The Influence of Absentee Parenthood on Senior Secondary Students Academic Performance in Shomolu Local Government, Lagos State
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study will be to establish The influence of Absentee Parenthood on senior secondary students Academic Performance in Shomolu local government, Lagos state in with an aim of establishing what can be done to improve on the parental emotional presences.
The specific objectives of the study were:
- To establish if there are children with absent parents in secondary schoolsof Lagos State.
- To find out the challenges faced by children in secondary schoolswith absent parents.
- To find out the impact of parental absence on the child’s academic performancein secondary schools in Lagos.
- To establish what can be done to encourage emotional presence of parents to their children
Chapter Two
Conceptual Framework
Concept of Home
Home as shelter connotes the material form of home, in terms of a physical structure which affords protection to oneself, and which appears to others as at least a roof over one’s head. Home as hearth connotes the warmth and cosiness which home provides to the body, causing one to relax in comfort and ensuring a welcoming and ‘homely’ atmosphere for others. Home as heart is very similar, but in this case the emphasis is on emotional rather than physiological security and health, with associated images of a happy home and a stable home, based on relations of mutual affection and support (Somerville 2015). For this study, home connotes a group of people living in the under the same shelter. The group of people are usually united by blood relationship. It is the blood tie that binds people in a home that leads to their being described as a family.
The family which is the child’s first place of settlement plays a vital role in the socialization process. Agbedanu (2012) posited that whatever behaviour put up by members of the family is what the child copies. For example, in a family where there is love, unity and peace, the child also grows up with these characteristics. Thus, the family background should be an environment in which children have the opportunity to succeed and be happy. Giddens and Sutton (2012,p.384) define family ‘a group of persons directly linked by kin connections, the adult members of which assume responsibility for caring for children’ and ‘kin’ are those linked by marriage or blood relationships. The definition of Giddens and Sutton is of particular importance to this study because it talks of adult taking care of the children. This care may not be fully available for students in roken homes.
Students from broken homes are likely to receive less parental encouragement and attention with respect to educational activities than students who live with both biological parents. Students from broken homes often have lower educational expectations, less monitoring of school work and less supervision than students from intact homes (Astone & Mclanahan, 1991)..
Concept of Broken Homes
Broken home is sometimes viewed as shattered home due to its deleterious effects on the family, especially the children from such a family. Broken home can also be viewed as divided home. The concept of broken home is defined by Hurlock (1978 as cited in Agbedanu, 2012) as a home where one of the parents is dead, separation of parents, divorce or a vocation that necessitates long or frequent absence by one or both parents. The term broken home is sometimes referred to a home with unfavourable background (Kwaku 1990). A home led by people other than both child’s parents. Kwaku (1990) posited that “broken home” is perceived by social welfare societies as family where one of the parents is not present or there is /a serious family problem. In order to buttress the effects broken home has on the family, Agbedanu (2012) asserted that the problem of broken homes is that, it is not just the parents that separate, it is the children who get separated from both parents. Furthermore, Kasoma (2012) maintained that the home environment is a strong predictor of the future behaviour of children and an impact of broken homes touches almost every aspect of life.
Academic Achievement
Academic achievement may be defined as excellence in all academic disciplines, in class as well as co- curricular activities. It includes excellence in sporting behaviour, confidence, communication skills, punctuality, arts, culture and the like which can be achieved only when an individual is well adjusted. Ganai and Mir (2013) defined academic achievement as knowledge attaining ability or degree of competence in school tasks usually measured by standardized tests and expressed in a grade or units based on pupils’ performance. Good (1959 as cited in Ganai and Mir (2013) referred to academic achievement as, the knowledge obtained or skills developed in the school subjects usually designed by test scores or marks assigned by the teacher.
According to Akinade (2001), academic achievement is defined as the extent to which individuals have gained from a particular curriculum, subject or task based on relatively standardized experiences, such as a class test. It therefore, implies that achievement is reflected by the extent to which skill and knowledge has been imparted to a learner. It also, implies an individual learner’s attainment after a specified course of instruction. Mehta (1969) in Ganai and Mir (2013) defined academic achievement as “academic performance includes both curricular and co-curricular performance of the students. It indicates the learning outcome of the students. In class rooms students performs their potentials efficiently, as a result of it, learning takes place”. The learning outcome changes the behaviour pattern of the student through different subjects.
Theoretical Framework
The following theories will be reveiwed study.
Theory of Moral Absolutism
This theory maintains that there are morally correct and incorrect actions (Hawley, 2008). Moral absolutism suggests that the morally correct way to raise a child is through an intact family structure that comprised two biological parents (or adoptive parents from birth), one male and one female, cohabitating in a marital relationship. Moral absolutism coincides with the Biblical ideal of family and extends attachment theory to suggest that two parents are better than one.
Chapter Three
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we will describe how the study will be carried out.
Research design
Research design is a detailed outline of how an investigation took place. It entails how data is collected, the data collection tools used and the mode of analyzing data collected (Cooper & Schindler (2006). This study will use a descriptive research design. Gill and Johnson (2002) state that a descriptive design looks at particular characteristics of a specific population of subjects, at a particular point in time or at different times for comparative purposes. The choice of a survey design for this study was deemed appropriate as Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) attest that it enables the researcher to determine the nature of prevailing conditions without manipulating the subjects.
Further, the survey method was useful in describing the characteristics of a large population and no other method of observation can provide this general capability. On the other hand, since the time duration to complete the research project was limited, the survey method was a cost effective way to gather information from a large group of people within a short time. The survey design made feasible very large samples and thus making the results statistically significant even when analyzing multiple variables. It allowed for many questions to be asked about a given topic giving considerable flexibility to the analysis. Usually, high reliability is easy to obtain by presenting all subjects with a standardized stimulus; observer subjectivity is greatly eliminated. Cooper and Schindler (2006) assert that the results of a survey can be easily generalized to the entire population..
Research settings
This study will be carried out in Shomolu local government, Lagos state , Nigeria.
Sources of Data
The data for this study will be generated from two main sources; Primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources will include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary sources will include journals, bulletins, textbooks and the internet.
Population of the study
A study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitute of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description (Udoyen, 2019). The population of the study will be all the teachers and students in selected secondary schools in Shomolu local government area of Lagos state.
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