ABSTRACT

The overall goal of this study was to assess the levels of psychological and social factors and their associations with sexual risk behaviors (sexual initiation and sexual intention) among Rivers State secondary school students. This was a cross-sectional study within a cluster randomized control trial of school-aged adolescents in Okrika, Rivers State.

Six schools were chosen at random from a pool of 12 schools participating in a large cluster-randomized intervention trial in the city using a multistage random cluster sampling procedure. Participants from each of the six chosen schools who met the study criteria had an equal chance of being included in the study. This study drew a total of 250 willing participants.

The study included 250 participants, 128 (51.2%) male adolescents and 121 (48.8 percent) female adolescents. The participants’ mean (standard deviation) age was 12.6 years (0.7). The proportion of adolescents with high self-esteem was 35.6 percent (89), with a nearly equal proportion having low self-esteem. A little more than a third of the participants, 36.5 percent (89), had high HIV self-efficacy.

In terms of depression symptomatology, the overall proportion of adolescents with high depression symptomatology scores was found to be 35.2 percent. The percentage of adolescents who had started having sex was 35.6 percent. Adolescents with high depressive scores were 3.6 times more likely than those with low depressive scores to have initiated sexual activity (OR, 3.62, 95 percent confidence interval 2.22, 9.06; p=0.001).

Adolescents with low self-esteem were twice as likely as those with high self-esteem to have high risky sexual intentions (OR, 2.62 95 percent confidence interval 1.00, 6.92; p=0.04). When compared to adolescents with high HIV perceived self-efficacy, low HIV preventive self-efficacy was associated with nearly three times the odds of high risky sexual intentions (OR, 2.72, 95 percent confidence interval 1.03, 7.32; p=0.04). Current depressive symptoms did not significantly predict participants’ responses to future sexual intentions.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Adolescent sexual behavior is an area of study that is becoming increasingly popular. In Nigeria, studies have shown that young adolescents engage in sexual risk behaviors such as sexual initiation at a younger age, having multiple partners, and having unprotected sex. Several studies in West Africa have looked into the psychosocial predictors of early sexual initiation (Kaaya et al, 2002). In the region, there are no retrievable studies that look at psychological factors and sexual risk behaviors.

Some psychological factors have been linked to sexual risk behaviors globally. However, the results have been inconclusive. Some studies (Ethier et al., 2006; Siegel et al., 2001; Dixon et al., 2000) found statistically significant links between psychological factors like depression, self-esteem, and self-efficacy and sexual risk behaviors like condom use, sexual initiations, multiple partners, and future intentions to engage in sex. Other studies (Crosby et al 2001; McNair, 1998; Pleck et al 1990) found no relationship between psychological factors and sexual risk behaviors.

A person’s psychological well-being has a significant influence on their decision-making process. Adolescents with severe depression are said to engage in more sexual activity and may be unable to recognize risky behavior (Brown et al 2006). Adolescents with low self-esteem are more likely to begin sex at a young age and have unprotected sex to fit in with their peers (Pleck et al, 1990; Dixon et al, 2000; Davies et al, 2003). Adolescents who believe they can perform a specific behavior are more likely to engage in that behavior, and thus higher self-esteem has been linked to condom use and abstaining from sex.

Globally, an estimated 3.4 million adolescents under the age of 15 are infected with HIV. This study adds to our understanding of how psychological factors influence sexual initiation and future sexual intentions in adolescents, putting them at risk for HIV transmission. These findings can be applied to future interventions and studies.

1.1 A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks immune system cells, destroying them and weakening the immune system’s ability to fight infections. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the result of HIV infection, and it can take a person living with HIV 10-15 years to develop AIDS (WHO, 2001). AIDS has affected millions of people worldwide; the disease’s spread has also had an impact on the development of nations and the world at large (UNAIDS, 2004).

In Nigeria, for example, people living with AIDS occupy 50% of hospital beds (TACAIDS, 2008). As previously stated, more than 90% of children under the age of 15 living with AIDS are reported to be from West Africa. Fortunately, the figures have been declining since 2001, with a reported 30% difference between 2001 and 2010. (UNAIDS, 2011).

Nigeria is estimated to have 1.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS, with 14 percent of those being adolescents aged 15 to 24. (TACAIDS, 2008). According to a global HIV prevalence survey conducted by UNAIDS in 2004, Nigeria is ranked fourth among West African countries with high HIV sero-prevalence.

A number of studies among adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa (Kaaya et al, 2002; Swainson, 2000; Nicholas, 1998) have investigated proximal socio-cognitive factors (age, gender, condom use self-efficacy, and school performance) associated with sexual risk behaviors. There is no retrievable study in Nigeria that investigates psychological factors associated with sexual risk behaviors, particularly sexual initiation.

Sexually risky behaviors: Adolescents engage in a variety of sexually risky behaviors (SRB). SRBs include initiation of sex at a young age, multiple partners, and unprotected sex. According to statistics in Nigeria, only 49 percent of male adolescents and 46 percent of female adolescents used a condom during their most recent high-risk sexual encounter (UNICEF, 2009). Sexual risk behaviors in the present study will be defined as sexual initiation before the age of 15, future intentions to engage in sex in the next six month, multiple partners and unprotected sex.

Another behavior that puts adolescents at risk of HIV is early sexual debut. From a review of studies conducted in west africa, Kaaya et al (2002) argue that the mean age of sexual onset is 16 years, indicating some initiate sex prior to reaching 16 years of age. Furthermore, their findings show that the proportion of adolescents who had ever used condoms ranged from 10% to 48%.

Early sexual initiation has been linked to early pregnancy and abortion; it also influences adolescent sexual risk behaviors such as having multiple sex partners and not using condoms (Ethier et al, 2006). While sexual health knowledge does not reduce risk behaviors on its own, it is a necessary prerequisite for risk perception and protective actions (Crosby et al, 2001).

In a random cluster sampling survey, it was discovered that less than 37 percent of young men aged 15-19 years knew three primary ways of avoiding HIV infection (i.e., abstinence, faithfulness, and consistent condom use), and 68 percent of young women aged 15-19 years had at least one major misconception about HIV/AIDS or had never heard of AIDS (UNICEF, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, Measure DHS, 1999-2001).

According to Matthew et al (in press), young school-based adolescents in Rivers state initiate sexual intercourse as early as the age of 11 years, with the prevalence of sexual debut in young people aged 11 to 17 years being 16.7 percent. In this study, sex intentions were assessed longitudinally and correlated with sexual initiation as expected.

There is evidence that having multiple sexual partners increases a person’s chances of contracting HIV (Ethier et al, 2006). Exavery et al. (2011) discovered that 42 percent of 612 Nigerian adolescents aged 10 to 19 had multiple sex partners in a study of 612 adolescents.

Some studies (Boden 2006; Smith, 1997; Spencer et al, 2002; Dixon et al, 2000) have found associations between adolescents’ sexual behaviors and personal characteristics. Adolescents who engage in early sexual activities are more likely to engage in other problem behaviors, such as drug abuse, and to perform poorly in school in the future (Smith, 1997). The socioeconomic status of the family has also been identified as a factor that influences whether or not an adolescent initiates sex at a young age. Beck (2004) contends that adolescents raised in economically disadvantaged families are more likely to initiate sex at a young age.

Psychological factors and sexual risk behavior: A number of studies have been conducted in the United States and Europe to investigate the relationship between sexual risk behaviors and psychological factors such as self-esteem, stress, depression, self-efficacy, and anxiety.

Some studies (Ethier et al, 2006; Siegel et al, 2001, Dixon et al. 2000) found that the named psychological factors are associated with sexual risk behavior engagement, while others (Crosby et al 2001; McNair, 1998; Pleck et al 1990) did not. However, most longitudinal studies demonstrate that psychological factors are both precursors and outcomes of SRB (Butler et al, 2003; Spencer et al, 2002; Dixon et al, 2000).

Self-esteem and Sexual Risk Behavior: When it comes to self-esteem, Boden (2006) contends that youth with low self-esteem feel less valuable and have a negative self-image. Self-image has been shown in studies to influence people’s views on sex and sexuality (Baumeister, 1999; Tesser, 2001). This suggests that youths with low self-esteem are more likely to engage in risky behaviors.

This assertion can logically be attributed to a weaker internal locus of control in adolescents with low self-esteem (Tesser, 2001), which impairs their ability to evaluate their options and the consequences of their behaviors. The main point made here is that youth with low self-esteem are more likely than those with high self-esteem to engage in SRB behaviors such as having multiple sexual partners, sexual initiation at a young age, and using condoms inconsistently and/or incorrectly.

A study conducted in the United States that investigated the relationship between the number of sexual partners and low self-esteem among adolescents (Boden, 2006) discovered significant associations between the ages of 15 and 18 years and insignificant associations between older ages (21-25 years). The author observes that the mechanisms for this association may be indirect, working through other factors such as childhood and family experiences. Peers can easily persuade youths with low self-esteem to participate in SRB because they want to please others (Harrill, 2003).

Spencer et al. (2002) followed 188 young adolescents aged 12 to 14 years old in a longitudinal study to determine temporality in associations between self-esteem and sexual initiation by gender. The findings revealed

that 40 percent of boys and 31 percent of girls initiated sex at the end of two-year follow up period. Boys with high self-esteem were 2.4 times more likely to initiate sexual intercourse than boys with low self-esteem, while girls with low self-esteem were 3 times more likely to initiate sexual intercourse than girls with high self-esteem.

When examining psychological factors and SRB in155 adolescent females, Ethier et al (2006) showed that low self-esteem is associated with only some SRBs including having had a risky partner. Having multiple partners, on the other hand, was not significantly associated with self-esteem, though it was associated with greater psychological distress.

The findings suggest that the mechanisms of the association between low self-esteem and SRB in female adolescent may work through the influence of self-esteem on sexual partner choices or the ability to negotiate for safer sexual practices. Other studies have discovered links between self-esteem and SRB. According to Davies et al. (2003), low self-esteem predicts inconsistent condom use among female African American adolescents.

However, the findings of associations between self-esteem and SRB are inconsistent. In a sample of older adolescents/young adults who were university young adolescents, Kalina et al (2009) discovered an insignificant association between self-esteem and inconsistent condom use. Other studies (McNair, 1998; Pleck et al, 1990) found no significant relationships between self-esteem and inconsistent condom use, which supported these findings.

