Child Abuse and Pupils Academic Performance in Social Studies
Abstract
The study investigated Child Abuse and Pupils’ Academic Performance in Social Studies in Ukanafun Local Government Area. The population for the study was 987 primary four pupils in the 2016/2017 academic session. Two hundred primary four pupils were randomly selected in Ukanafun Local Government Area for the study. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested. A survey research design was adopted for the study. Child Abuse and Academic Performance Questionnaire (CAAPQ) was used as instrument for data collection.
Data analysis was done using independent t-test. Findings showed that there is a significant difference between child labour, sexual and street hawking and pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area. Based on these findings, it is recommended that Government should make it compulsory in every school that sex education is taught as part of their curriculum from primary schools to university level. This will to check unwanted or premarital pregnancies.
Since hawking is the most common form of child abuse in Ukanafun Local Government Area, the government and non-governmental organization should educate parents on the dangers of allowing their children to hawk. It was therefore concluded that child abuse influence the academic performance of pupils in primary schools especially in the formative age.
Child Abuse and Pupils Academic Performance in Social Studies
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education is an instrument of social, mental and economic development through which right values and attitude for proper development are inculcated in children for the retention and maintenance of the culture and traditions of a nation. Child abuse and its’ consequences which is the unjust treatment given to a child which disturb the child’s development process. It is a practice whereby children are battered, deprived of some basic needs in the home and at school. The saying that the child is the father of the man recognizes the fact that the quality of today’s child will determine the quality of tomorrow’s man (Akpan, 2013).
Child abuse is not a strange phenomenon in our society. There is no safe place for children anymore because the home, school, street, religious houses and market are all possible places for child abuse. Also, a child can be abuse by siblings, parent, teachers, guardians and so-called mentors. Literary, child abuse is any form of maltreatment given to a child.
According to Ugure (2011) child abuse occur when elderly person causes harm, injury, risk or death to a child by their actions. Harmful behaviour from parents, older people and care-givers which can be intentionally or unintentionally causes a child to be abuse. To control the way children are abuse, the Child Protection Right Acts 1999 was promulgated making child abuse a punishable act under the law in Nigeria by the Child Protection Agency (Lazarus, 2014).
According to Edem (2015), the multitude of school age children roaming in the street during school hours hawking goods, washing cars, begging for food amongst others is observed with dismay. These activities are deprivation of the children’s right to education. Apart from that, they are warned not to return with unsold goods, based on these girls turn to being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners and boys turn to stealing in order to make the money for their mistress/masters as the case may be.
In this process, some children are killed and others may run into cars when crossing road. However, education of the child in this condition becomes the victim of economic down turn the nation for those that attend school, many are hawking and pushing wheelbarrow, carwash as part time job to raise the money for daily needs while others feed s and cloth the family through the ventures. As a result of this the author added that the cumulative influence of these activities may result in poor academic performance as its consequences.
Furthermore, Elugbe (1996) in Egbor (2012), a child in the southern states in Nigeria is a person between the age of 0-14 years and in the northern states between 0-12 years. However, according to the 1999 Nigerian amended constitution, a child is a person who is below the age of 18 years that is a person who is below legal age of responsibility. Therefore, child abuse is a type of physical or mental injury or maltreatment of a person who is regarded as a child.
Child Abuse and Pupils Academic Performance in Social Studies
This definition has expanded considerably to include more than just the beaten and sexually abuse child. It extends to any condition injurious to child’s physical or emotional health that has been inflicted by parents, guardians or any care giver and school mates. The situation should be that of intentional inflicting of injuries other than accidental means like suffering harm by reasons of consequences, malnutrition or deformity which threaten his/her survival.
According to Udom (2010) in Chucks (2013), the abuse of children influence the overall make-up of the child’s future as well as performance of the child in the school and in the society at large. It was therefore, on this background that the researcher focused on investigating into child abuse and pupils academic performance in Social Studies in Primary Schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area with the aim of providing possible solution.
1.2 Statement of the Problems
The world today is undergoing major transformation; global transformations are multidimensional affecting the technological, economical, social, cultural and political development of human communities particularly those of developing societies like Nigeria. Education in the generic and global context is a strategic instrument for social and economic transformation. The focus of education system all over the world is the development of human capital required to meet present and future challenges of globalization and knowledge economy (Dike, 2004). This development is evidenced on the academic performance of pupils in schools in the area.
Unfortunately, it is a largely accepted fact that abused and neglected children are at higher risk for lower academic performance Udom (2010) in Chucks (2013) asserted on the foregoing that children who have suffered from neglect exhibit lower academic performance as maltreatment in the early years of life nearly triples a child’s likelihood of having academic problems and are far likely to drop out of school before completing high school.
This motivated the researcher to ask, could child abuse influence the academic performance of pupils in primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area? In view of providing answer to this question, this study becomes necessary. Similarly, in Ukanafun Local Government Area the researcher personally observed that children are found hawking the streets, begging for food, been beaten at home and in the schools and working in the school farms during school hours making them to spend time outside the classroom more than the time spend in the classroom learning.
Child Abuse and Pupils Academic Performance in Social Studies
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to investigate child abuse and pupils academic performance in social studies in primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought to:
- Examine the effect of child labour on pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area.
- Examine the influence of sexual abuse on pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area.
- Examine the influence of street hawking on pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will be of great significance to parents and guardians, teachers, government, educational planners and school counselors in the following ways:
- To the parents and guardians, the findings of this study will enable them to have the knowledge and skills to study their children very well to know their right from left. Also to have alternative ways of child rearing without abusing them.
- To the teachers, the study will help them to develop critical and creative mind in the selection of instructional strategies which will motivate the pupils in the teaching/learning process.
- To the government, the study will help them to understand the various forms of child abuse prevalence in Ukanafun Local Government Area and proffered ways for fighting them.
- The study will help educational planners to understand what constitute child abuse and its consequences so that they know where and how to start combating it.
- To the school counselors, the study will provide useful information to them for the effective counseling of both parents and pupils on the consequences of child abuse.
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study in line with objectives of the study:
- There is no significant difference between child labour and pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools.
- There is no significant relationship between sexual abuse and pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools.
- There is no significant relationship between street hawking and pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools.
1.6 Delimitation of the Study
The scope of the study was delimited to child abuse such as child labour, street hawking and sexual abuse and pupils’ academic performance in social studies in primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area. The study only focused on primary four (4) pupils’ in selected primary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area.
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The study faced several challenges which encompassed:
- Lack time due to the time frame allotted for this work by the school authority for the researcher to complete and submit the report of the study.
- Financial constraints in terms of purchasing and processing of materials use for the study. The insufficiency of funds could not help the researcher to cover wider scope on the topic.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
The following terms were defined as used in the study:
Child Abuse: This is the deprivation of child care to a young person which distorts his/her development sequence. It may include physical, emotional and sexual abuse as used in the study.
Child labour: This is when physical injury is being inflicted on a child which causes the child harms. It includes acts like beating, biting, throwing, punching, kicking, slapping, burning, strangling and pinching.
Sexual Abuse: This is forcefully having sexual activity with a child against his/her wish. It includes behaviour such as rape, incest, oral sex, touching a child sexual organ and showing phonograph to a child.
Street Hawking: This occurs when a child is given items to hawk in the street while he/she suppose to be in school or in the morning before he/she will be given food to eat.
Academic Performance: This is the grade of students in examination or continuous assessment.
