1.1 Introduction
A home is defined as a place of abode, habitation or a house, flat and any other physical apartment where an individual resides with his/her family. A home is equally a place where a child is raised by his parents or guardians. Broken homes exist where children are left to their own ideas and solutions due to lack of care, affection and control by their parents (Omoruyi, 2014). Broken homes are thus, affected by divorce, separation, death of one or both of the parents, desertion or single-parenthood. Terms such as adopted children, divorce, separation and parental deprivation are usually associated with broken homes and their associated with academic, emotional and social adjustments of children from such homes, where lives can be awesome for them (Akuto, 2017).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Broken home as a place where the parents engage themselves in quarrelling, fighting, suspecting, keeping late hours to the detriment of the children’s primary drive for food, sleep and other basic needs (Egbo, 2012). Hake (2000) lamented that after couples have made solemn and sacred contracts before the public, friends, well-wisher and family members as their witness to be together till death put them apart, the same couples fall victims to broken home within a short period in our modern society.
A family is either broken or intact/unbroken. A child will be well-behaved and emotionally stable, when both parents discharge their respective duties towards the child. The parents are the foundational socializing agent that child knows since his arrival to the world. The family sets the educational basics before the child starts schooling and the personality that will be exhibited by him is determined by his experiences in the home. Both parents have vital roles to play towards the education of their child. Yara (2010) asserted that academic performance can be influence by many factors, but the impact family relationship play on a child’s scholastic achievement alongside the development of the child cannot be overemphasized.
A broken home is the one that is not structurally intact due to divorce, separation, demise of one of the parents, illegitimacy and irreconcilable differences. Akomolafe, etal, (2011) notes that a broken home is the one in which both the father and the mother are not living together, due to unsettled controversies. Life in broken home is generally tough for both the children and their parents as they are faced with limited financial resources, reorganization of living routines and assumption of new living patterns. Majority of the children from broken homes are bedeviled with emotional crises like depression, frustration, low self-esteem, inferiority complex amongst others (Tonybee, 2008).
Students from broken homes tend to lack concentration in classroom, which translates to poor academic achievement. These students also exude maladaptive practices such as truancy, cultism, bullying, drug abuse, prostitution, theft, examination malpractice, thuggery, etc (Ichado, 2007). When families break or disorganize, it is the children that suffer. They often live the rest of their lives in emotional, mental, physical and intellectual wounds. Most single-parent families can however become two-parent families through remarriage. Thus, a new family is established by the union of both single-parents. In family of this nature, children from each parents’ first marriage become step-siblings, also children produced in this new marriage are half-siblings to the children gotten from the first marriage (Uwaifo, 2012; Ebiere & Dorgu, 2014).
In a step-family, problems relating to non-biological parents and children generate tension; however, this tension is severe when children of each single-parent live with them as siblings. These kinds of family settings have been found to influence children’s academic achievement. Remarriage can be challenging for the children because they are forced to learn and adapt to another family structure. Single-parents household may be less beneficial to younger children (Nzewunah, 2012).
There is no universally acceptable indicator for measuring students’ academic achievement across the globe, but in Nigeria, a student’s academic achievement is adjudged by his level of performance in class work, assignment, internal and external examinations. Academic achievement is controlled by many factors, but the impact family relationship have on a child cannot be undermined. The tension, discord, enmity and instability in the home create a hostile emotional haven in the home. If not quickly resolved, it can transform to conflict, antagonism and strife among the parents and children, thereby resulting into broken homes (Yara, 2010; Tenibaje, 2011). The slow growth of these problems manifests by disrupting the level of concentration and learning capacities of these children in school. Hence, the family structures a child emanate from seriously affects his achievement especially at adolescence level.