SRB has been reported to be reduced by interventions that increase self-esteem. Dixon et al. (2000) used a group intervention to improve self-esteem in pregnant African American adolescents and found that SRB decreased after the intervention.

Self-efficacy and sexual risk behavior: Perceived self-efficacy is a person’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a specific behavior if he or she is confident in performing the specific behavior (Bandura, 1989). In other words, a person’s perception of his or her ability to carry out a behavior is an important predictor of the likelihood of the behavior being carried out.

Another psychological factor that has been linked to SRB among adolescents is self-efficacy. The central idea is that when an adolescent doubts their ability to engage in safe sexual practices, they are more likely to engage in them.

Participate in SRB. Adolescents who lack self-efficacy for correct and consistent condom use, for example, are more likely not to use condoms when having sex. Adolescents who believe they have a high level of self-efficacy in their ability to avoid risky sexual behaviors can understand risk situations and are intrinsically motivated to avoid SRB such as multiple partners and unprotected sex (Holschneider and Alexander, 2003).

Sexual initiation at a young age increases the risk of HIV infection; the ability of a young person to believe that they are capable of preventing HIV increases the likelihood that they will engage in safer sexual behaviors such as abstinence (Tenkorang & Maticka-Tyndale, 2008).

Kanekar and Sharma (2009) assessed 150 African American college young adolescents using self-report scales containing some socio-cognitive theory constructs, including self-efficacy, to determine predictors of safer sexual behaviors. According to the findings of their study, self-efficacy is directly related to safer sex behaviors (delay sex and condom use). This suggests that youth may try to engage in safer sex behaviors if they believe they have the ability to do so.

Interventions to reduce SRB have increasingly emphasized strategies to boost HIV transmission prevention self-efficacy. For example, Siegel et al (2001) discovered that an increase in self-efficacy resulted in fewer sexual behaviors (multiple partners, condom use, and sexual initiation) in intervention group participants after a 10-month follow-up period compared to control group participants.

Butler et al. (2003) found that higher self-efficacy significantly increased safer sexual behaviors in an intervention for HIV-positive adolescents with hemophilia (consistent condom use, outer-course, or abstinence). Higher self-efficacy for some safe sexual behavior, on the other hand, has not been consistently reported.

Crosby et al. (2001) discovered no significant relationship between self-efficacy for correct condom use and condom application skills in African American females. According to the authors, perceived ability to use condoms may not be related to actual skills.

Depression and Sexual Risk Behavior: Depression can be a mood state or, when combined with a number of core symptoms, it can represent a syndrome of mood disorders (including major depression, dysthymic disorder, and depressive disorder not otherwise specified).

The current study will look at depressive symptoms expressed by children, such as fatigue, worthlessness, guilt, and poor concentration, to name a few (APA, 2000). A number of risky behaviors, including drug abuse, suicide, and sexual intercourse, have been linked to depressive symptoms (Hallfors et al, 2005; Spriggs et al, 2008).

In a study on depression and romantic relationships, Welsh et al (2003) discovered strong associations between psychological factors and early sexual intercourse among young adolescents in America. Adolescents who reported early sexual intercourse had higher levels of depressive symptoms. The finding suggests that psychological distress in adolescents may influence early sexual initiation.

Martin et al. (2005) examined SRB in young urban adolescent girls in a similar study. Findings of this study showed that young sexually active girls compared to those not sexually active had a greater number of depressive symptoms. These findings are consistent with other studies’ findings (Hallfors et al, 2005; Spriggs et al, 2008). Spriggs et al. (2008), on the other hand, only found associations between depression and SRB in females, while there was no association between sexual initiation and depression symptoms in males.

Caminis et al. (2007) investigated 1,368 adolescents’ sexual behavior and its associations with psychological factors. While males initiated sexual intercourse at a younger age than females, they found no significant associations between depression and sexual initiation or other SRB. Some of the inconsistent findings may be explained by age differences in the study samples of adolescents.

Longmore (2004) discovered that female adolescents aged 13 years were more likely to have an association between depressive symptoms and sexual initiation than those aged 15 and 17 years in a study that assessed associations between depressive symptomatology and sex initiation in older and younger adolescents.

1.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

HIV/AIDS is a chronic, life-threatening disease that has afflicted millions of people worldwide. According to the most recent data, 3.4 million children under the age of 15 were reported to be living with HIV globally in 2010. (UNAIDS, 2011). West Africa is home to more than 90% of HIV-positive adolescents. The pandemic continues to disproportionately affect people in West Africa, which accounts for 68 percent of the disease burden despite having only 12 percent of the world’s population.

Nigeria has a population of 40 million people, with 1.8 million suffering from AIDS (TACAIDS, 2008). In Nigeria, heterosexual transmission is the most common mode of HIV transmission, new infections continue to occur, and the epidemic is most prevalent among young people aged 15 to 24. (Shisana, 2005).

Because of the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, there is a clear need for more research on sexual risk factors, particularly psychological risk factors (proximal determinants of SRB), in order to better understand the disease’s impact and inform policy and control programs.

According to research, the most dramatic developmental events in an adolescent’s life are psychological and cognitive changes, including an increase in sexual desire, which is accompanied by new and mysterious feelings and thoughts associated with these sexual desires (Greathead, Devenish, & Funnell, 1998). Adolescents’ decisions to pursue or not pursue these desires are influenced by a variety of risk factors that must be understood in order to be appropriately addressed.

Studies on adolescent sexual risk-taking behavior have shed some light on the factors that put adolescents’ reproductive health at risk. For example, depression has been shown to influence adolescents to engage in sexual risk behaviors such as early sexual initiation and multiple partners (Welsh et al, 2003); self-esteem has been linked to the initiation of sexual acts (Spencer et al, 2002), risky partner selection, and unprotected sex (Ethier et al 2006); and finally, self-efficacy has been linked to safer sexual practices (Kanekar and Sharma, 2009).

However, these studies were conducted in high-income Western cultural contexts where the psychological constructs may have a different meaning, and it is unclear whether the findings will translate to a low-income country with a different socio-cultural context, such as Nigeria. Similar studies in other West African contexts are uncommon and could not be found in the literature.

Wide variations in self-reported SRBs among West African adolescents have been observed, with the possibility of culturally driven under-reporting in females and over-reporting in males (Kaaya et al, 2002). A recent study found that intentions to engage in SRBs are closely related to initiated acts when assessed prospectively (Mathews et al, in press), potentially providing a more accurate measure when collecting self-reported data from young adolescents.

In West Africa, studies have found links between sexual risky behavior and proximal psychosocial influencing factors in adolescents, such as normative values and individual attitudes toward sexual risk and protective behaviors (Kaaya et al, 2002; Swainson, 2000; Nicholas, 1998). Few studies, however, have looked at the effects of psychological factors like self-esteem and depression on sexual risk behavior like early sexual initiation in adolescent populations in West Africa.

There is a need for studies that provide a better understanding of the relationships between SRBs and more complex psychological risk factors in order to inform the development of more targeted and comprehensive HIV infection control interventions. Understanding the relationships between SRBs and self-efficacy, depression, and self-esteem has an added benefit because intervening early may have a longer lasting effect on how a person behaves in the future.

This is due to the fact that intervening can occur prior to full personality integration and thus have a positive influence in shaping personality in a direction that fosters safer sexual practices. The proposed study’s goal is to better understand the impact of these psychological factors on sex intentions and sexual behavior initiation.

1.3 RATIONALIZATION

Most HIV prevention studies and interventions have focused on socio-cognitive and psychosocial factors that influence sexual transmission risks, but few have systematically identified core psychological factors associated with SRBs. The current study adds to our understanding of how psychological factors can influence sexual initiation and future sexual intentions in adolescents, putting them at risk of HIV transmission.

The current study’s findings will provide data on psychological factors (depression, self-efficacy, and self-esteem) in young adolescents in a low-income country. There will also be information on whether these psychological factors influence adolescents’ intentions to engage in sex and engage in sexual risk behaviors.

The findings will help to shape more comprehensive HIV transmission risk reduction interventions for adolescent populations. In Nigeria, focusing on reducing psychological risk factors will supplement existing strategies to raise awareness of sexual risk behaviors and knowledge of HIV/AIDS.

THEORY FRAMEWORK 1.4
To answer the research questions, Bandura’s social cognitive theory (1971) and its underlying constructs will be used. The primary goal of constructs such as motivation and self-efficacy is to investigate behavior and predict it.

Theory of Social Cognitive Behavior

The social cognitive theory was developed by theorists such as Bandura (1971) in order to explain behavior. In determining behavior, this theory “… suggests that behavior, the environment, and personal factors all influence each other” (Eggen & Kauchak, 1999). This theory relies on several underlying constructs.

Motivation

Motivation, according to cognitive theory, is a process that directs an individual’s behavior toward the completion of a goal. It motivates people to seek a better understanding of their life experiences and fosters a long-term expectation of successful goal achievement. This motivational process is aided by positive incentives in the form of positive reinforcement (Bandura, 1971).

Furthermore, unless a person perceives a successful outcome, they are less likely to act. Finally, motivation can be influenced either intrinsically or extrinsically (Bandura, 1971). Depression and motivation have been linked in studies (Musty & Kaback, 1995) As a result, the proposed study hypothesizes that adolescents with severe depressive symptoms may be unmotivated to engage in safer sexual behaviors.

Self-efficacy

The concept of self-efficacy is a significant construct that expanded on Bandura’s theory. “Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs in one’s ability to plan and carry out the actions necessary to manage potential situations.” People’s efficacy beliefs affect how they think, feel, motivate themselves, and act” (Bandura, 1995). “Self-efficacy beliefs are based on people’s expectations that they have certain knowledge and skills, as well as the ability to take the actions needed to overcome problems and succeed under life’s stresses and pressures” (Sutton & Fall, 1995).

In other words, a person’s perceived behavioral control has a strong influence on their perceived self-efficacy (Ajzen, 1991). According to Bandura’s theory (Sinclair & O’Boyle, 1999), a critical efficacy factor required to produce a behavior change is judgments about one’s own competence, not just confidence that the behavior can be done successfully.

