Thesis Abstract

Thesis Overview

<p> </p><p><strong>INTRODUCTION</strong></p><p><strong>Background of the Study</strong></p><p>Educational activities are geared towards ensuring that students achieve<br>mastery of educational objectives. In school , the extent to which these objectives<br>have been achieved, is determined by their level of peer pressure, time<br>management as students’ success are reflected in their academic performance.<br>Peers play a large role in the social and emotional development of adolescents<br>Allen (2005). Their influence begins at an early age and increases through the<br>teenage years, it is natural, healthy and important for adolescent to have and rely<br>on friends as they grow and mature. A peer could be any one you look up to in<br>behaviour or someone who you would think is equal to your age or ability<br>(Hardcastle, 2002). On the other hand, the term “pressure” implies the process that<br>influence people to do something that they might not otherwise choose to do.<br>According to Hartney, (2011) peer pressure refers to the influences that<br>peers can have on each other. Peer pressure is emotional or mental forces from<br>people belonging to the same social group (such as age, grade or status) to act or<br>behave in a manner similar to themselves (Weinfied 2010).<br>Jones, (2010) defined peer pressure as the ability of people from the same<br>social rank or age to influence another of same age, bracket peer pressure is usually<br>associated with teens although its influence is not confined to teenagers alone.</p><p>1</p><p>Mature adults, teens, young adults and children can be seen doing things in order<br>to be accepted by their peers. Peer pressure is commonly associated with episodes<br>of adolescent risk taking (such as delinquency, drug abuse, sexual behaviours),<br>because these behaviour commonly occur in the company of peers. It can also have<br>positive effects when youth are pressured by the peer toward positive behaviour.<br>Such as volunteering for charity or excelling in academics (Kellie, 2013).<br>However, peers can also have a negative influence. They can encourage each<br>other to skip classes, steal, cheat, use of drugs or alcohol, or become involve in<br>other risky behaviours. Majority of adolescents with substance abuse problems<br>began using drug or alcohol as a result of peer pressure. Negative peer pressure<br>may influence in various ways like joining group who drink alcohol, smoke<br>cigarette and Indian hemp among others. It may also lead to the decision to have a<br>boy friend/girl friend, Peer pressure indulges youth into loitering about in the<br>streets, watching films and attending parties during school hours, taping as<br>alternative to stealing which may eventually graduate into armed robbery. (Arief,<br>2011),<br>Peer pressure may be present in the workplace, at school or within the<br>society, it can affect people of all ages. It may affect people in different ways but<br>here, the focus is on peer pressure as it influences academic performance of inschool<br>adolescents. Peer pressure may have a positive influence and help to</p><p>challenge or motivate one to do best. Peer pressure may also result in one doing<br>thing that may not fit with ones sense of what is right or wrong. In other words,<br>when peer pressure makes one do things that people frown at, it is a negative peer<br>pressure. Operationally peer pressure is a force exert by people that is influenced<br>by ideas, values and behaviour either positively or negatively and always<br>associated with adolescents. Study shown that many popular students who do not<br>manage their time well make lower grades than less socially accepted adolescent<br>(Hartney, 1990). This is possibly due to the fact that popular students may spend<br>more time worrying about their social life rather than studying.<br>Time management has to do with planning and scheduling activities,<br>organizing tasks in a prioritized order and allocating time to the tasks according to<br>their order of importance and helping one achieve desired objectives (Achunine,<br>1995). Time management is the ability to manage and control time. (Lakein, 2003).<br>The use of planners, calendars and the like are effective tools in managing time.<br>Time management is the art of arranging organizing, scheduling and budgeting<br>one’s time for the purpose of generating more effective work and productivity.<br>(Lakein, 2003). Time management is important for everyone, while time<br>management books and seminars often focus on business leaders and corporations,<br>time management is also crucial for students, teachers, professionals and home<br>makers. Time management is mostly about self-management. One may be right to</p><p>say that time management is the ability of an individual or group of individuals to<br>make proper use of their time in order to achieve set goals.<br>Time management is explained as behaviour that is believed to aid<br>production and alleviate stress, productivity (Misra, 2000). Implementing time<br>management strategies helps to organize aspects of one’s life, therefore allowing<br>one’s time to complete all the tasks necessary to reduce one stress level. In<br>completing the task on schedule, a student will also enhance his academic<br>performance. It can be deduced from Misra (2000) view, that an in-school<br>adolescent who spends his time on irrelevant things instead of concentrating on<br>studies may end up having poor academic performance. The issue of students<br>loitering about, holding parties at the expense of their studies tends to suggests that<br>students in Abia State do not manage their time well. Hence, academic<br>performance might be affected.