Home Background, Peer Group Pressure and Truancy among Secondary School Adolescent Students in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the influence of home background, peer group pressure and truancy among secondary school adolescent students of Delta State. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to serve as a guide to the study. Correlational survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study consists of all students in all public secondary schools in the area of the study. A sample of 266 students were used for the study using the simple random sampling technique. A 4 point likert scale questionnaire designed by the researcher was used for data collection. The questionnaire was validated by professionals in the area of research. Cronbach Alpha reliability was used to establish the reliability of the instrument with an r-value of 0.78. The statistical tools for answering the research questions and for testing the hypotheses were the Pearson r, coefficient of determination and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between home background and truancy among secondary school students. Also, there is a significant relationship between peer pressure and truancy among secondary school students. The study also revealed that there is no significant relationship between gender and truancy among secondary school students. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that parents should learn to be close to their wards and as well take note of the friends that they associate with as this will help to reduce the level of peer influence on the development of truant behaviours among students, Teachers and parents should help in proper monitoring of student activities so as to help students to maximise their potentials to the fullest and to be well adjusted in all ramification of lives. Finally every parents and elder siblings should see themselves as role models that engender good behaviours to their children as the kind and form of mentoring given by parents contributes in the sharpening of adolescent attitudes and behaviours.

Cultural Ramifications on the Educability of Pregnant and Parenting Learners at Four South African High Schools

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The Role of Consumer Science in Curbing Gender Issues and Challenges in Post Covid-19 Era in Nigeria

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Peer Group Influence, Teacher-Student Interaction, and Indiscipline as Predictors of Students' Dropout Tendency in an Evening Continuing Education Programme

“…In the early stages, youths try to establish their independence from their parents to new existence patterns, an increase of unruly individuals epitomised by drug dependency, alcoholism, wild cat, and carefree sex behaviours (Aduma et al, 2022;Akah et al, 2022). Previous research has assessed peer influence on variables such as academic performance (Abdulrahman, 2020;Afolabi, 2019;Sarkar et al, 2022), school library use (Olaleru & Owolabi, 2021), substance use (Muhia, 2021;Olaniyi & Jimoh, 2021), bullying trends (Doehne et al, 2018;Ngelu & Wambua, 2020), truancy (Obiunu & Ozuri, 2018) and teenage pregnancy (Kukundakwe, 2021) among students. Nevertheless, much research has not been paid to peer influence on students' dropout tendencies, a gap addressed by the present study.…”