1.5 DEFINITIONS OF OPERATING SYSTEMS
Adolescence: Adolescence is defined as the period between childhood and adulthood. It includes adolescents (aged 13 to 19) and may overlap with youth (aged 15 to 24 years). Adolescence is defined in the literature as the period of time from early adolescence to late adolescence, between the ages of 10 and 21 (Neinstein et al., 1996); others have defined it as a period between 10 and 19 years (Kiangi 1995) and from 12 or 13 to 19 years of age (Jarvis, 1996). For the purposes of this study, young adolescence is defined as the age range of 12 to 14 years.

Self Esteem: A person’s attitude toward themselves or their opinion or evaluation of themselves, which can be positive (favorable or high), neutral, or negative (unfavorable or low). Also known as self-evaluation.

Depressive symptomatology: A state of sadness, gloom, and pessimistic ideation, with loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities, accompanied in severe cases by anorexia and subsequent weight loss, insomnia (especially middle and terminal insomnia), asthenia, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, diminished ability to think or concentrate, or recurring thoughts of death or suicide. It is a symptom of a variety of mental disorders.

AIDS: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a condition thought to be caused by the HIV retrovirus and spread by infectious blood entering the body.

HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus, a retrovirus that spreads through sexual contact, infected blood or blood products, and from mother to child via the placenta and weakens the immune system.

Preventive HIV/AIDS self-efficacy: The ability to achieve desired outcomes in the prevention of HIV/AIDS disease. Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs about one’s ability or competence to achieve the desired results in HIV/AIDS prevention.

Personal Factors: Variables that are modified to describe specific demographic data (Larouche, 1998). It includes age, gender, grade (standard), parent’s level of education, and religion in this study.

1.6 QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
The proposed study’s broad research question is:

“Do psychological factors (such as self-esteem, depression, and HIV prevention self-efficacy) influence sexual initiation and sexual intentions in school-aged young adolescents?”
Specifically:

“How do young adolescents in school feel about themselves?”
“How common is depressive symptomatology among school-aged young adolescents?”
What percentage of school-aged young adolescents have high HIV prevention self-efficacy?
“Does self-esteem have a relationship with sexual initiation and sexual intentions in school-aged young adolescents?”
“Is there a link between depressive symptoms and sexual initiation and intentions in school-aged young adolescents?” as well as “Is HIV preventive self-efficacy related to sexual initiation and sexual intentions in school-aged young adolescents?”

1.7 OBJECTIVES FOR STUDY

1.7.1 OVERALL OBJECTIVE
To assess the social and psychological factors associated with sexual deviations among Rivers State secondary school adolescents.

1.72 PARTICULAR OBJECTIVES
To assess self-esteem levels among school-aged young adolescents aged 12-14 years in Okrika, Rivers state.
To ascertain the prevalence of depressive symptoms among young adolescents aged 12-14 years in Okrika, Rivers state.
The purpose of this study was to determine the level of HIV preventive self-efficacy among school-aged young adolescents aged 12-14 years in Okrika, Rivers state.
To investigate the relationships between self-esteem and SRB (sexual initiation and future sexual intentions) in school-aged young adolescents aged 12-14 in Okrika, Rivers state.

The purpose of this study was to look for links between depression symptoms and SRB (sexual initiation and future sexual intentions) in school-aged young adolescents aged 12-14 in Okrika, Rivers state.
To see if HIV preventive self-efficacy is related to SRB (sexual initiation and future sexual intentions) among 12-14-year-old school-aged young adolescents in Okrika, Rivers state.

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RIVERS STATE SECONDARY SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS’ SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH SEXUAL DEVIATIONS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Drug is any chemical substance derived from plants, animals or mineral resources, be it traditional or orthodox which is used for internal application to the human body in the treatment of diseases, reduce pain or modify the functions of the various system of the body.

Although drug use has been in, for years, the problem of drug abuse has been on the increase in the recent years.

Drug is supposed to be dispersed by pharmacists with a doctor’s prescription and usage of drug can be through any of the following; injection, insertion, inhalation, massaging or application on open wounds and cuts. The main purpose of drugs should in reality be directed to its medical functions and it should be used strictly according to the prescription of medical doctors, but in most cases people use drug without the prescription of medical practice.

This is referred to as drug abuse. In some cases, these drugs are used wrongly or misused that is using drug meant for certain purposes for other purposes rather than what it is meant for. There are other cases where some people get themselves involved in the use of a particular drug so much that they cannot do without such drug. In this case such a person is said to be addicted to that drug.

PEOPLE ABUSE DRUG FOR DIFFERENT REASONS

1.            For modification of tension and anxiety: For example sedatives; medically, sedatives are use to induce sleep and relax tension. They are used for people with high blood pressure insomnia that is inability to sleep usually abuse sedatives. Now teenage girls and women are consuming sedative more and more frequently.

2.            To increase activities and alertness: For example stimulant like cocaine, caferreine and amplietamines are mostly widely abused stimulant among youths. Usually stimulants are taken through by mouth in form of capsules or tablets but the occasional user of capsules or tablets can push him/her self beyond his normal physiological limits e.g. wanting to step awake to drive to excel in an athletic content or to cram for examination.

3.            Curiosity: Students find themselves in the use of drugs out of curiosity. They want to know how it looks like in being on a certain drugs and drugs that are commonly used out of curiosity are cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol.

4.            Imitation: Students takes drugs as a result of imitation of either from their parents, other adult or their friends.

5.            For boldness: Students take certain drug because they feel it will remove inhibition from them and make them bold e.g. shy young boys under the influence of drugs can speak to a girl they he could not have made advance towards.

6.            For fun: Others go into drugs for the fun of it and that also feel that drug can enable the have a lot of fun.

FOUR GROUPS OF DRUG USERS ARE GENERALLY IDENTIFIED AND THESE ARE:

1.            Emotionally well adjusted individuals who take addicting drugs on medical advice for treatment of pain, sleeplessness and the like after protected use they find that they cannot get along without them.

2.            the neurotics who turn to drug because drugs makes them forget their feelings of inadequacy and fear making them feel better and more normal either physically, mentally or both. These contribute to longest group of drug abusers.

3.            The psychopaths who take drugs in a deliberate search for thrills highs and kicks.

4.            Individual usually adolescent who try drugs in order to be accepted by their peer group.

Most of these young ones usually start from this group and if the habit is continued grave consequences may follow. Trying a relatively less detrimental drug such as cannabis may expose the young one to other drugs like heroine, cocaine and morphine.

Man has used drug and substances of centuries. There is evidence that man has used drug practically since his emergence. Historical records show that man used drug to cast out demons which were thought to be causing pain in his body.  The use of psychoactive drugs may be seen to be a universal phenomenon existing in one form or the other. Alcohol and kolanuts are used during worship of ancestral gods, marriages and funeral ceremonies.

According to Emaifo {1988} drug addiction was unknown in Nigeria until the arrival of the American Peace Corps. This statement cannot be entirely true because Nigerians were already abusing and getting themselves addicted to kolanuts and alcohol before the arrival of the Peace Corps. The statement can only be true of foreign drugs which were introduced this time.

Scientist and historians traced the origin of tobacco to North America where it was first cultivated by American Indians before the Europeans went to the new world in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered there.

It should be noted that when drugs are mentioned, the emphasis is always on orthodox medicine and not traditional medicine. The history of drug use and abuse will be incomplete if no mention is made about traditional use of drug and abuse. Most traditional drugs are always misused or abused because of lack of dosage to determine the required quantity by the user. The expiration period of such drugs are never stated.

Although the use of traditional drugs as well as alcohol and kola nut has been abuse before the arrival of Peace Corps. In recent years where there is the usage of both traditional and foreign drugs people now being used. Some of these drugs are socially accepted and members of the public ignorantly use them without really knowing the great effect of such drugs.

E.g. alcohol has always been part of the heritage either as part of rituals or other ceremonies. The use of alcohol to relax and promote social conversation is greatly use of alcohol and its social acceptability, alcohol is capable of producing severe dependence and damage to physical health and mental health including social and economic damage on self, family and society.

Caffeine which is the main ingredient in tea or coffee and nicotine as in tobacco or cigarette are widely used as mid stimulants and tension relieving drugs, they are considered socially acceptable and used recreationally how ever, they produce dependence and are able to cause harm.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Drug abuse amongst secondary school students constitutes a vital public health, responsibility that must be tackled in any given community. It is one of the causes of juvenile delinquency in the society today.

The problem of caused by the abuse of drug by secondary school students which is to be looked at in this study are as follows:

1.            Mental health problem the mental health condition of secondary school students who use hard drugs like alcohol marijuana or cocaine to make them feel high and bold.

2.            High rate of crime existing among secondary school students as a result of drug abuse.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

For the Research Project, The main purpose of undertaking this study is principally educative. The study will specially investigate the following:

i.             To find out the reason why student of College of Education Ekiadolor in the study areas abuse drugs.

ii.            To find out the effect of the abuse of drug on students of College of Education Ekiadolor.

iii.           To find out influence of peer group on student of College of Education Ekiadolor as regards drug abuse.

iv.          To find out how parents and family background contribute to drug abuse problems.

v.            To find out influence of the society on students as regards drug abuse.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.            There is a significant effect of drug abuse on student family background.

2.            Students who do not participate in drug abuse have better knowledge of standard tan the participated ones.

3.            There is significant effect of drug abuse on students peer groups.

4.            Drug abuse amongst students is due to their socio-economic background. There is no significant difference in the academic performance of students who indulge in drug abuse.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is going to be a great importance to the secondary school students in particular parents and guardians and the society at large, it will also serve as reading test to members of the public who want to gain more or have a deeper knowledge on drug abuse in schools.

This study will be of great importance to secondary school students especially to those students in limited study area in Benin City. It will enable the students see the dangers involved in drug abuse this will go along way to help these students who are already in one way or the other abusing drug to reconsider their ways as such offer solutions to their problems of drug abuse to those who not yet in the act of abusing drugs, it will help to enlighten or educate them on the bad effect of drug abuse.

The study will also help to educate parents on the effect of drug. It will also help them to see that they don’t become victim of drug abuse. This study will help to create the awareness of the need for proper education of their students on the bad effect of drug abuse and how the use of drug can affect them physically mentally and psychologically and the negative effects this can have on the educational career and life in general.

