IMPACT OF SINGLE PARENTING ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS
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IMPACT OF SINGLE PARENTING ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS
ABSTRACT
This study looked at how single parenting affected senior secondary school students’ academic success in mathematics in the Enugu education zone. For this study, senior secondary schools in the Enugu education zone provided information and data via 300 copies of a questionnaire.
This study provided information on the pupils’ ages, genders, family sizes, and parental occupations. The reasons for single parenting in the Enugu education zone were also made clear. The impacts of single parenting on teenagers and the single parents were further explored in this study.
Additionally, it showed how single parenting affected kids’ academic success. Similarly, this study showed how single parenting affects society.
The significance of parent-child relationships and parental involvement in students’ academic performance was also highlighted by this study.
Finally, this study has contributed to the development of several approaches that can significantly lessen the risky impacts of single parenting on senior secondary kids’ academic ability in mathematics.
CHAPITER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Everyone has experienced someone who cared for them and they referred to as “family” when they were young. Nobody ever lived by themselves. Everybody is related to someone.
The family is more ubiquitous than most other concepts. The only means by which human society may continue to exist is through the family.
Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it,” (American Standard Version) provides evidence of this.
All parents, whether they are married or not, have a lasting impact on their children, and single parents are not exempt from this responsibility. However, whatever the reason of this singularity may be—death, divorce, or another
—it is sure to have a significant impact on the child’s developing personality. What counts most is how the single parent handles the enormous responsibilities of being a single parent.
According to Ahuja (2000), children of single parents are significantly less likely to achieve academically than children of cohabiting parents, regardless of how the single parent has handled parenting issues.
Being the only kid of a single parent is an extremely challenging circumstance. According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, children seek to their parents to satisfy their first three psychological needs, namely their physiological needs (food, drink, air, and shelter), safety needs (security), and love and affection needs.
Children will feel comfortable and confident if their parents are self-assured and emotionally stable. The child’s individuality is disturbed by their sense of belonging to a single parent.
Many children with single parents—that is, children who have unmarried parents—are frequently referred to as bastards, despite the fact that the conventions and mentalities of many African countries have evolved.
It always follows the child whose mother was never wed to his or her father or when the father refused to acknowledge or recognise these children as his because it is a societal taboo.
On the playground and at school, others single them out and make fun of them. As a result, kids start to avoid going to school and making friends. These are some of the challenges that children of single parents must face, according to Stinson (2000).
The child is the main focus, and the term “parent” is meaningless without the child. Social scientists have uncovered numerous ways that children’s behaviour varies depending on the type of household they are raised in.
Many people hold the opinion that children in single-parent households exhibit more consumerism and compulsive consumption behaviour than children in dual-parent homes. (1987; Amato, P. R.)
A child will receive the best care and socialisation possible if they are raised in families where both the mother and father live. This is because raising a child requires both parents to play complementary roles, which is essential to the socialisation process.
The primary and most important setting for socialisation is the home. While children from single-parent households are likely to experience deprivation and the denial of some rights and opportunities, such a child who is raised correctly is likely to attain self-actualization later in life (Battle, 1998).
Children from broken households are typically related with anti-social behaviour and low academic records, according to Salami (1998).
Actually, the world has changed. Many of the ancient practises and traditions that were formerly taught and upheld for a number of years are now no longer necessary.
The values and ideas that were once considered to be the fundamental principles of our society have evolved and outgrown the current civilization. Even still, moralists and conservatives feel disgusted by the way that belief and cultural systems are currently developing.
The truth is that what was formerly considered unacceptable is now quickly becoming the norm. The topic of single parenting has been a major source of worry for conservatives for decades, if not millennia. The concept of single parenting is already gaining traction in society. (M. O. Tenibiaje, 2011)
Children with a single parent have higher risks than kids with parents who are physically present. Children from single-parent households are twice as likely to leave secondary school than children from two-parent families, even when they are of equal intellectual capacity (Amato, 1987).
According to Battle (1998), the parents are the family’s main and only sources of income. However, single parents are less likely to be strict with discipline and have less time to devote to their children’s academic needs, which results in less parental control and poor academic performance (Battle, 1998).
Parents must make plans for their kids from infancy to adolescence and eventually maturity, regardless of the circumstances that led to their birth.
One method to guarantee that children are properly cared for and that they develop into healthy, productive adults who embrace and fulfil their civic obligations in the society in which they live is to have a plan and see to it that it is carried out. The educational planning of their children should involve both parents.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
When both parents work together to provide for the child, he is morally upright and emotionally secure. As the child’s primary source of socialisation, the family has a significant impact on the child’s intellectual, moral, emotional, and spiritual growth as well as their physical, mental, and moral development.
Before a child enters school, the family provides a solid educational foundation, and the home shapes the personality that the child brings to school. “Charity begins at home,” the wise ones advise. Parents have a part to play in their children’s academic growth.
In the normal Nigerian society, the father is responsible for giving the child access to food, water, shelter, security, and other necessities for their scholastic development.
The mother supports the father’s efforts to the best of her ability by providing the child with love and care, assisting the youngster with chores around the house and schoolwork, and exercising loving discipline.
The child’s growth and development are significantly impacted when either of these two are absent or leave a void, respectively. As a result, both parents are crucial to their growth.
