EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN SOMOLU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF LAGOS STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Divorce is legal dissolution of marriage bond. Once
the couple decides to divorce, they are free to remarry again. In Nigeria,
there has been the increase in the rate of divorce. There are two factors influencing
the rising divorce rates in the Nigeria.
The first factor is both men and women are relying less on one another for
economic survival. As women gain status in their work place or on their
businesses, they often want to stand on their ownvand prefer to control their
lives’ affair which enabling them to be less dependent on their husbands, the
heads of household. Women who are gainfully employed and self-sufficient may be
more willing to dissolve a marriage because they are not perceived as a financially
dependent spouse. Financial stability allows for the female head of household
to have more flexibility to exit a broken marriage. Secondly, when both male
and female parents gain political status in the society, one seems to be
superior over the over due to political gain. They seem not have chance to look
after the family, especially the female ones which more likelihood be the
victims of divorce.
in a nutshell,
divorce is a legal termination of valid marriage. If a marriage is not
valid when contracted, there cannot be a divorce because there cannot be a
divorce because there was not really a marriage. Martial unhappiness is only as
a result of the various factors that predispose martial instability. Marital
conflict is inevitable in any society as long as husband and wife are different
individuals and their actions are important to each other. With such view
divorce is a mechanism for dealing with the pressure and problem inevitably
caused by marriage because without marriage there would be no divorce. The negative effects of parental divorce upon children depend
upon factors, including the age and sex of the child at the time, it occurs,
the amount of conflict within the family unity, and the degree of co-operation
between the divorced or separated parents. Each of these factors, alone or
interaction with each other influences the psychological health of the child
and the ability of the child to do well at school.
The manner by which parents, interact with each other, both begin and after the
divorce, may have a far reaching impact on the child than the actual divorce
itself. Indeed, it is often difficult to separate the effects of divorce from
the effects of a conflictual family relationship in this manner, the negative
effects of divorce may stem from per-existing differences in the family unit,
prior to the divorce itself, and these negative effects may be more related to
the emotional separation that precedes the legal divorce.
In general, children who have recently experienced a family dissolution have a
more difficult time with education and academic expectations at school than
children from a stable family or “happy family”. This is visible in the
children’s ability to adjust to the reality of their parents’ divorce, most
circumstances, children of divorce homes, are only disposed to the negative
effect of their current family situation such children show resilience in
adjusting to the effects of parental divorce. Indeed, children who thrive of
their current family situation such children show resilience in adjusting to
the effects of parental divorce. Indeed, children who thrive well in family
dissolution are more likely to live in homes characterized by other family
members support.
According to Hargreaves (2011), student's resilience
in a one-parent household is believed to be a significant indication of success
in other areas of their lives, including academics. Similar to a domino effect,
students under
emotional
heartache and stress at home often have emotions that interfere with
concentration during the school day. Poor school performance often agitates the
parent and the dominos continue to fall as the student loses selfconfidence and
experiences decreased performance in school. Students may have a difficult time
concentrating on school work from divorce-related stress occurring at home.
Students may face unique challenges of completing homework assignments when
organizing their homework, backpack, and paperwork between multiple homes.
According
to Smith (2009), some students are flexible and adapt well to change largely
due to implementing effective coping strategies, while other students may react
in the opposite way. Students may lose confidence, blame themselves for the
break-up, and see their parent's separation or divorce in a complicated way.
The
range of feelings that a student may encounter include: disbelief and denial,
sadness, loss, loneliness, depression, anger, anxiety, fear, relief, and hope.
Response to these feelings often results in different levels of intensity
(Smith, 2009). While some students may experience mild anxiety and sadness,
others may feel more intense emotions. Smith (2009) also found that students’
reaction to their parent's divorce varies based on the student's age.
Carlson and Hines (cited in Dykeman, 2013)
determined that parents can help make a smooth transition for their children
during a divorce. Parents can present a reliable and cooperative parenting
style when providing their children with discipline and behaviour expectations.
Putting the child in the middle and asking them to "spy" on the other
parent or report back information regarding dating, finances, and life styles
may hurt the student trying to cope with life in two different residences.
Students tend to be more resilient when their parents
offer
strategies such as joint-parenting, similar discipline styles and not competing
for child-loyalty with gifts and presents. Hargreaves (2011) documented
behavioural issues and emotional problems exhibited by students proceeding
their parents' separation or divorce. Parents may also have different
expectations and rules for their child presenting inconsistencies which may
confuse the child. Research suggests that a child's adaption to successful transition
depends on each parent maintaining a healthy relationship between one another
and with the
Statement of the Problem
There is a global awareness of the Importance of the home environment on
students’ academic achievement. In Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State,
most homes are not intact as a result of issues of incompatibility of the
couples and the quest for the oversea trips to make more money, and at times
marital infidelity. This has resulted in the separation of couples and children.
Chador (2008) notes that the environment in which the students come from can
greatly influence his performance in school. The effects of divorce may impact
greatly on the internal organization of the family and by extension; effect a
child’s emotion, personality and academic achievement.
Bearing in mind the role of the family in a child’s education, the
failure of the family to perform its duties could hinder the child’s academic
achievement. Any nation that is desirous of advancing technologically will no
doubt ensure that the future of her future leaders (the students) is well
guided, protected and guaranteed.
A divorced parent faces doubled responsibilities requiring time,
attention and money of the parent. Hence, less attention is paid to the education
of the child. The teachers commonly describe children from divorced parent as
more hostile, aggressive, anxious, fearful, hyperactive and distractive than
children from intact family. Thus, this study is set out to find out the effect
of divioice on pupils in primary school in Somolu local government area of
Lagos State.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to
investigate the effect of devoice percept, on puplis in primary school in
Somolu local government area of Lagos State.
The specific objectives were to:
1. examine
the effect of divorce of pupils in primary school
2. identify the various reasons for divorce in
the society
3. Examine
primary school teachers’ perceptions on the effects Divoice on children’s
academic performance.
4. Explore
the perception of children in devoice and the effects of their status on their
academic performance
5. Explore
community members’ views on their role in the effects of divoice on pupils’
academic performance.
Research Questions
This study was
guided by the following research questions:
1.
to what extend does divorce affect primary school pupils?
2.
What are the reasons for divorce in the society?
3.
What are the teachers’ perceptions on the effects of divorce on children’s academic performance?
4.
What are children’s perceptions on
the effects of divorce to their academic
performance?
5.
What are the perceptions of the community members on their
role in minimizing the effects of divorce on children’s academic performance?
Research Hypothesis
The following
research null hypothesis will be test at 0.05 level of significant
1.
There is no significant relationship between divorce and
students academic performance in primary schools in Somolu local government
area
2.
there is no significant relationship on the causes of divorce
on pupils in primary schools.
Significance of the
Study
The study intended
to: Provide a thick description of the effects of divorce on the academic performance of
school-going children and teachers and community members’ role in minimizing
those affects. The study will Contribute
knowledge to the existing literature about the effects of divorce on pupils’ academic performance in primary
school pupils in Lagos State. Stimulate
research on divoice and their effect on academic performance in primary school
children. As known by all educators, home plays a very
significant role in formation of a child’s personality and socialization,
broken homes are identified as one of the factor that undermine the
socialization process at home, which consequently affect the performance of the
child in school. If the concern of education, in particular - is to look after
socialization process of the child as well as his intellectual development,
then this research work shall be of great importance to parents and educators
that absence of one or both of the parent affect children educational carrier
Scope of the study
This research work is design to
investigate the effect of divioce on pupils in primary school in Somolu local
government area of Lagos State. The study covers ten secondary schools in
Somolu Local government area.