This study will help the government handle abuse as an illness and not as a crime and as treatment under medical supervision, instead of the hard judgment meant for them. Units will advice the government through the drug inspection unit (DIU) of the ministry of health to set up rehabilitation centre to help reform drug addicts to become useful members of the society.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The study is concerned with the effect of parent’s academic performance at school in the primary and junior secondary final examination in this project work intent which parents academic background affect the child performance. The study will be centred on some selected secondary school in Isoko south local government area of delta state and the subjects of study are students of senior secondary schools.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

In this study, there are certain words that need to be simplified or defined ion order to make its meaning clearer.

i.             Drugs: Drug is any chemical substance that is derived from plants and animals or mineral resources be it traditional or orthodox which is used for internal or external application to the human body in the treatment of diseases or to induce clam, reduce pains or modify the functions of the various system of the body.

ii.            Substance: Substance are chemical combination of drugs in order words drug made up of combination of chemical substance and substance can as well be refer to as those build up charge like alcohol, tobacco, cigarette and kolanuts.

iii.           Drug use: Drug use is the ingestion, injection or the application of any substances which when taken in into the body of living organism may modify one or more of its function, this includes not only medical also intended primarily active substance.

iv.          Drug misuse: Is the over zealous or indiscrete administration of drugs by using drug meant for certain purposes for another purpose rather than what it is meant for.

v.            Drug addiction: Drug addiction is the dependence on a substance with the presence of physical withdrawal symptoms.

vi.          Psychoactive drugs: This is defined as in alternating drugs.

vii.         Habitualism: This is the dependence on a substance without the presence of physical; withdrawal phenomena. Thus it is the psychological desire to repeat the use of these drugs, continuously for emotional reasons.

viii.        Dependence: It is a state of psychological or physical need to both resulting from the interaction between an organism and a substance resulting from continuously or periodic use which is characterized by behavioural deviation.

ix.          Tolerance: Is defined as the situate ion when the same amount of substance can no longer produce the effects and the individual than needs higher amount to produce the same effects.

x.            Withdrawal: Is the situation when unpleasant sensation such as shaking, seating tremors, frightening feelings and some times hallucination and delusions occurs when the drug is stopped.

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THE FACTOR INFLUENCING STUDENT DRUG ABUSE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of home factors on the job performance of academic staff at the University of Lagos. To provide direction for the study, five research questions and five null hypotheses were proposed. The study employed a descriptive research design.

To assess the respondents’ opinions, a modified version of an instrument used by other researchers was used. Data from 50 participants were analyzed using the mean and Chi-square statistical tools, and hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance.

The findings indicate that marital stability, family income, health status of family members, and home size all have a significant impact on the job performance of University of Lagos academic staff. It is concluded that marital stability affects the job performance of University of Lagos academic staff; family income and financial status affect the job performance of University of Lagos academic staff; and the health status of family members, as well as academic staff, can affect job performance.

The study concluded that academic staff should be given adequate time to spend with their family members in order to reduce marital instability; adequate financial compensation should be provided for University of Lagos academic staff in order for them to perform their jobs adequately;

and academic staff should reduce the number of children they have in order to be financially stable. It is also suggested that a study be conducted on the relationship between home factors and academic staff commitment at the University of Lagos.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The Study’s Background

The primary goals of universities around the world are to impart knowledge and produce sound intellectuals through teaching, research, and community service. Qualified and competent academics are used to effectively deliver these objectives.

Academic staff, on the other hand, can only achieve peak performance if they are sufficiently motivated, assuming that the issue of competence is taken for granted. As a result, effective job performance by academic staff can only lead to the achievement of the broad goals for which universities are established.

According to Fabunmi (2005), the success of the university system is dependent (not entirely) on various environmental factors such as available infrastructure, school location, classroom condition, architectural design of the school, availability of standard library for studies and research, and so on.

She also stated that the condition of any university employee’s home is critical in obtaining optimal performance from the employee.

An employee’s home can be viewed in terms of the physical and psychological condition of the house or location where the employee lives. This has to do with the employee’s relationship with family, friends, and the community. Albert (2008) defined home as a broad term that encompasses all activities performed outside of the workplace.

He believed that the environment in which the employee lives, the people he lives with, the experience with neighbors, the welfare of in-laws, friends, and even where he worships are all part of one’s journey to the workplace, as some religious beliefs have a significant influence on workplace practices.

However, according to Voydancoff (2008), meeting the often incompatible demands of family and work may result in family-work conflict. Working long hours, for example, may prevent adequate performance of family responsibilities.

Employee position in the family, marital status, marital expectations, for example, when an employee has a problem with child bearing, all of these can have a psychological impact on the employee and are factors that frequently cause frictions between home and work.

According to Jokotoye (2001), some parents often frown on their daughters’ desire to obtain a doctorate degree, which would improve their performance at work, because they believe that men will be intimidated by their daughters’ achievement and they will be unable to find a husband. Illness of a family member may also interfere with work, as illness of a child may prevent one from attending work or cause one to lose concentration at work.

Job performance refers to an employee’s ability to provide the services for which he is compensated in an efficient and effective manner. According to Lombardi (2012), the price of success is hard work, dedication and commitment to the task at hand, and determination that whether we win or lose, we have given our all to the task at hand.

Organizational performance is defined as an employee’s desire and ability to remain committed to the task agreed upon and assigned while diligently carrying out those tasks at no additional cost to the employer.

While job commitment is a bond that binds the employee to the job, job performance can be defined as the ability to provide the service effectively and efficiently. Meyer and Allen (1997) divide employee performance into two categories, one for Job Effective Performance and another for Normative Way of Performance.

According to Adams (2004), employees who are not performing well in their jobs may feel as if they are treating their employers unfairly, and some may eventually engage in withdrawal behavior, which is a set of actions employees take to avoid the work situation-behavior that may later result in quitting or being fired.

Individual psychological and physical contributions to the job are referred to as job performance. As a result, it is necessary to improve what employees contribute in the workplace in order to maximize resource utilization.

Rogers (2000), on the other hand, advocated that one should never continue in a job in which one feels underperforming; if one is unhappy with one’s performance and what one is doing, one will not have inner peace. Meyer (2012) believes that performance is never an accident.

It is always the result of a dedication to excellence, astute planning, and concentrated effort. According to Lombardi (1997), the quality of a person’s life is directly proportional to their excellent performance, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

However, due to the policy of university site location in Nigeria, various researchers (Adigun, 2011; Fashina, 2009; and Odedina, 2007) have frequently reported accommodation problems as one of the problems confronting Nigerian lecturers.

Some of those interviewed by Fashina expressed regret that their family members live far away and that they must travel from time to time to ensure that various family responsibilities are met. As a result, Desmond (2009) and Orji (2007) established a link between home environment and job performance.

It is argued that an employee’s home environment influences his attitude and effort toward the job, which in turn influences their job performance. This study is based on the extent to which this could be applied to job performance in a formal school setting. In light of the foregoing, the study sought to determine the impact of marital stability, family size, family income, and family members’ health status on staff job performance at the University of Lagos.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In Nigeria, the number of university academic staff has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Unlike in the past, the Nigerian university system now produces a large number of seasoned academic staff, many of whom now ply their trade abroad as a result of global recognition. Some academic staff at Nigerian universities have also received honors and made the country proud.

However, the lecturers’ contributions have not been well received by parents, students, or the government. Parents and students frequently argue that university academic staff are unpatriotic and self-centered, believing that instead of university lecturers focusing on their primary assignment, they shuttle from one private university to another for part-time jobs, causing their primary job to suffer.

However, home factors such as stress, family income, marital stability, and health status have frequently been blamed for their attitude toward their job performance. In light of this, the researcher believes it is necessary to investigate whether family income, marital stability, family health status, and family size can affect the job performance of the academic staff at the University of Lagos.

The Study’s Purpose

The overall goal of this research is to look into the impact of home factors on academic staff job performance at the University of Lagos. To that end, the study intends to:

1. determining the impact of marital stability on academic staff job performance

2. researching the impact of family income on academic staff job performance

3. Determine whether the health status of family members has any effect on academic staff job performance.

4. determining whether the size of a home affects academic staff job performance.

Research Issues

The research answers the following questions:

1. Will marital stability have an impact on academic staff job performance?

2. Does family income have an impact on academic staff job performance?

3. Does the health of family members have an impact on academic staff job performance?

4. Does the size of one’s home have an effect on the job performance of academic staff?

Hypotheses for Research

To guide the study, the following hypotheses are developed at the 0.05 level of significance:

Ho1: Marital stability has no significant influence on the job performance of academic staff at the University of Lagos.

Ho2: Family income has no significant influence on the job performance of academic staff at the University of Lagos.

Ho3: The health status of family members has no significant influence on the job performance of University of Lagos academic staff.

Ho4: There is no significant influence of home size on job performance among academic staff at the University of Lagos.

The Importance of Research

The findings of this study are expected to serve as a positive contribution to academic staff employers at various universities in discovering the role of home on academic staff job performance, and they are expected to use this study as a basis for staffing processes in federal, state, and private owned universities, and it will also help them in making staffing policies that will help them adequately provide for the welfare of prospective lecturers so that they can perform their job.

This study will serve as a resource for other researchers who are looking for answers to questions about academic staff job performance. It will also assist policymakers in making appropriate provisions for academic staff in order to improve their performance.

The study will also enlighten university academic staff on how to make adequate provision for their family members so that they are not affected by home pressure, which can affect their job performance.

The Study’s Scope and Limitations

This study focuses solely on the impact of home factors on academic staff job performance at the University of Lagos. The research looks at family income, health status, home size, and how marital stability (or lack thereof) affects academic staff performance. The study was limited to a small number of academic staff at the University of Lagos, but primary sources of data were also available.

Term Definitions

The following terms have been operationally defined:

Job performance refers to one’s ability to perform well on the job.

Environmental Factors: These are facilities such as infrastructure, school location, classroom condition, and school architectural design.

Home: This refers to the employee’s finances, marital stability, family, and friends, all of which have an impact on them outside of the workplace.

Employee’s position in the family: This refers to whether or not the employee is the first or last born. Firstborn children are sometimes burdened with greater financial responsibility.

