CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background of the Study
Over the years, the investigations of the factors that influence academic performance of students have attracted the interest and concern of teachers, counselors, psychologists, researchers and school administrators in Nigeria (Wiseson, 2001). This is because of the public outcries concerning the low standard of education in the country. The declining quality of education in the country and the breeding of graduates with little technical know-how have resulted in serious setbacks to the industrial development of the nation (Amin, 2005). Different factors are capable of influencing the academic performance of students. Such factors may be the student's internal state (intelligence, state of health, motivation, anxiety parental care etc.) and their environment (availability of suitable learning environment, adequacy of educational infrastructure like textbooks and well-equipped laboratories). Ajila & Olutola, (2000) argued that home environment or family has been recognized as having a lot of influence on the academic performance of students. Ichado (1998) stated that parents’ constant disagreement affects children emotionally and this could lead to poor academic performance in school. The family lays the psychosocial, moral and spiritual foundations in the overall development of the child. However, the mother played significant role in the formation of a home and her roles cannot be over-emphasized. Studies on father-child relationship suggest that the presence of a father in the home influences significantly the development of a child (Agulanna, 2001). Thus, parenthood is a responsibility requiring the full cooperation of both parents who must ensure the total development of their offspring(s). Structurally, a family is either broken or intact. A broken family in this context is one that is not structurally intact for various reasons-deaths of a parent, divorce, separation, dissertation and illegitimacy in which case, the family was never completed (Conkline, 1999). This analysis becomes necessary because life in a single parent family can be stressful for both the child and the parent. Such families are faced with the challenges of diminished financial resources (Children's Defence Fund, 1994), assumptions of new roles and responsibilities, establishment of new patterns in intra-familial interaction and reorganization of routines and schedules (Agulanna, 2001). These conditions are not conducive for effective parenting. This is because when the single parent is overburdened by responsibilities and by their own emotional reaction to their situation, they often become irritable, impatient and insensitive to their children's needs (Nzewunwah, 2000). A home is where a family lives. It may be alternated to the word ‘house’ but a house is more appropriately referring to the material structure, whereas ‘home’ refers to the intangible things that bind together the family members. It is the immeasurable love and care that keeps together the mother, father and their children. The Family is an essential factor for a human’s whole-being, everything about a man, his background, attitude, all of his achievements, his honor and dignity, relies on the structure of the family a man lives in with. A family is composed of a father a mother and their offspring, bonded by their love for each other. Broken home is a term used to describe a household, usually in reference to parenting, in which the family unit does not properly function according to accepted societal norms. The concept of broken homes contributed to the falling standard of education in the country. It is based on this premise that this research work dealt with the impact of broken homes and students` academic performance in secondary schools in Akamkpa Local Government Area, Cross River state. According to Collins Advanced Dictionary of English, define home as a family unit. It’s composed of the father, mother, children, and sometimes with any other members of the extended family, it is a place where one lives with one’s family. It is an institution where each member needs care, love, comfort, and sense of security. This household might suffer from domestic violence, a dissolved marriage, drug abuse, or anything else that interferes with the upbringing of children. The phrase 'Broken Home' is more commonly used when either the mother or father is not part of the family due to bad circumstances, as mentioned above, which makes a child's upbringing suffer. It is less commonly used for parents who have simply split up, and are still not in contact, and on good terms with the child. However, there are homes that are incomplete in one way or another. Death or divorce may be the cause and they may have disastrous effects on a child’s development, in other cases the injuries may be insignificant. Judging the situation of a child of a ‘broken home’ is never easy. A divorce is often followed by a long period of deep dissention, which certainly means emotional strain and discord. As a rule, the child cannot be protected by this or kept in ignorance of it. It is obvious, though, that on an average, a broken home situation has injurious effects (Sandstrom, 2005).