Influence Of Drug Abuse On Academic Performance Of Senior Seccondary Students In Obio-Akpor Lga, Rivers State.
Amuda Kannike M. Omotayo
Department Of Educational Psychology Guidance And Counselling, Faculty Of Education, Ignatius Ajuru University Of Education, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Chibuzor Chika
Department Of Educational Psychology Guidance And Counselling, Faculty Of Education, Ignatius Ajuru University Of Education, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Keywords: Drugs, Drug Abuse, Academic Performance of Secondary School Students
Abstract
The study investigated influence of drug abuse on academic performance of senior secondary school students in Obi-Akpor L.G.A of Rivers State. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The population was made of (16500) senior secondary students from ten public secondary schools in Obio-Akpor L.G.A. Stratified sampling technique was used to select (391) respondents, using Taro Yamane method to determine the sample size. Self-structured instruments title ''Influence of Drug Abuse (IDA) and Academic Performance of Students in Economics (APSE)'', were used for data collection. The instruments were validated by two experts from Guidance and Counselling and one expert in Measurement and Evaluation, all in Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The reliability of the instruments was established using Cronbach Alpha which yielded 0.79 and 0.83 for (APSE) and (IDA) respectively. Regression analysis was used to answer the research questions and test of null hypotheses a 0.05 significant level. The findings of the research revealed that alcohol, marijuana, and illicit drugs have significant negative influence on academic performance of senior secondary school students. Based on these findings, it was recommended that; there should be an enlightenment programme on the dangers and consequences of drug abuse on health and academic performance of students. Parents and guardians should endeavour to monitor their children and wards so that they do not engage in drug abuse. Government should prevent the cultivation/sales of illicit drugs, marijuana and other deadly herbs that encourage drug abuse of students