Marital stability: This refers to an employee’s marital experiences. Employees who have marital insecurity or failure are thought to sometimes duel on the failure of the marriage.

Family income is the amount of money that is deposited into a family account. Too much reliance on a fixed income can sometimes reduce the family’s savings.

Health status: This refers to the medical well-being of the entire family. One’s disposable income will be affected by the amount of money and time spent in a hospital or clinic.

Home size: The number of people who live with an employee. They can be either dependents or self-sufficient. The greater the number of dependent people in a family, the lower the family’s per capital income.

Effective Performance: This is the ability to complete a specific task.

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THE INFLUENCE OF HOME FACTORS AS CORRELATES OF STAFF JOB PERFORMANCE
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ABSTRACT

This study examined the impact of child trafficking on the personality and academic adjustment of junior secondary school students in the Nigerian state of Osun. This study utilized an after-the-fact design. This study’s population consisted of 264 victims and non-victims of child trafficking. A technique of opportunistic sampling was utilized for the study. This study was guided by three research questions and three null hypotheses.

Psychological stress inventory, Beck Depression inventory, and Bell academic adjustment inventory were utilized for this study. Version 20 of the SPSS statistical package was used to analyze the data. Using the mean, standard deviation, and independent t-test, the data were analyzed. The findings indicate that there are differences between victims and non-victims of child trafficking with regard to their personality psychological stress, personality depression, and academic adjustment.

Child trafficking victims experience greater personality psychological stress than non-victims (t = 15.931, p = 0.000), and they also experience greater depression (t = 31.482, p = 0.000). The academic adjustment of non-victims is superior to that of child trafficking victims (t = 31.682, p = 0.000) It was suggested, among other things, that victims and non-victims of child trafficking be educated about the effects of child trafficking on the personality and academic adjustment of school-aged children.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Context of the study

Child trafficking continues to be a heinous reality in our society. Human trafficking of children is a worldwide problem. In parts of Africa, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin American nations, its growth rate has transformed over the years into a frosty teeming one, which has reached its peak and shows no signs of abating. It is crucial to note that the increase in cases of child trafficking in Nigeria is due to the unrelenting efforts of the business’s operators and profiteers, who are quick to cite unprecedented poverty and the near absence of life’s essentials as their motivation.

Child trafficking has damaged the state’s reputation. Child trafficking is our major economic problem. Since we began our journey toward nationhood or society Due to unemployment, the problem of child trafficking has posed the greatest obstacle to physical progress on this path. Due to this, there has been a steady outflow of young men to other countries over the past decade. This has the indirect effect of leaving our society underpopulated and underdeveloped.

Second, Nigeria has been plagued by a multitude of issues. The majority of problems are attributable to the pervasiveness of social ills that impede society’s development. As a result of the social ills that currently impede the country’s development, child trafficking has become pervasive and now occupies a preeminent position among the social ills that pervade Nigeria.

Recent estimates by the International Labor Organization (ILO) indicate that over 12 million Nigerian children, particularly in Edo State, participate in child labor. In addition, the survey estimated that over 10,000 Nigerians engage in prostitution in Italy, constituting a significant portion of the Italian sex market. The majority of these women and girls are initially victims of human trafficking.

Many people, particularly women and children, are enticed with the promise of high-paying jobs and then sold into prostitution or forced labor. Many children and women are forcibly or fraudulently recruited, transported, and housed for sexual or labor exploitation as a result of child trafficking, which is considered to be modern-day slavery.

Typically, victims of child trafficking are forced to engage in sexual activity against their will and under duress. However, they are also employed as farm and fishing laborers, janitors, and domestic workers. Thirdly, child trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, with the total annual revenue for trafficking in persons exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand persons, mostly female (i.e. sixty percent of those between the ages of twelve and eighteen, and forty percent of those older than eighteen) being trafficked across the Nigerian borders annually, particularly in Oredo, Edo State, and other parts of Edo State.

Today, the business of human trafficking is organized by groups also involved in weapons and drugs, in collusion with government officials in a dozen nations. There is little doubt that it is in the business of treatment and possibly one of the most challenging to combat.

They are less visible than the effects of gun trafficking and smuggling. By taking advantage of the poverty and low status of women in the developing world, middlemen are able to link the supply and demand for cheap labor and sex in ways that were previously impossible. Although the fact of child trafficking is not difficult to comprehend, its scope and classification continue to expand daily.

The educational curriculum may have overlooked this issue, so no space was made for these social ills. The subjects that deal with morals, i.e. Christian religious knowledge and Islamic religious knowledge, are gradually being phased out because some employers are not hiring teachers for these courses.

Our children are only exposed to the vices and virtues of society through social studies in junior high school. Students have no choice but to adapt to the fictitious life of wealth, flamboyance, and greed that has made human trafficking, particularly of women, a huge success in our society.

Human trafficking is the illegal trade and commerce of children. It is the aspect of slavery that relies on direct purchase, as opposed to the “natural increase” resulting from the enslavement of the children of slaves. The United Nations (UN) defines “trafficking in persons” as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring ort reception of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion of abduction of fraud or deceptions, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments to obtain the consent of a person, having control over another’s for the purpose of exploitation.

1.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

As a global issue, this study frightens the growth rate of our economy and threatens the lives of people around the world; it has also tarnished the state’s reputation. Particularly in Nigeria, child trafficking has increased as a result of unemployment; children have left the country in search of money, resulting in its underdevelopment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the immediate causes and effects of child trafficking in Nigeria. Because people failed to recognize the impact it would have on the nation.

The researcher hopes that this project will aid in reducing child trafficking both at home and in schools. The problems that the researcher plans to investigate are as follows:

What effects does child trafficking have on Nigeria’s youth?
What are the causes of teenage and adult child trafficking in Nigeria?
What effects does child trafficking have on the nation?
What impact does child trafficking have on the living conditions of Nigeria’s youth?
What potential challenges does Nigeria’s society face in regards to child trafficking?

The Purpose of the Study
These are the objectives of this study:

To compare the impact of child trafficking on the psychological stress levels of victims and non-victims attending Junior High School in the state of Osun.
To examine the impact of child trafficking on personality depression among Junior High School students in Osun state, comparing victims and non-victims.

To investigate the impact of child trafficking on the academic adjustment of Junior Secondary School students in Osun, comparing victims and non-victims.
Research Concerns
To direct this investigation, the following research questions have been developed:

What personality and psychological stress differences exist between victims and non-victims of child trafficking among Junior High School students in the state of Osun?
What is the difference in personality depression between victims and non-victims of child trafficking among Junior High School students in the state of Osun?
What academic adjustment differences exist between victims and non-victims of child trafficking among Junior High School students in the state of Osun?
Theoretical Hypotheses
The following hypothetical statements are derived for this study’s purposes.

There is no significant difference in personality psychological stress between victims and non-victims of child trafficking among Junior High School students in Osun state.
There is no significant difference in personality depression between victims and non-victims of child trafficking among Junior Secondary School students in Osun.
There is no significant difference in academic adjustment between victims and non-victims of child trafficking among Junior Secondary School students in Osun.
1.6 Importance of the Research

This study will be of great significance because it will provide essential information on the causes, effects, and solutions to child trafficking in Nigeria. This study would be relevant to every parent as it pertains to the development of Nigerian children, which directly or indirectly affects every home.

Therefore, studying and analyzing press coverage on issues pertaining to children is essential to the overall development of Nigeria, as it would provide insight into the current circumstances of our children and serve as a guide for preparing them to make meaningful contributions to the development of society.

The findings will advance the frontier of knowledge in the field of mass communication, serve as a knowledge repository, and contribute to the existing literature in the field of mass communication. In addition, it will assist the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), the Government, and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) in determining the extent to which the press has covered child trafficking-related issues. It will also serve as a resource for future researchers on the subject.

1.7 RADIUS AND RESTRICTIONS OF THE STUDY

This research focuses on the causes and effects of child trafficking in Nigeria. This research will also seek solutions to the problems associated with child trafficking. However, the research is limited by the following factors:

Time: the researcher’s available time for the study was a significant limitation, as he or she had to balance other academic obligations with the study.

Finances: The financial resources available to the researcher during the course of the study do not permit a broader scope due to the researcher’s other academic obligations.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Human: Relating to humans as opposed to God or animals; characterized by the presence of feelings.

Movement of people along roads and streets, of an aircraft in the sky, a transport business conducted by a railroad or steamship line, etc.

Slavery is the condition of being a slave or being sold into a country.

Illegal: Contrary to the law

Profiteer: A person who earns disproportionately large profits illegally.

Madams: individuals who traffic women and force them into prostitution abroad.

Persons involved in human trafficking.

Personal property used for sexual exploitation.

This is an economically significant endeavor undertaken for the primary purpose of acquiring customers.

A harbor is a safe haven for ships.

A fraudster is someone who engages in dishonest dealings and pretends to be someone else.

Exploitation is the act of exploiting for one’s own benefit.

The state of being poor is poverty.

Prostitution is the act of a woman offering her body for sexual gratification to anyone willing to pay for it.

Substances used for medical purposes, alone or in combination.

Misuse is the improper use of something, such as drugs.

Bond: An agreement or engagement that a person is legally bound to observe, especially if it has legal force; a signed and sealed document containing such an agreement; to enter into such an agreement with someone.

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CAUSES AND IMPACT OF CHILD TRADE ON THE EDUCATION OF THE VICTIMS: A CASE STUDY OF IFE CENTRAL LOCAL OSUN STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

There are many shades of interest in Nigeria due to different tribes, states, towns and villages that makes up the country. Every individual has certain interest of needs both in material and emotional. The different interest gives rise to the different type of marriage that abounds in Nigeria.

The types of marriage found in Nigeria are polygamous, monogamy extended family to mention a few. This indulgence has to do with the needs and status of the individual.

This study is prompted by the practice of polygamous in this country and its effect on the educational performance of a child.

Polygamous marriage is a system of marriage in which a man maries more than one wife at a time. The number of wives which ranges from two to many or may not depend on the status. Religious and economic capability of the man. This form of marriage was given rise to what sociologists often refer to as the extended family. Thus Bell and Vogal {1980} define extended family as any grouping broader than the nuclear family which is related by descent marriage of adoption. This is a common practice in Nigeria the varying structure of any family from society to society has brought this practice.