Therefore, this study looked at how kids’ academic achievement in mathematics at the senior secondary school level was affected by single parenting.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
A single parent has two sets of additional obligations that demand their time, attention, and resources. As a result, less attention is given to the child’s education because the parent will be working hard to find money so that the child won’t go hungry, which will cause the parent to overlook his or her obligations to assist the child intellectually, especially in Mathematics.
In comparison to children from intact families, teachers report that children from single parents are more hostile, aggressive, worried, afraid, hyperactive, and distractible (Salami 1998).
Therefore, the overall goals of this study are to identify the various factors that contribute to single parenting, identify the effects of single parenting on children’s math performance,
identify the ways in which single parents can support their children’s academic success in mathematics, and suggest strategies for single parents to make time for and pay attention to their children’s academic success in mathematics. Specifically, the study’s primary goals
(i) Examine the many issues single-parent children in the Enugu education zone encounter;
(ii) Research the effects of single parenting on single-parent children’s ability to pay for their tuition, buy textbooks and other learning resources, and pay attention in class; and
In the Enugu education zone, research the effects of single parenting on children’s academic progress in mathematics.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Are kids with single parents more likely than kids with couple parents to experience some specific issues?
Do children with single parents and children with couple parents differ much in terms of when they pay their school fees, buy textbooks and other learning resources, or how focused they are in class?
Is there a discernible difference between children with single parents and children with two parents in terms of academic achievement in mathematics?
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study examines the effects of single parenting on senior secondary school pupils’ academic achievement in mathematics in the Enugu education zone.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It is hoped that the findings of this study would inform single parents about the dangers of single parenting, how it impacts their kids’ academic ability in maths, and how they might work to raise their kids’ maths scores.
In order to avoid endangering the lives of their unborn offspring, bachelors and spinsters should thoroughly prepare for marriage before entering one.
Students from single-parent households will also benefit from understanding the implications of their current living situation and putting forth their best effort in order to easily complete the humiliating duties of self-study.
In order to help marriages that are on the verge of disintegrating, this study also aims to draw marriage counsellors’ attention to the detrimental impact of broken households on children’s academic ability, particularly in mathematics.
Additionally, this study should assist math teachers in recognising, appreciating, and respecting the family backgrounds of their students in relation to their academic success in mathematics and in providing strategies for assisting them in reaching self-actualization in the field.
1.7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
Terms must be defined in a way that is acceptable, clear, and unambiguous before they can have any significance inside a study. Concepts might be explained conceptually or operationally.
This procedure is described as “process defining concepts by set of other concepts” in this context. The process of defining concepts is crucial because it enables the description and justification of particular circumstances in a way that is relevant to the study.
Math: Pilant, Michael S. Mathematics, according to (2008), is a technique of explaining connections between numbers and other quantifiable quantities.
Simple equations and interactions between the smallest particles and farthest objects in the known cosmos can both be expressed mathematically.
Scientists can express concepts using widely recognised terminologies thanks to mathematics. The language of science, in fact.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, mathematics is a discipline of science that deals with quantity, size, and space, either as abstract ideas (pure mathematics) or as applications to other fields like physics, engineering, and other sciences (applied mathematics).
Mathematics, according to Wilder (1972), is a tool that should enable even average minds to solve challenging issues. There are many uses for and importance of tools.
Additionally useful at all levels of expertise is mathematics. Therefore, pupils should not feel phobic about mathematics or other related subjects.
According to Oddi (1986), mathematics is a crucial area of natural science that is essential to the growth of both science and technology. Since mathematics is a prerequisite for all science courses, students should find its instruction engaging.
SINGLE PARENTING: Single parenting is when only one of the two persons who should be caring for a child is able to do so. As a result, the work that should have been done by two people is now being done by just one person.
A mother or father who raises their own children alone is referred to as a single parent in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
Single parenting is the process of one parent—usually the wife or the husband—taking on the responsibilities that two parents should share with their children.
Salami (1998) defines a single parent (also known as a lone parent or solitary parent) as a parent who raises one or more children without the support of the other partner in the household in terms of physical, moral, and disciplinary issues.
IMPACT: The forceful or dramatic influence that something or someone has on something or someone is defined as impact by Encarta dictionaries (2009).
Academic success: According to Encarta dictionaries (2009), academic has to do with learning, academic pursuits, a learning facility, or the educational system.
The way that something or someone performs is another definition provided by Encarta dictionaries in 2009.
Then, academic achievement may be summed up as how well a student does in their coursework and classes inside a given educational system or institution.
STUDENT: According to the sixth edition of the Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary, a student is a person who is enrolled in a college or university. Additionally, it defines a student as someone who is enrolled in school, particularly a secondary school.
According to the 2009 Encarta Dictionary, a student is someone who has studied or is very interested in a certain subject.
Senior Secondary School: The 9-3-4 educational system, which stands for nine years for basic education (i.e., primary and junior secondary school), three years for senior secondary education, and four years for university education,
is what Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education (UBE) policy calls for. The type of education (course) that will be acquired (studied) in a higher institution is determined by the senior secondary education.
As a result, senior secondary education is provided there under the instruction of trained teachers. zone for education in Enugu.
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