CHAPTER ONE

Background to the Study

It is an undebatable fact that the home is the fulcrum around which the early years of a child revolves. The central figures are the parents. While child-bearing and child-rearing cannot be divorced one from the other, the type of child-rearing practiced in a family has a tremendous impact on the entire life of the child including his or her academic life. Generally, the social climate or environment in which an individual finds him or her self to a large extent determines his or her behaviour and personality development. Consequently, parental guidance and discipline usually influence the behaviour of the children and at the apex of this parental influence is the mother.

According to Olayinka and Omoegun (2001), the word "family" has its origin in the Latin word which could be translated to mean "domestic group". A domestic group is a group of people who habitually share a common dwelling and common food supply. According to Murdoch (1965) family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic, cooperation and reproduction; it includes adults of both sexes, at least two of who maintains a socially approved sexual relationship and one more children, own or adopted by the sexually cohabiting adult.

The family provides for the physical maintenance of the child, offers him his first and most continuing social contracts, and gives him affection and other emotional satisfaction including quality education that will last for a life time, teaches him most of social requirement of his behaviour and often put him in contract with other specializing institutions. Omoegun (1995), while writing on adolescent behaviour claimed that aggressive teenagers invariably came from unstable and conflict ridden home in which fights and argument were very common occurrences. In the history of the growth of the family, prior to the mid 1980s, family guidelines took the form of philosophical speculations.

According to Oloko (1987), the onset of family fountain is either through marriage or parenthood. Coleman (1962) as well maintained that the family provides most of the only frustrations in life, some of which may cause unhappiness and even mental imbalance in life since they sometime fail to provide the child with sufficient sense of security and emotional maturity coupled with inadequate socialization. Hence the common saying "charity begins at home.

In our modern complex society in which adolescents and adults leave the security of their traditional homes and seek employment opportunities in our big towns, cities, and industrial centres, married couples are often confronted with many problems that may affect the stability of their marriages. The current instability of some marriages tend to be the result of educational, social, economic and cultural changes which have affected societal values and outlook to life. These changes have occurred and continue to occur so rapidly that they are not yet fully absorbed into our way of life. Thus, the growth of the factory and industry in our towns and cities, the continuing migration of people from the rural to urban centres, the mobility and frequent changes of residence of workers, the entry of some women into industry, employment and business, and the changing economic roles of husbands and wives, tend to constitute a threat to marriage stability. Youths are often far away from their parents and relations who can guide them through the initial problems of life. Consequently, with individual revolution, family lives have been shattered. The end result is that the children become social liabilities with little or no cause for moral training or basic education. The effect on the children’s academic performance in schools is therefore better imagined. This is because the much needed parental care, love, affection and guidance are lacking in required proportion.

It is very important that children come closely in contact with their parents during the period of infancy to adulthood. The warmth which can only be provided by the parents gives the child a sense of belonging and affections which enhances their mental, physical, moral and educational growth. If children are denied this much needed parental affections and warmth during the vital period of their lives, they become negatively affected in all aspects of life.

Education has to do with the development of individual potentials or the development of intellect and character, it is to develop or reform an individual's sense of responsibility thereby making him a better man. Education is described as the best investment that one can ever make as educated children will be able to have good jobs, meaningful life for themselves as well as increase the National Productivity. The National Policy on Education (1998) refers to education as an instrument par excellence for effecting National development. It is also a dynamic instrument of change. Ukeje (1978), referred to education as "one of the most powerful instruments ever invented by modern civilization". Education prepares one for life and it is a process of accumulating knowledge for future use.

On the other hand, academic performance describes the maximum level of performance which a child or an individual can reach or attain in school academic activities if given every necessary support and opportunities by parents as well as the school authorities and teachers.

Nevertheless, the environment under which a child is nurtured plays major part in his or her development even at the pre-natal stages of life. Besides, inadequate cares, hostile interrelationship in the place of a child’s immediate environment most times create a state of anxiety and emotional distress in the child; which also impact greatly on the rest of the child’s future life. The physical environment under which a child studies, can as well influence his or her learning. In this regard, parents have a lot to do to ensure that the mental, emotional and psychological balance, value orientation, aspiration and personality, as well as the academic status of their children are properly developed in life.

However, the attainment of the above qualities varies from one child to another depending also on the home and conditions he finds himself. Problematic home conditions drastically affect educational success and performances in children. One-parent child, that is, a child being raised up by a single parent, example a male parent rearing a female child, and vice-versa, children raised in the absence of mother, those others lacking maternal or paternal attention most often have levels of difficulties in adjustment on studies and in life. A child psychologically and emotionally deprived, can hardly be sufficiently motivated to achieve high academic success. Linking parents’ socio-economic status with the children’s performance in school work, Holcomb (2002) argues that infants who receive enough attention and affection from a loving and caring parents right from start are most likely to succeed socially and emotionally; whereas Peters (2002) asserts that children from with working mothers tend to have a higher reading score as well as better language and cognitive ability. Given the background, this study attempts to substantiate the above divergent claims by determining the truth underlying the influence or non-influence of parents’ socio-economic status on secondary school students’ academic performance in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

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