In the past polygamous marriage system was practice in Nigeria because the main occupation was farming.

According to Hans Hasabaun (1976) some of the contemporary reasons bought forward in support of polygamous are as follows;

a)   Where woman still have to bear the burden of work in compound and field thee polygamous is often regarded as a help.

b)   Polygamous is further thought to be a solution when tradition calls for a longer period abstain from sexual relationship during breast feeding.

c)   Childlessness or the value of having many children in general

d)   Polygamous takes case of surplus of women, that is prevents prostitution given unmarried woman protection and new homes for widows.

e)   Polygamous is status symbol

However, due to the level of technological advancement and he need to give educational training to children the polygamous. It is a prestigious club for only those who are fit in view of the fact that the polygamous structure has not help in steaming the astronomical population of Nigeria with its attendant problems {evil} such as children juvenile delinquency and other known child – crimes.

The question is then asked, has it anything to do with children from the nuclear family or children from the polygamous family.

Thus children from polygamous family have not faired better in their educational performance because of the issue raised above which range from lack of inadequate instructional materials.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

This research will look into problems caused as a result of polygamous life style in Oredo Local Government Area.

ASSUMPTIONS

The research assumes that polygamous system of marriage as a result of rivalry among mates and members of the family.

It is also assumed as well that most parents in Oredo local government Area do not know the problems associated with polygamous system of marriage.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The Research Project has the following Hypothesis

H1     There is no significant relationship between academic performances and family background. There is no relationship between nutritional way and student performance.

H2     there is no significant relationship between provisions of child’s need and academic performance

PURPOSE OF STUDY

The purpose of this study is to analysis the problems associated with polygamous system of marriage in Oredo Local government Area and its effect on educational performance of a child. It is also hoped to highlight some of the factors which gives rise to this system of marriage.

This study also aimed at given some useful suggestions on how to overcome these problems. It is also hoped that the research findings would go a long way to solve the spinsters and divorces in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is hoped that information gathered from the study would be useful to parents. It will also educate the parents on the factors that could enhance child’ performance in school.

This research will make them aware of the effect of polygamous on education of a child’s and helping to find solution to them.

It is broadly assumed too that the country will gain from this research as this will highlight the problems found in polygamous family and how they affect the educational performance of a child.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The study is structure into five chapters, chapter one talks about the introduction, following this is the literature review in chapter two chapter three data collection and analysis while chapter four is the interpretation of result and chapter five is he summary, conclusion and recommendation.

DEFINITION OF TERMS                              

Polygamous:         A system of marriage in which a man maries more than one wife at a time.

Extended polygamous:    This is a system of marriage which consists of wives and children several generations of the family.

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THE EFFECT OF POLYGAMOUS MARRIAGE ON A CHILD’S EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE

ABSTRACT

The study looked at the impact of household poverty on pupils’ academic performance in secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area. The study included pupils who took the 2020 Secondary School Examination. The research had one overarching goal and two specific goals.

The study employed an ex-post facto research design and drew on both primary and secondary data sources. Data was obtained from senior students in the Ojo Local Government Area utilizing systematic random selection to choose students from each school to complete questionnaires.

The acquired data was analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Cross tabulation and Chi square tests were also utilized in the study to determine a relationship between household income and student academic performance characteristics. The link was assessed for significance at the 0.005 level.

The study discovered that not all home money had an impact on secondary school pupils’ academic performance. However, some assets have a higher link with academic achievement than others, such as physical and human capital, which are more correlated with good performance than natural and social capital.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The Study’s Background
Education is a vital activity in the growth of any country. Education empowers people to make educated decisions about their life and to make a constructive contribution to society. It makes other rights more accessible, gives a way out of poverty, and strengthens social cohesion and integration (World Bank, 2001).

Investing in Nigeria’s education system has assisted the government in meeting its international obligations and commitments by adhering to protocols such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999), and the Millennium Declaration (2000). All of these declarations obligate its signatories to recognize every child’s right to an education. Nigeria, for example, incorporated this requirement in the 2001 Children’s Act, and education is now a fundamental right (Articles 43 and 53 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 2010).

According to the World Bank (2005), primary education is vital in human capital development because it ensures the acquisition of knowledge and enabling skills required for civic participation and economic success. Globally, it is believed that investing in primary education will have a direct impact on the endeavor to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2 – Universal Primary Education.

According to UNESCO (2005), expanding secondary education provision and access serves as an incentive for primary school children to perform better in national examinations because there is an increased motivation for primary school graduation when a student has a realistic opportunity to continue with studies in secondary school.

Demand for secondary education is quickly increasing across Africa as citizens recognize the importance of education. According to Lewin (2008), this increase in demand is due to the awareness that breaking free of the low economic growth equilibrium will require African economies to invest extensively in secondary education. Despite this acknowledgement, access to secondary education in Africa remains a struggle for some households due to poor primary school performance and the high expense of secondary schools, as well as other obstacles that prevent students from enrolling and progressing to secondary school.

According to UNESCO (2011), the secondary school Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is 39.6 percent, compared to 70 percent globally, with many of those enrolled attending school irregularly and/or failing to complete. In contrast, North America and Western Europe have achieved universal primary and secondary education with GERs exceeding 100%. It is undeniable that low secondary school enrollment and poor performance in Africa have a negative impact on the region’s competitiveness and economic progress.

Since its inception, the Government of Nigeria (G.o.K.) has worked to promote access, equity, and quality in education through a variety of policies and programs (G.o.K, 2020). The reintroduction of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 increased primary school enrollment to more than 95%, but less than 50% of qualified children continued to secondary school (MoEST, 2005).

The poor transition rate from primary to secondary school has been established as a result of the high cost of secondary education faced by households (MoEST, 2005). In response, the government implemented a free secondary education program in 2008 to ensure that all children who are academically ready for secondary education, regardless of socioeconomic status, have access to it.

The government pays tuition fees of Kshs. 10,265 per student per year for all pupils enrolled in public secondary schools under this scheme, while households pay for lunch, transportation, uniforms, and development projects. Furthermore, homes with children enrolled in boarding schools are obligated to cover boarding expenditures (MoE, 2008).

Despite the government’s affirmative duty, many households are unable to meet the fundamental needs for a primary school pupil to perform well in school and progress to the next level. According to the national fees standards, school costs in day schools have been decreased by 77 percent, and boarding school prices (district and provincial) have been reduced by 9.7 percent (MoE, 2008).

As a result, according to Ministry of Education statistics, more pupils are able to enroll in both primary and secondary school. For example, the rate of transition from elementary to secondary school increased significantly from 59.6 percent in 2007 to 64.1 percent in 2008, then to 66.9 percent in 2009, 72 percent in 2010, and 74 percent in 2020. (NECO, 2020). On the other hand, it is concerning to note that there were 671,550 registered candidates for secondary schools in 2005, and 337,404 pupils took SSCE examinations in 2009.

(NECO, 2020). While it is acknowledged that free basic education in Nigeria has boosted both primary and secondary school enrollment countrywide, vital statistics based on the aforementioned NECO figures highlight the country’s national level transition challenge. For example, where did the vast majority of the 334,146 pupils who did not complete secondary school in 2005 go?

What factors prevented these pupils from enrolling in secondary school? Regional disparities may be an issue since certain regions are more afflicted than others by calamities such as poverty, floods, and conflicts, which can hinder achievement in national tests. As a result, it is critical to explore how certain factors, such as household assets in such locations, affect academic achievement in such demanding situations as Ojo Local Government Area.

Nigeria, like many other African countries, has implemented an education system that aims to provide all children with a minimum of twelve years of basic education, which includes eight years of primary school and four years of secondary school (MoEST, 2001). Nigeria has consistently implemented policies to improve education’s quality, quantity, and accessibility.

The national committee on educational objectives and policies (NCEOP) or the Gachathi report (GoK, 1976) on education and employment opportunities, for example, stated that “the schools as they are today, do not have the capability, time, or even incentive to teach the ideals of society.” This is because the schools are solely focused on completing formal examinations.” The selection and placement of candidates in various institutions and stations in society is a major role of examination in an educational system.

The report also chastised the National Examination Council (NECO), claiming that “exams have been exploited to serve the highly selective objectives, structure, and content of the formal education system.” However, by citing the first two objectives of the 8.4.4 system and specifically NECO objectives, this study can debunk this complaint.

To rank candidates according on their knowledge, skills, and attitudes as defined in the different
To select students for high school and post-secondary technical training schools based on performance (Amutabi, 2003).

This study concentrated on the student’s family background characteristics, specifically the effect of affluence on achievement. While home wealth is highly related to children’s academic performance almost everywhere, the amount and patterns of the effect vary greatly. In Nigeria, little empirical evidence on the achievement disparity has been published. It is therefore vital to conduct extensive research on the impact of household wealth in terms of money on children’s performance in secondary school tests. This was one of the goals of the research conducted in the Ojo Local Government Area.

Statement of the Problem

The development of any nation or community is heavily reliant on the level of education provided. It is widely assumed that the foundation for any meaningful progress must begin with the development of human resources (Akanle, 2007). As a result, in any community, formal education remains the vehicle for socioeconomic progress and social mobilization.

Poor educational outcomes can be harmful to a country’s economic and social development. Individually, low learning success not only inhibits one’s ability to proceed farther in school, but it also has a detrimental impact on one’s future income and productivity (Hanushek and Pace, 1995).

Nonetheless, acknowledging the problem of poor learning outcomes has allowed achievement researchers to delve deeper into factors influencing academic performance. In Nigeria, for example, household background has been identified as influencing academic success, but very little study has been conducted to determine precisely what in the household context influences exam performance.

Because this association has not been studied, this study intended to analyze it. As a result, the purpose of this study was to fill that gap by empirically investigating and reporting data on the effect of household income on student academic attainment in (NECO. The research also looks into if there is a link between achievement and wealth in general.

Another difference is that most projects in emerging nations to improve educational efficiency focus on altering the educational system itself (Harbison and Hanushek, 1993). This has also been observed in Nigeria, where policymakers generally advocate for curriculum revision, increased school enrollment, and more equitable distribution of educational materials.

