence and academic achievement in upper basic education in Makurdi, Benue state.
- To determine the level of academic achievement in upper basic education in Makurdi, Benue state
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Concept of Peer
According to Salvador (2009) a peer is a person who is equal to another in ability, qualification, age, background and social status. Peer is a person who belongs to the same age group or social group
Concept of Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is influence that a peer group, observers or individuals exert to encourage others to change their attitudes, values or behaviours and conform to the group norms. Peer pressure is the influence of a social group on an individual. Bobbies and Elhaney, (2005) indicate that peer pressure refers to the way the people of the same social group act or believe in order to influence one another, often in negative ways. Peer pressure is something everybody has to deal with at sometime in ones life. How successful one handles peer pressure depends to a great on the individual’s self concept and position in the world (Hardcastle, 2002). Peer pressure is defined as when people of one’s age encourages or urges him to do something or to keep off from doing something else, irrespective of the person’s desire to or not to (Ryan, 2000 in Uche, 2010). Peer pressure comprises a set of group dynamics where by a group in which one feels comfortable may override personal habits, individual moral inhibitions or idiosyncratic desires to impose a group norm of attitudes or behaviour. Peer pressure is emotional or mental force from people belonging to the same social group (such as same age grade or status) to act or behave in a manner similar to themselves. Peer pressure has a great influence on adolescent behavior and reflects young people’s desire to fit in and be accepted by others (Bern, 2010). Peer pressure is also known as peer influence, and it involves changing one’s behavior to meet the perceived expectation of others (Burns and Darling, 2002) In general, most teens confirm to peer pressure like music, clothing or hair styles. When it comes to important issues like moral values, parents still remain more influential than the peer group (Black, 2002). Peer pressure may have a positive influence and help to or motivate us to do our best. Peer pressure may also result in people doing things that may not fit with their sense of what is right and wrong (Black, 2002). Peer pressure may be influence in a number of ways: fashion choice, alcohol and smoking and other drugs use, decision to have a boy friend/girl friend, choice of who our friends, organizing and extending parties. Peer pressure may be pressure in the work place, at school or within the general community. It can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. Research such as peer cluster theory (Danish, 1993) has shown that peer pressure has a much greater impact on adolescent behavior than any other factor. A teenager spends more of his/her time with peers than with family members. The interaction of peer is direct, and more powerful than the influence of teachers and other authority figures. Peer pressure tends to have more of an effect on children with low self esteem. If a child feels compelled to fit in, the teen may do things that go against his /her beliefs simply to be part of the group (Kirk, 2000). Peer pressure can lead to experimentation with drugs and alcohol, sex, skipping school and various high-risk behaviour. If there is a sudden change in a child’s appearance, clothing and attitude, especially if accompanied by secretive behavior, he or she may be succumbing to the influences of peers (Kirk, 2000) Parents should be especially alert to sudden changes in the friends that make up their core peer group. An unexplained change in the type of friends your child associates with, would indicate that the child is vulnerable to new influence that may not be positive.
Parental Support and Academic Achievement Fan (2001) demonstrated that parents’ educational aspiration for their children proved to be strongly related to students’ academic growth. Research studies have found that parental educational level has a significant impact on child’s learning, (Khan & Malik, 1999). Similarly, Schneider and Lee (1990) linked the academic success of the East Asian students to the values and aspirations they share with their parents, and also to the home learning activities in which their parents involve with them. In fact, all parents have desired to do something better for their children according to their available resources. But the extent and effectiveness of parental support depends on a variety of reasons, such as, ethnicity, family income, and home environment and their awareness about the importance of education. Research studies indicated that socio economic status is correlated strongly with parents’ educational ambition for their children. Khan, Khan and Zubairi (1999) stated that “interacting with and sharing the child’s activities is affected by level of parents’ education and income” (p.92). In the families with low socioeconomic status, majority of the illiterate parents do not have understanding of the requirements of their children’s education. Some poor parents make some arrangements for helping their children in studies and to do their home assignments, while others rely on school for the education of their children, as they do not have enough resources to spend extra money on home tuitions etc. This results poor performance in academic achievement of their children. The findings of the study conducted by Okpala, Okpala, and Smith (2001) also supports the view that economic circumstances are significantly correlated with academic achievement. Research studies indicated that the nature of the parental support change at different age levels of children. Gonzalez-Pienda et al.
Parental Support and Self Concept
The “self” is considered as a fundamental concept from the very beginning in personality theories of psychology. It is used generally in two different ways, I and Me. William James (1890 as cited in Funder,2007), has explained a significant division between these two aspects. The self ‘I” as an agent, conducts basic functions, as self regulation, self evaluation etc. “me” as an object, represented in self concepts, in how we see over selves. During the course of development, “the child attains gradually richer concept of himself or herself as an active agent, “I” separate from other people and objects, and “me” that has defining features and qualities reflected in multiple selfconcepts” (Mischel, Shoda, & Smith, 2004, p.293). Thus, the self-concept is said to be a set of planned self-attitudes that are relatively established and “characteristic” of an individual (Demo,1992, p.303). Research studies have indicated that parental support factors have significant contribution in the development of positive self regard that is statistically related to academic achievement of the students (Franco and Levitt, 1998; Mahaffy, 2004; Gonzalez-Pienda et al., 2002). Similarly, McMartin, (1995) indicated that failure in school plays a significant role in formation of child’s negative self-image. Generally, parents are not directly involved in the teaching-learning activities in school. They are only expected to provide the financial and other material support for the children’s schooling. The interactions among parents and their children are influenced by the socioeconomic and cultural factors of that particular society in which they survive. For instance, the way a family manages the learning activities of its children at home is dependent upon parents’ socioeconomic position and their resources in term of money and time. Parental support is a multidimensional construct, (Fan 2001). Research studies have presented some theoretical frameworks for parental support, ( Gonzalez-Pienda et al. (2002); Fan, 2001).
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