A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF WELL-BEHAVED AND DELINQUENT STUDENTS

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Learning theories recognize the freedom of teachers in the classroom situation .With this, they create room for acceptability for what ever happens within the class. This is to say that teachers at all levels of learning should be given credit for any relative change in students’ behavior that is beneficial to the students. On the same note, the teachers are to be held liable for anything lacking on the child which the teacher is expected to have impacted in the classroom. Unfortunately, the teacher becomes the scapegoat for every short comings of their students. This is so because the teacher has the professional competence to re-order the learning experience provided for the student and chooses the medium he or she considers best through which the knowledge should be disseminated.

Well behaved students are those ones that abides by the school rules and regulations such as being punctual at school, providing textbooks and other writing materials for them by their parents, prompt payment of school levies to allow them stay in school, punctual and regular at school lessons, putting on the correct school uniforms, doing of take home assignment, not making noise or bulling other students in the classroom and so on. While the delinquent students are those ones that do not abide by the school rules and regulations. In essence, we say they are the opposite of the well behaved students.

Both the well behaved and the delinquent students do exist in schools, they sit in the same classroom, they receive the same lessons, and they are thought by the same teachers and at the end of the term or session, they sit for the same examinations and their script are marked by the same teachers or examiners; why then should there be no difference in their academic performance since they are the opposite of each other. For example, students from broken homes who lack adequate parental care at home and are not well taken care of should not be expected to perform well academically since there is no proper discipline impacted on the child from home.

Juvenile delinquency on the other hand is becoming rampant today and if care is not taken, these students may become a menace in our society. It is now on the increase since the delinquent ones has nearly outnumbered the well-behaved ones and this is causing a lot of problems in our schools and to the country as well. A lot has been written on juvenile delinquency as the major factor of poor academic performance of delinquent students and as such, a lot should be done to curb it as it regards the way it affects the academic performance of the students. This study is committed to finding out the comparism of the academic performance of the well-behaved students and that of the delinquent secondary school students.

Juvenile delinquency includes not only the students has violated any adult rule but also the students who habitually deports himself so as to endanger the morals of himself or others thus affecting his performance academically and this is not hampered or disturbed for the well-behaved students.

Juvenile delinquency includes truancy, stealing, quarrelling, noise making, immoral or indecent conduct, ganstarism, using of vulgar languages in public, cultism and so on. All the above named factors contribute to the poor academic performance of delinquent secondary school students. Any students who exclude him or her self from these acts will excel academically compared to those involved in them.

It must be realized that the academic performance of school students varies according to their locality i.e rural and urban areas. In the cities, though there are some areas where the delinquent act is negligible and others in which it is well above average. Some could be traced to the trait of the child that is children who come from homes where criminal acts are common can often be inclined to be delinquent; this means that they have inherited such traits from their parents.

The family is known to be the source for both the well-behaved and the delinquent school students. This is because some children are fully provided with their needs while most of them lack proper parental care and control for one reason or the other. In a home where the child feels rejected, unsecured, unloved and unwanted, there is the tendency for the child to be come delinquent. For example, an under aged girl could enter into an unmatured relationship simply because she is interested in what any one can give or offer. The delinquent needs assistance in making adjustments that are socially acceptable so as not to find themselves in difficulty.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

If learning as a process is taken to mean a behaviour that is initiated to modify change, then there will be a problem that will make the change not to take place. If there is a sudden disruption of the input process, the expected change in behaviour might not take place.

The teachers have an important role to play in the academic performance of the learners, both the well-behaved and the delinquent ones. However, if the teachers are not competent to play their respective roles very well, the expected change might not take place accordingly

Purpose of the Study

This study tends to find out the difference between the academic performance of well-behaved secondary school students and the delinquent secondary school students. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, we focus on the well-behaved and delinquent students in order to find out how their behaviour has affected their learning at school.

1.3 Research Questions

For this study, three questions were raised. They are:

1. Is there any difference in the academic performance of the well-behaved boys and delinquent boys?
2. Is there any difference in the academic performance of the well-behaved girls and delinquent girls?
3. Is there any difference in the academic performance among the students from intact and broken homes?

1.4 Hypotheses

A statistical hypothesis is an assumption of statement which may or may not be true concerning one or more.

1. There is no difference in the academic performance of the well-behaved boys and delinquent boys.
2. There is no difference in the academic performance of the well-behaved girls and delinquent girls.
3. There is no difference in the academic performance among students from intact and broken homes.

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study seeks to find out the difference between the academic performance of the well-behaved and delinquent secondary school students. It is therefore important as it will to enable the teachers to know and understand the children and their different behaviours. Through this study, teachers can deal meaningfully with the students they teach because it would enable them to know as much as possible about the students.

The secondary school students from (JSS 1 to SS 3) who are socially misfit or suffer from moral decadence were once innocent probably in their infancy. That they are what they are today is largely due to a point at which the children are entrusted to teachers in formal institutions. Teachers have to ensure some measures of responsibility for the failure as well as the success of a student. Knowledge of him and the psychology of his growth and behaviour are important and necessary parts of a teacher’s educational programme. With this study, teachers would be able to detect students with any type of juvenile delinquency and curb them before they influence others.

Finally, the study will serve as a literature to all practicing teachers. It will also enable the other students to be adequately taken care of so as not to be influenced by the delinquent ones. It will also enable the delinquent students to know that their behaviour could hinder their progress at school. It will also enable the teachers to know the types of students they are teaching so that the well-behaved ones would be used as examples to the other students. The study will also make parents to be aware of the types of children they have, it will enable them to know the type of treatment to give to them and also keeping a closer look at everything they do at home.

The school administrators are not left out that is the principal and the vice-principal. This study will help facilitate their work and give room for them to know how to handle their students if they are able to detect the well-behaved ones from the delinquent ones through their academic performance and also know that they need to apply extra effort so that the delinquent ones can change.

The study will enable the ministry of education that is responsible for the education of the state to know how to provide materials for the schools and also make them know that there is need for counselors to be employed into schools so as to eliminate disruptive behaviours in secondary schools.

The policy makers will also benefit from this duty because it will create awareness for the policy makers to know how to plan for the education of the children and also make them to be aware of the types of policies to be made.

1.6 Delimitation of the Study

This study is also familiar with other tertiary institutions but for the purpose of this work, it involves all the secondary school students but specifically the students of the following schools in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State particularly Ekpoma Town.

• Amazing Grace Group of schools, Ekpoma
• Blessing Group of Schools, Ekpoma
• Bonahis Group of Schools, Ekpoma
• Eguare Secondary School, Ekpoma
• Emaudo Secondary School, Ekpoma

1.7 Limitations of the Study

This study would be faced with the following constraints:

1. The refusal of teachers to disclose the delinquent students.
2. Strike in the case of public schools could also hinder the progress of this research because the students will be unavailable.
3. The school management’s rules and regulations might not allow researchers into the field.

1.8 Basic Assumptions

It is assumed that the magnitude of juvenile delinquency is on the increase since the number of the delinquent students has nearly out numbered the number of the well-behaved ones.

1.9 Definition of terms

Academic Performance:

This can be defined as the performance of a person or a group of persons in education discipline which can be quantified and measured.

Well-Behaved (Students):

This is a person that conforms to the societal norms and values. In terms of this study, it means those students that conform to the norms, values, rules and regulations of the school. Delinquent (Students): This is an act of deviance in terms of societal norms and values; it is also an act of showing or exhibiting anti-social behaviour.