<br>Operationally the researcher defines time management as the art of setting a<br>goal and following it sequentially in order to achieve the target. Hillary Retting has<br>identified over-giving of attention to family, friends, and work, volunteerism or<br>activism, as prime obstacles to managing ones time. This author therefore<br>recommends solutions to management of time to include being aware of one’s<br>motives for instance in striving, to be a “hero” or self-sacrificing “saint,” and</p><p>avoiding procrastination, setting his motives and working hard to wards achieving<br>the motive enhance academic performance.<br>Academic performance refers to how well a student is accomplishing his or<br>her tasks and studies (Scortt’s, 2012). Grades are certainly the most well-known<br>indicator of academic performance. Grades are the student’s “score” for their<br>classes and overall tenure. Grades are most often a tallying or average of<br>assignment and test scores and may often be affected by factors such as attendance<br>an instructor opinion of the student as well. Grading systems vary greatly by<br>county and school; common scales include a percentage form 1-100, lettering<br>systems from A-F, and grade point averages (GPA) from 0-4.0 or above.<br>According to Ward, Stocker and Murray-Ward (2006) academic<br>performance refers to the outcome of education; the extent to which the student,<br>teacher or institution have achieved their educational goals. Academic performance<br>is the ability to study and remember facts and being able to communicate one’s<br>knowledge verbally or written on paper (Answers, 2010). In the context of this<br>study, academic achievement refers to the extent to which students have achieve<br>mastery of the objectives of the subjects they are exposed to in school. According<br>to (Aremu and Sokan 2003) academic achievement has been observed in school<br>subjects especially mathematic and English language among secondary school<br>students.</p><p>The trend of poor achievement of secondary school students has also been<br>confirmed by the West African Examination Council (WAEC). The WAEC result<br>analysis for the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 revealed the following<br>statistics of the performance of Nigerian student in secondary schools in public<br>examination. The percentages of students who passed during the years were report<br>to be 22, 54, 13.76, 22.54, 24.94, and 25.99 percent respectively. That is, on the<br>average, less than a quarter (21.94 percent) of the students that sat for the<br>May/June West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations<br>obtained credits in five subjects including English and mathematics during the five<br>years (WAEC, 2007-2011).<br>According to the West African Examination Council Zonal Co-ordinator,<br>revealed the statistics of the 2012/2013 WAEC. A total of 324, 998 candidates<br>registered for the Examination 168,835 are Males: while 141,242 are Females:<br>candidates who registered for the WAEC examination. Withheld results, the results<br>of 51,876 candidates, representing 16. 73% of candidates are being withheld by the<br>WAEC Board, based on various reports, mostly for these candidates alleged<br>involvement in examination malpractice, while another Statistics shows that a<br>whooping number of 250,487 candidates representing 80. 78% have 2 credits and<br>above, while 217,161 candidates, representing 70. 03 of the total 2012 WAEC<br>candidates, have three credits and above. Several factors have generally been</p><p>identified as causes of poor academic performance. Morakinyo (2003) believes that<br>the falling level of academic performance is attributable to teachers’ non-use of<br>verbal reinforcement strategy. Welsh (2007) also found that the attitude of some<br>teachers to their job, poor teaching methods and the like influence students’<br>academic performance.<br>The blame for poor academic performance among secondary school students<br>could be attributable to a variety of factors such as student inability to manage their<br>time, peers influence, family factors and the likes. Parents, teachers, curriculum,<br>experts and evaluators have expressed considerable concern over the deteriorating<br>students’ performance in public examinations.<br>Therefore, an in-school adolescent should avoid negative pressure such<br>loitering along the street during school hours holding parties at the expense of their<br>study, skipping school and drug abuse. That will create room for poor academic<br>performance. The adolescent should move with people that study their books in<br>order to have good academic performance.<br>Adolescence is a developmental period in which an individual changes (over<br>a varying length of time) from childhood into adulthood. This creates confusion<br>about the self because society considers them neither children nor adults.<br>Adolescence is also a period of sexual maturity (of sex organs and the development<br>of hormones) and the development of sexual urge. The pattern of thinking is that in</p><p>which immediate needs tend to have priority over long term ones and because they<br>lack knowledge and skills to make healthy choices, they tend to go into risky<br>behavior and tryout experiences which often leads to mistakes and regrets in most<br>adolescents it marks the beginning of sexual activity Steinberg, (2008) Adolescents<br>substance use, or antisocial behavior are often considered as “problem”<br>behaviours.</p> <br><p></p>