THE IMPACTS OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AND BULLYING ON STUDENTS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

1.1 Introduction

Bullying is a situation which is characterized by intentional verbal or physical abuse, made repetitively, by one or more students against one or more peers (Fante, 2005). It is also a behavioral phenomenon that has attracted the attention of educators and policy makers in many parts of the world in recent years. Corporal punishments most commonly consists of hitting children with hand or with kitchen utensils or belt, hitting with gas pipes and sticks but may also include kicking, biting, shaking, or forcing a child to stay in painful positions (UNCRC, 2006). In ancient days it was understood as a main source of amending students’ behavior. The protagonists of punishment in school are finding no place to hide as many people are clamoring against its fatality (Global Report, 2008).

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.

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1.2 Background of Study

The use of physical force designed to inflict discomfort but not damage for the goal of correcting or regulating a child's conduct is known as corporal punishment (Straus and Donnelly, 2005). According to Gershoff (2002), corporal punishment is defined as actions that do not result in substantial bodily damage, while physical abuse is defined as actions that risk harm e.g., punching, kicking, or burning (Gershoff, 2002). Bullying has been a continuing worldwide phenomenon in schools throughout the United States and a significant concern (Werku Etafa et al., 2022). In 2019 more than 1.56 million cases of victimization were recorded on school premises, with bullying being perpetrated between 12 and 20 years of age. In the last six months of school, 7.2% of students aged 12 to 18 confirmed being harassed (Vasanthakumari et al., 2021).

In today’s modern world student is central point of learning-teaching process and his attitude is shaped by the interesting syllabus, attractive school atmosphere and captivating presentation of knowledge. Daskalogianni and Simpson (2000) are of opinion students’ learning attitude can be made effective by applying all strategies listed above (Hannulla, 2002) regarded learners’ achievement; efficiency and sprite de corps is strongly associated to their learning attitude. Foreseeing this phenomenon the researcher undertook this topic to measure the impact of corporal punishment on academic performance of students at elementary schools level (Roos, 2010).

Punishments termed over here are also injurious to the physical, mental and personality development of the children. It affects their mentality. It may result into harmful side effects which becomes the risk for the child development in schools. They become a hazard to the society. In previous times children were being treated in a very brutal way and it put a very bad effect on their personalities. Their performance became deficient. Some experiments proved that a child grows more in a friendly environment rather than a cruel one. So keeping this in view, physical punishments have been banned in some territories.

The incidence of abuse in classrooms has left educators, teachers and policy leaders concerned about how to avoid this issue and which forms of prevention strategies can be taken into account. Several lawmakers introduced laws forcing schools to create anti-bullying strategies and services to be adopted by administrators and staff. Such rules were inspired by a 15-year-old teenager's suicide in Massachusetts (Singh et al., 2013; Kasana et al., 2013; Deopa et al., 2013; Sharma et al., 2016). After months of abusive encounters with classmates, this youth committed suicide. Kids abused after school hours have considerably less emotional well-being than other individuals as they mature during maturity (Bhatt et al., 2020).

As a result, several instructors were subjected to bullying at work, which resulted in more abuse and worse academic achievement. School officials have been known to use victimization as a method of issue solving. Instructors have been given the option of either removing their students or trying to victimize them. Parents and instructors may feel helpless to protect their children from school authorities, which may have a profound effect on family relations (AL Kareem et al., 2020). The study's objective is to evaluate how kids who have experienced violence in the classroom perceive their values, beliefs, emotions, and behaviours.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impacts of Corporal Punishment and Bullying on Students' Academic Performance.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that students' in-school conduct and academic performance do not improve when they are subjected to harsh physical penalties. In fact, recent research shows that schools in jurisdictions where physical punishment is commonly practiced do worse academically than schools in areas where physical punishment is prohibited (Hickmon, 2008). Many children who have been struck, slapped, or exposed to other severe disciplinary methods have expressed sadness, fear, or rage as a result, and these kids often withdraw from school activities and academically disengage.

Furthermore, the practice of corporal punishment in a public school has an impact on all students in that school, including those who are not physically struck or paddled. The widespread use of physical violence against students produces a dangerous school environment that has an effect on kids' academic performance.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Impacts of Corporal Punishment and Bullying on Students’ Academic Performance in selected private and public secondary schools in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To determine the relationship between the students’ academic performance and corporal punishments;
2. To investigate the sort of corporal punishments administered on student oppressors in Oluyole Local Government Area public and private secondary schools; and
3. To determine the effects of these punishments and bullying on the academic performance of students in Oluyole Local Government Area public and private secondary schools.

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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:

• What is the relationship between the students’ academic performance and corporal punishments?
• What sort of corporal punishments administered on student oppressors in Oluyole Local Government Area public and private secondary schools?
• What are the effects of these punishments and bullying on the academic performance of students in Oluyole Local Government Area public and private secondary schools?

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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: There is no significant relationship between the students’ academic performance and corporal punishments
• H1: There is significant relationship between the students’ academic performance and corporal punishments

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There are no significant effects of corporal punishments and bullying on the academic performance of students in Oluyole Local Government Area public and private secondary schools
• H1: There are significant effects of corporal punishments and bullying on the academic performance of students in Oluyole Local Government Area public and private secondary schools

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1.7 Significance of Study

This study will be significant as it will bring to the fore the challenge of corporal punishments in secondary schools in Oyo State and cause the government, school administrators and parents to take action concerning such punishments as it may hinder greater academic performance of students.

This study will also be helpful to other scholars who want to undertake a research on the same subject matter or take the scope of this research to another state. It will provide additional materials for researchers to make use of for reference purposes.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Impacts of Corporal Punishment and Bullying on Students' Academic Performance in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State.

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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. 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.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. 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).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Corporal Punishment: It refers to a discipline method in which a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child's unacceptable behavior and/or inappropriate language.

Academic Performance: It is the measurement of student achievement across various academic subjects.