THE EFFECT OF BROKEN HOMES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

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, Limitation of the study and Definition of 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, et al., (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).

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.

In our society, children are sometimes exposed at an early age to all sort of dangers arising from malnutrition, diseases and various temptation of surviving due to absence of one or both of their parents. Student’s life in broken homes is observed to be associated with emotional stress that can impair intellectual development, thereby giving way for such children to grow up without being trained properly. However, absence of one or both parents deprives young children of the stable love, care, security and total support they have been accustomed to and tend to make children different in the eyes of the peer group. If children are asked where the missing parent is or why they have a new parent to replace the missing parents, they become embarrassed and ashamed.

They may also feel guilty and unwanted by the society, such stressful situation leads to psychological, emotional and intellectual imbalance in growing children. These subsequently result to quitting from school or poor academic achievement of secondary schools student as education require critical thinking, relax mind and proper family support to be able to perform to expectation in the school. Hence it becomes necessary to investigate factors that cause broken homes with a view to finding solution to the problems for psychological well being of growing children in our society, and these lead us to look at the effect of broken homes on the academic performance secondary schools students in Nigeria.

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 Edo 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 Esan West Local Government Area could be attributable to broken homes. Hence the study intends to empirically investigate the Effect of Broken Homes on Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Nigeria using Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State as a case study.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Effect of Broken Homes on Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Nigeria using Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To assess the impact or effect of broken homes influence on secondary schools students in Nigeria;
2. To find out the causes of broken homes and the solution in Nigeria;
3. To seek for solution for widespread divorce among couples;
4. To suggest ways of women and men unnecessary divorce; and
5. To find out how absence of one or both parent influence secondary schools students academic performances in school.

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:

• Does the home have any significant effect on secondary school student in Nigeria?
• Does broken home have any significant effect on the academic performances of secondary school students in Nigeria?
• Does the socialization of the home have any significant effect on the academic performances of secondary school students in Nigeria?
• Is there any significant different in the academic performance of secondary school student from broken homes and these from unbroken home?
• What are the educational challenges faced by students from broken homes in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo 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 Esan West Local Government Area.
• H1: Educational challenges have significant effect on the academic achievement of broken home students in Esan West Local Government Area.

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no any significant effect on secondary school students in term of broken homes.
• H1: There is significant effect on secondary school students in term of broken homes.

Hypothesis Three

• H0: There is no any significant difference in the academic performances of secondary school students from broken homes and from unbroken homes.
• H1: There is significant difference in the academic performances of secondary school students from broken homes and from unbroken homes.

Hypothesis Four

• H0: There is no any significant effect on the academic performances of secondary school students in term of socialization of the home.
• H1: There is significant effect on the academic performances of secondary school students in term of socialization of the home.

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Marriage counselors will be equipped with better knowledge and advice tactics to counsel students and parents.
4. 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 Effect of Broken Homes on Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Nigeria using Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State as a case study.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. 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.
2. 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).
3. Lack of Initial Cooperation from Respondents: A particular limitation of this work came as a result of the respondent refusal to offer their cooperation at the initial time they were contacted. This contributed in making the success of this research study difficult.

1.10 Definitions of Terms

Academic Achievement:

It is the extent of a student’s performance in classroom activities, internal and public examinations.

Adolescence:

It is the transitional period of physical and psychological development between childhood and adulthood.

Broken Home:

A home in which both parents (father and mother) are not living together due to unsettled conflict, demise of one of the parents, infidelity, divorce or separation.

Child:

A person below the age of adulthood, that is yet to attained the legal age of responsibility and accountability.

Divorce:

It is the legal dissolution of a marriage.

Family:

It is a group of people living together who are related by blood, marriage, custom or law.

Home:

A place where a child is/was raised by his/her parents or guardians.

School Child:

It is a young person attending school.

Marriage:

It is the legal union of two people of the opposite gender, coming together to live as husband and wife.