The influence of broken home on the achievement of a child can be angled from the gender and locational perspectives. Gender refers to a set of socio-cultural phenomenon that divides people into either male or female, with each sex having its associated roles, traits and stereotypes (Webster Dictionary). There is great likelihood that the influence of broken home on students’ academic achievement is felt by both male and female children. Apart from gender, location determines the academic achievement of broken student. Children from broken homes residing in the urban areas tend to perform better than their peers in rural area. When children see their parents living happily together, they tend to get along with their siblings, friends, classmates, teachers and other people around them. They will be happy to go to school and participate effectively in class activities. Thus, happy homes are needed to have happy children, and happy children are needed to accomplish higher students’ academic achievement.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Perceived Influence of Broken Home on the Academic Achievement of Senior Secondary School Students.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that broken homes have now emerged as the fastest growing kind of family structure in Nigeria. In spite of the efforts of the government, religious institutions, traditional institutions, non-governmental organization and marriage counselors to foster marital stability and fidelity among couples/families in Nigeria in general and Taraba state in particular, no robust results have been obtained. Students from broken homes encounter emotional challenges such as frustration, depression and de-motivation, lack of emotional support, low self-esteem and self-concept.
Furthermore, these students tend to exude maladaptive behaviors such as cultism, theft, thuggery, examination malpractices, drug abuse, prostitution etc. All these translate to poor academic achievement among the students. Students’ academic achievement in Jalingo Educational Zone could be attributable to broken homes. Hence the study intends to empirically examine the perceived influence of broken homes on the academic achievement of senior secondary students in Jalingo educational zone in Taraba state.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the perceived influence of broken homes on the academic achievement of senior secondary students in Jalingo educational zone in Taraba state. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To investigate if the academic achievements of students from broken homes is influenced by location;
- To explore if the academic achievements of students from broken homes is influenced by gender;
- To investigate if the academic achievements of students from broken homes is influenced by school type;
- To ascertain the educational challenges faced by students from broken homes; and
- To determine the implications of findings to counseling.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Are the academic achievements of students from broken homes influenced by gender?
- Are the academic achievements of students from broken homes influenced by location?
- Are the academic achievements of students from broken homes influenced by school type?
- What are the implications of findings to counseling?
- What are the educational challenges faced by students from broken homes in Jalingo educational zone in Taraba State?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: Educational challenges do not have significant effect on the academic achievement of broken home students in Jalingo educational zone.
- H1: Educational challenges have significant effect on the academic achievement of broken home students in Jalingo educational zone.
Hypothesis Two
- H0: There is no significant difference in the academic achievement of male and female students from broken homes in Jalingo educational zone.
- H1: There is a significant difference in the academic achievement of male and female students from broken homes in Jalingo educational zone.
Hypothesis Three
- H0: There is no significant difference in the academic achievement of students from broken homes schooling in urban and rural areas in Jalingo educational zone.
- H1: There is a significant difference in the academic achievement of students from broken homes schooling in urban and rural areas in Jalingo educational zone.
Hypothesis Four
- H0: There is no significant difference in the academic achievement of students from broken home attending private and public schools in Jalingo educational zone.
- H1: There is a significant difference in the academic achievement of students from broken home attending private and public schools in Jalingo educational zone.
1.7 Significance of Study
The findings of the study will be of immense benefits to students, teachers, policy makers, marriage counselors and future researchers.
- Teachers will be informed with adequate information on how to handle, support, encourage, motivate and gear students from broken homes to succeed in their academics.
- Policy makers and curriculum developers will ensure that effective policies towards the improvement of academic achievement among students from broken home are implemented and executed.
- Marriage counselors will be equipped with better knowledge and advice tactics to counsel students and parents.
- Future researchers in this line of study will benefit from this study in future research undertakings.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Perceived Influence of Broken Home on the Academic Achievement of Senior Secondary School Students in Jalingo educational zone in Taraba State.
Priority is given to students from broken homes in the stated study area. The study will be limited to senior secondary school students from broken homes; however junior secondary schools students, community secondary schools students, other zone outside Jalingo Educational Zone, and secondary school of other states are not part of the study, Since the study focus mainly on public senior secondary schools students from broken homes. The study will be limited to the 2017/2018 Academic session any generalization beyond this scope would be by extrapolation.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Assumptions
Certain assumptions are made in this study, and they include,
Respondents that participated in the survey are from broken homes.
All the responses provided by the respondents during the process of questionnaire administration are true and accurate, based on their personal experience(s) in their respective families.
1.11 Operational Definitions of Terms
Academic Achievement: The extent of a student’s performance in classroom activities, internal and public examinations.