This kind of action ignores the significance of homes and personal circumstances in molding schoolchildren’s academic destinies. It is also important to note that some of these non-educational variables may also be the fundamental reason of poor exam performance, which is what the study attempted to identify. This research was chosen for the Ojo Local Government Area in Lagos.

Research Issues
The study’s overarching research question is, “What effect does poverty at home have on student academic achievement in secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area?”

Specific inquiries:

What are senior students’ income levels, and how did they affect their academic success in the 2020 NECO?
How does a student’s household income effect his or her academic success in the 2020 NECO?

The Study’s Objectives
The study’s major goal is to look into the impact of home income on student academic performance in secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area.

Specific research goals:

To research senior students’ financial levels and how they affect students’ academic performance in secondary schools.
To determine how household wealth affects a student’s academic performance in NECO.

1.5 Proposal

Ho1: Household income has a positive effect on secondary school pupils’ academic performance.

Ho2: A household’s physical capital has a good effect on a student’s academic achievement in secondary school.

Study justification
It appears to be a reasonable argument that if teachers deliver in class, students should be able to perform regardless of their family’s financial situation. However, this position is inaccurate because it ignores how home income features in our society influence primary school accomplishment.

Given the foregoing and the critical role that examinations play in students’ life, this study determines that it is crucial to investigate whether poverty in the home has any effect on student accomplishment in NECO examinations.

This gap has existed for nearly a century, and policymakers have avoided the obvious implications of this understanding, which is that raising the achievement of, say, lower-income children necessitates that public policy address the social and economic conditions of these children’s lives, rather than just school reforms.

Limitations
Due to time constraints, financial constraints, and distance, the study was confined to four schools chosen at random from the Ojo Local Government Area using stratified and purposive sampling procedures.

The scope of the research
The focus of this paper is on household income in Ojo L.G.A., Lagos state, as well as four secondary schools in the area.

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POVERTY IN THE HOME AND ITS EFFECTS ON STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE (A CASE STUDY SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN OJO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA IN LAGOS STATE)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of the Research

Education is the process of becoming critically aware of one’s own reality in order to take affective action. An educated person understands his or her surroundings and can deal with them effectively. If there are enough educated men and women, the absurdities of today’s world will not remain unchanged. According to Edukugho (2002), a country’s prosperity is determined not by the abundance of its revenue or the strength of its fortifications, but by the number of its educated citizens.

According to the United Nations Educational Science Organization (UNESCO), education is recognized as the cornerstone for sustainable development in all countries around the world. It is a pivot around which any country’s rapid development of economic, political, sociological, and human resources revolves. According to the Nigeria National Policy on Education (1981), education is the most important investment that the country can make for the rapid development of its economic and political activities.

Having recognized education as a model instrument for effective national development as well as a dynamic agent of change, it is also the foundation for the full promotion and advancement of individuals, including girls and women. Education empowers women by raising their standard of living. It serves as a springboard for women’s advancement in various human endeavors.

It is the fundamental tool that should be provided to girls in order for them to fulfill their roles as full members of society. In fact, the educational empowerment of Nigerian girls serves as a springboard for all other forms of empowerment, including political, social, and economic empowerment. According to James (1998), educating a man educates an individual, but educating a woman educates a nation.

According to Article of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, any marriage of a child under the age of 18 is considered early marriage or child marriage. According to UNICEF (2005), it includes both formal marriage and informal unions in which a girl lives with a partner as if she is married before the age of 18. Child marriage, on the other hand, involves either one or both spouses being children and may take place with or without formal registration, and under civil, religious, or customary laws.

One of the most serious issues affecting female children under the age of 18 is early marriage. These are most common in Northern Nigeria, where they believe a child’s first menstrual period should be at the husband’s house. In some cases, these girls are given to a man old enough to be their father before they are born.

Could this be due to poverty or culture? Some cultural practices have misled us, causing harm to young people who are fed these lies. Making a child see herself as a baby factory, but they are still born into abject poverty.

Child marriage is a fundamental violation of human rights that can have a wide range of negative consequences for girls’ social, mental, physical, and health and well-being. It is also not a one-time occurrence. The right to marry freely and fully is linked to the right to life, the right to health, and the right to an education.

The right to be safe and secure. In addition to denying girls the right to make their own decisions about their lives, it puts them at a higher risk of early pregnancy, domestic violence, and sexually transmitted infections, while also limiting their educational and employment opportunities.

It is also a time when the girl-personality child’s and character are formed and developed. From birth to the age of 18, a girl-child is a biological female offspring. During this time, the young girl is completely dependent on an adult, who could be her parents, guardians, or older siblings.

She is extremely reliant on others and models their behaviors through observation, repetition, and imitation. Her physical, mental, social, spiritual, and emotional development begins and continues until she reaches the young adult stage. Sutherland (2001) Any society’s development would be grossly lopsided if the girl child did not receive a quality education.

In any normal society, education is regarded as a means to power, prestige, survival, greatness, and advancement for both men and women. The United Nations General Assembly (2001) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to free education in elementary and primary school.

Similarly, the National Policy on Education emphasizes, among other things, that equal opportunities will be provided for all citizens. However, Osinulu (1994) lamented that the girl-child is discriminated against in terms of education and is married off at a young age, denying the girl-child the necessary competencies for community development.

Education, as previously stated, is the movement from darkness to light (Allan Bloom). It provides not only life and technical skills, but also social and connectedness or aptitude, which enables one to access key resources to alleviate poverty.

Individuals develop the social skills and personal capacities required to access resources and opportunities, as well as to form social networks for future support and assistance, by interacting with others. Women with a higher level of education are more likely to have a say in family size and child spacing decisions. They are also more likely to be informed and knowledgeable about contraception and their children’s health care needs.

Adolescent girls who marry outside of their communities often lose close friendships formed in their parental homes and often become quiet and subdued. This means that even if girls have developed social networks, they cannot access them outside of their marital community.

While marriage does not have to mean the end of a girl’s education, the attitudes of parents, schools, and spouses in many societies make it so. Husbands of young wives are often older men who expect their wives to follow tradition and stay at home to take care of the house and children. A girl may be unable to defy her husband’s wishes, and the husband’s family may be unwilling to invest their limited resources in the wife’s continued education.

Early marriage is directly in conflict with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Mathur 2003). It jeopardizes the achievement of the first six goals, which are to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, and empower women. lowering child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating l-ITV AIDS and other diseases (UN, 2007).

When the relationship between marriage age and development is examined, it is clear that later marriage is precondition for achieving desired development-related goals. These include finishing school, obtaining job training, and acquiring the skills and knowledge required for the roles of citizen, family member, and consumer that are essential for a successful adulthood (Mathur, 2003 and UNICEF, 2003).

Many societies are built around women. Mothers, whether they work or not, have a significant impact on the lives of their children. According to DFID (2005), one of the most important investments a country can make in its own future is to educate girls. Education has a significant impact on girls’ and women’s ability to assert additional rights and achieve social status, such as economic independence and political representation. An education can improve a woman’s chances of finding a good job, raising a healthy family, and preventing the spread of diseases like HIV and AIDS.

According to UNICEF (2004), it is not only the girls who pay for early marriage, but also society. Population pressure, health-care costs, and lost human development opportunities are just a few of the growing burdens that society bears as a result of early marriage.

Girl education is one method of addressing poverty and development issues. With education, girls are given the opportunity to choose their own futures rather than those chosen for them by their parents and guardians. According to Maihotra and Mather (1997), there is a close relationship between delayed marriage and adult earning women’s economic future, and their ability to participate in and contribute to the global economy is primarily dependent on an increase in educational attainment, which is impossible when the girl marries early.

Women who marry at a young age are more likely to make marriage the sole focus of their lives, at the expense of other areas of development such as formal education, training for employment, work experience, and growth.

As a result, early marriage can be a significant barrier for communities seeking to increase educational attainment and break the cycle of poverty.

1.2 Formulation of the Problem

Early marriage can be a violation of a child’s fundamental right to childhood, an education, good health, and the ability to make decisions about their own lives. Early marriage has a variety of physical, emotional, and social consequences, but one of the most common is the withdrawal of girls from formal education. Marriage does not have to mean the end of a girl’s education.

Many societies’ attitudes toward parents, schools, and spouses indicate that it frequently does. Husbands of young wives are often older men who expect their wives to follow tradition and stay at home to take care of the house and children.

The girl may be unable to defy her husband’s wishes, and the husband’s family may be unwilling to invest their limited resources in the wife’s continued education. Many schools have a policy of not allowing married or pregnant girls or girls with babies to return. They believe it will set a bad example for other students or that other parents will be upset that the school is going against traditional beliefs.

Early and forced marriage is most common in areas with high levels of poverty, birth and death rates, conflict and civil strife, and lower levels of overall development, including education, employment, and healthcare. Married young girls are frequently removed from school, and they are at a higher risk of HIV infection, early pregnancy, and health problems such as obstetric fistula. If she survives childbirth, her children are less likely to grow up healthy and educated, perpetuating the cycle of poverty for future generations.

Marriage is frequently the result of leaving school. However, the direction of causation is unclear. Is it true that early marriage causes girls to drop out of school too soon, so that those girls and their families who are predisposed to early marriage are less likely to invest in girls’ education? Demographic and fertility studies have firmly established the interaction between the number of years of a girl’s schooling and the postponement of marriage.

Even if they do allow girls to return, the school environment-rules, timetables, and physical conditions-can make it too difficult for a girl to attend school and perform her duties as a wife and mother at the same time. Bullying and abuse by teachers, students, and other parents can further reduce girls’ self-confidence and sense of security, forcing them to discontinue their education.

Poverty, bride price, dowry, cultural traditions, laws that allow child marriages, religious and social pressures, regional customs, fear of remaining unmarried, illiteracy, and women’s perceived inability to work for money are all factors that contribute to child marriage.

Parents who engage their children in child marriage frequently believe that this marriage protects their daughters from sexual promiscuity and sexually transmitted infections. In reality, young girls tend to marry older men who have a lot of sexual adventures, putting them at a higher risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection. Married girls are more likely than unmarried girls to contract diseases such as the Human Immune Virus (HIV) or the Human Papilomavirus (HPV).

