EFFECTS OF CHILD’S REARING STYLES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MAKURDI METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT This study investigated parents’ child-rearing styles and academic performance of secondary school students in Makurdi Metropolis of Benue State. Specifically, objectives: identified parents’ child rearing styles in Makurdi Metropolis, found out the relationship between parenting styles and academic performance, determined the effect of parenting styles on academic performance and proffer solution how to incorporate the right child rearing styles that will enhance academic excellence in school. Four research questions and one hypothesis were raised and formulated to guide the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study to collect data. The population of the study comprised all parents in Makurdi Metropolis and 55 II students in Public Secondary Schools in Makurdi Metropolis. The sample size was 385 obtained from the use of Cochran formula for sample size determination. The instrument used for data collection was a checklist for parents and a structured questionnaire for students. The data collected were analyzed using Frequency and Simple Percentages to answer the three research questions while the three null hypotheses were tested using CM-square test at 0.05 alpha level of significance. Based on the analysis of data collected for the study, the following findings were made: permissive parenting style is the most dominant in Makurdi Metropolis, parenting style positively influences academic performance of students, majority of the respondents are in support of the permissive style of parenting which in turns affects the students’ academic performance and consistent monitoring of children from watching television, playing video games encourage and enhances academic excellence among secondary students. Based on the findings of the study it was recommended among others; parents should sometimes allow their children to use their initiatives. The child should be allowed to have an opinion in some certain matters and be guided properly by parents on taking final decisions, the educational administrators should be able to structure the curriculum to meet the needs of each individual student to enable them perform excellently well academically, also teachers should employ different teaching methods because children come from different homes, some are withdrawn, timid others are hyperactive. This will help achieve healthy learning in classroom situations