Furthermore, there are consequences to child marriage, the majority of which affect girls. Child marriage has long-term effects on girls. Their health, education, domestic violence, and social and economic development are all affected. A large percentage of girls who marry as children are forced to do so by their parents, society, and tradition, and the consequences of child marriage are often suffered by the girls who marry as children. There are numerous consequences to engaging in child marriage, including the following: Health risk-Child marriage endangers the health and life of girls.

To begin with, when a girl is married as a child, she cannot choose when to give birth; society forces her to give birth at such a young age. As a result, complications from pregnancy and childbirth may occur, which are the leading causes of death among adolescent girls under the age of 19 in Nigeria. Pregnant girls aged 15 to 19 are twice as likely as women in their 20s to die during childbirth, and girls under the age of 15 are five to seven times more likely.

These consequences are largely the result of a girl’s physical immaturity, as the pelvis and birth canal are not fully developed. Pregnancy in adolescence, particularly before the age of 15, increases the risk of developing a fistula. Married girls are also more likely than unmarried girls to contract sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, and malaria.

Child marriage has an impact not only on the mother’s health, but also on the child’s. Mothers under the age of 18 have a 35 to 55 percent greater risk of delivering prematurely or having a baby with a low birth weight than mothers over the age of 18. Furthermore, infant mortality rates are 60 years old. Furthermore, infant mortality rates are 60% higher when the mother is under the age of 18. Children born to single mothers have weakened immune systems and are at a higher risk of malnutrition.

Child marriage is one of the major causes of illiteracy and poverty in most developing countries, including Nigeria. Child marriage frequently ends a girl’s education, particularly in Northern Nigeria. In line with this, uneducated girls are more likely to marry as children.

Early marriage limits a young girl’s ability to continue her education because most drop out of school after marriage to focus on domestic duties and having or raising children. They say education is the foundation of society. Without education, the female child has fewer chances of realizing her dreams, of becoming someone great in the future, of positively contributing to society, making her vulnerable to child or early marriage.

Girls who marry as children are more likely to experience domestic violence. The girl child is more vulnerable to domestic violence and nonconsensual sexual intercourse due to the large age gap between her and her spouse. Girls who marry as children are more likely to experience severe and life-threatening marital violence. The large age difference between the husband and the girl child increases a husband’s power and control over his wife, contributing to an increase in spousal violence.

Child marriage has been declared a violation of human rights by the United Nations through a series of conventions. Child marriage violates a number of interconnected women’s rights, including the right to the highest attainable standard of health, freedom from slavery, access to education, freedom of movement, freedom from violence, reproductive rights, and the right to consensual marriage, and the consequences of these violations affect not only the woman, but her children and society as a whole.

Childhood is lost as a result of early or child marriage. Girls are prevented from achieving their life goals and dreams. Their rights are violated, and they lose the ability to direct the course of their lives. Child marriage kills the dream of becoming someone great and influential in life because it prevents them from pursuing their education and earning a degree in school.

1.3 The Study’s Objective

The primary goal of this research is to determine the impact of early marriage on girl child education among school-aged female children in Lagos State’s Shomolu Local Government Area. The research should

Determine the impact of child marriage on the education of girls in the Shomolu Local Government Area.
Investigate the effect of cultural beliefs about early marriage on girls’ education in the Shomolu Local Government Area.
Determine the effect of early marriage on academic performance among girls in the Shomolu Local Government Area.
1.4 Research Suggestions

The study was guided by the following research questions:

What are the consequences of child marriage for girls’ education in Shomolu Local Government Area?
What effects do cultural beliefs about early marriage have on girl-child education in the Shomcu Locai Government Area?
What effects does early marriage have on academic performance in girls’ education in Shorncju Local Government Area?
1.5 Hypotheses for Research

Child marriage has no significant impact on girl-child education.
Cultural beliefs will have no effect on the education of girls.
Early marriage has no significant impact on the academic performance of girl-child education.
1.6 Importance of the Research

Girls would benefit from this study by learning that education is the only way to achieve greater life goals, and this would aid them in correcting the overall imbalance that existed in girls’ education.

Parents would benefit greatly from this study if they learned that educating a woman is never a waste, and that educating a man educates an individual, but educating a woman educates a family (i.e. a nation), and this would help change their attitudes and ignorance toward girls’ education.

This study would greatly benefit government at all levels, federal, state, and local, by recognizing that funds, increased access to education, and poverty alleviation programs should be made available for girls’ education at all levels.

Educators, educational planners, and the general public would benefit greatly from this study by learning that girls are not inferior to men in any way. They would also benefit by learning how to educate, guide, and counsel girls in careers and educational courses.

1.7 Scope of the Research

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of early marriage on girl child education in the Shomolu Local Government Area.

1.8 Terms with Operational Definitions

Early Marriage: According to Article of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, any marriage of a child under the age of 18 is considered child marriage. While both sexes can be married as children, girls are disproportionately affected.

Girl Child: A girl-child is a biological female offspring who lives from birth to the age of 18. During this time, the young girl is completely dependent on an adult, who could be her parents, guardians, or older siblings.

Poverty is defined as a state of general scarcity, dearth, or a lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. It is a multifaceted concept with social, economic, and political components. Poverty can be classified as absolute or relative.

Education: The process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits, is referred to as education. Storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research are all examples of educational methods.

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IMPACT OF EARLY MARRIAGE ON GIRL CHILD EDUCATION IN LAGOS STATE’S SHOMOLU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1 Background to the study

The family is a social unit in any society and it is the source of early stimulation and experience in children. The home influences the child at the most possible time of his life at a time when his mind is most receptive. It provides the first impression which may last through the whole of the child’s life. The child often sees the parents, siblings and things in their immediate environment to be most significant and they are capable of promoting or diminishing him in self worth and academic performance.

The background is the condition and immediate surroundings in which the pupils find themselves. It is also refer to as the physical and psychological conditions that affect children (Durojaiye, 1976). The parents or guidance of these pupils are responsible for providing the right home environment that will facilitate effective learning for their wards. Furthermore, in pupil’s home background, some factors that influence their academic performance include: parental educational background, parental economic status (At least an average financial status), parental marital status and parental home location.

Parent’s educational background, could be seen in the way parents and other educated people in the home get involve in encouraging these pupils to learn, teach and guide the pupils in doing their home work, pronounce words correctly and practice how to make correct sentences.

The educational background of the parents will also be expressed in their frequent use of English Language as a medium of communication in the home (John 1994). These will help in laying a good foundation for self expression, confidence in speaking good English in the public and good understanding of Basic English concepts in the school.

On the aspect of parental economic status as it relates to pupils academic performance, much emphasis was laid on the ability of the parents to provide necessary facilities or materials that can help in making the learning of English Language easy for the pupils.

This involves the provision of mini library for children which include; textbooks, story books, and picture books and spelling charts which will help the pupils to learn words identification, correct spellings, correct sentences, master the use of correct tenses in line with pictures, (United State Department of Labor, 2006).

Pupils from average/high income home background, that have some educative media in their homes such as Computer, television set, radio, tape recorder will be at an advantage in their performance because these media will help them to listen to good speeches in English Language, watch educative programmes on television such as junior debate, Cartoons, tales by moonlight, all these exposures will certainly reflect on the pupils academic performance at school.

In assessing the parental marital status on pupils academic performance, much attention is on sound human relations, as the home bckground that is tensed due to divorce or unhealthy atmosphere of quarrelling, fighting due to polygamy cannot favour learning, in the home as the mind of the pupils will not be settled in order to give room for creativity.

Ekanem (2004) stated that harmonious home create emotional stability in the child at home and subsequently throughout his school life. Hence the researcher will also be of concerned with the careful study of the influence of single parenthood due to broken home, death, widowhood and intact home on the academic performance of pupils in English Language.

In terms of the influence of home location on the academic performance of pupils, the concern of the researcher is with the socio-metric factors such as the kinds of social activities around the home environment of the pupils. For instance, a pupil that lives near the market square will adopt the language of the people around him which is pidgin. This could affect the child in learning good English at school. Likewise, a pupil that lives in a communal compound where pidgin is the order of the day would also be affected negatively in the learning of good English at school.

Furthermore, pupils from homes located in an environment where there is noisy traffic, noisy sound of machine from ply-wood industry and market square will be affect negatively in their academic performance  because the noisy environment will disturb them from concentrating while reading their novels, textbooks ,Story books and even in listening to educative radio programmes. Hence, Durojaiye (1976) maintained that physical and psychological conditions of the home environment affect the children academically.

1.2 Theoretical framework

The theory chosen for this study is humanistic theory. This theory was chosen because it attempts to explain how human beings are motivated by various factors such as biology and achievement of power (Abraham Maslow 1954). Maslow explains how to achieve a given goal ( in this case academic achievement) is directed and sustained by different factors ranging from psychological, safety and love needs among others.

Abraham Maslow (1991) posted a hierarchy of human needs. According to him an individual is ready to react upon growth needs among which lies education if only the deficiency needs such as psychological needs, safety needs, belongingness, love needs and esteem needs are met.

1.2.1  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

The theoretical framework according to Abraham Maslow2001-2004 was represented diagrammatically as shown: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development. Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.

1.3 Statement of the problem

Academic performance of primary school pupil in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State is of great concern. Information obtained from the school administration indicates that there is evidence to show that children’s performance is influenced by different factors in and out of school. Among the factors influencing academic performance  is the home background of the children.

Academic performance of pupil in primary schools indicates the relationship between children’s residential area, number of people in the household, distance of the school from the children’s homes, parent/guardian level of education and attitude towards educational achievement and help for homework. Information obtained indicates that children from poor home background perform   badly in primary schools as compared to those with better home background.

1.4 Purpose of the study

The main aim of this study is to investigate the influence of home background on academic performance of pupil in primary school of Nsit Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The specific objectives of the study include;

(i)               To determine the relationship between parents educational background and academic performance of pupils in primary schools ofNsit ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

(ii)             To determine the influence of parents economic status on academic performance of primary school pupils Nsit ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

(iii)           To determine the influence of home location on academic performance of primary school pupils in Nsit ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

(iv)           To determine the influence of parents marital status on academic performance of pupils in primary schools of Nsit ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

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THE EFFECT OF HOME BACKGROUND ON PRIMARY SCHOOL ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE