CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Adolescence is the transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood comprising of different responsibilities (Amusala, 2019). The World Health Organization (WHO) decribes adolescent as any person who is between the ages 10-19. This transitional period is usually marked with substantial changes in physical maturation, cognitive abilities and social interactions. Every society has a way of measuring acceptable behaviour. This makes behaviour that deviates from the acceptable behaviour to be referred to as antisocial behaviour. Antisocial behaviours exist along a severity continuum and include repeated violations of social rules, defiance of authority and of the rights of others, deceitfulness, theft, and reckless disregard for self and others. Antisocial behaviours such as stealing, lies telling, bullying violence, fighting, cigarette smoking and drug use, can be identified in children as young as three or four years of age. If left unchecked these coercive behaviour patterns will persist and escalate in society over time becoming a chronic behavioural disorder. Antisocial behaviour is apparent when an individual finds it very difficult to adhere to the norm or standard of his social environment like home or school. Kayne (2012) posited that antisocial behaviour can generally be characterized as an overall lack of adherence to the social norm and standards that allow members of as society to co-exist peaceably.

Academic participation is the involvement of students in lessons and other school related activities.  That is the act of taking part in lessons or all academic activities required of them as students. Items that might be evaluated in student participation are engagement in class discussions, engagement in online discussions and student behaviour in group settings. Adolescents’ academic participation to a large extent is affected by antisocial behaviours as some of them get involve in early sexual behaviours, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and drug usage thus neglecting their studies. Also poor academic performance by students causes some of them to get involved in anti-social behaviours. Therefore, the present study attempts to delve into factors inherent to anti-social behaviours that influence adolescents’ academic participation in some secondary schools in the Buea municipality.

Chapter one comprises the background to the study which involves historical, contextual, conceptual and theoretical backgrounds, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, research hypothesis, justification of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study and operational definition of terms.

Background to the Study 

Historically, the concept of adolescence did not exist before the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Due to the introduction of compulsory education, the period of adolescence extended by the end of the 19^th century as young people were given the skills to exercise their rights and privileges of democracy and many other social changes, all aid in the establishment of the notion of adolescence. By the beginning of the 20^th century, it had become highly established in most countries especially in America (Demos and Demos, 1969). About the 1900, Stanley Hall and his students made adolescence the focus of new current psychological study but their work was discredited in subsequent years. The discovery of adolescence can be traced to certain broad changes in the structure of the family as part of the new urban and industrial order in America then. Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development and Kohlberg’s cognitive moral development theory were all inspired by the work of Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget which were also based on the terms of racial and class prejudice. The later part of the 20th century saw the evolution of challenging traditional theories on adolescence which led to broader and more complex expectations for teenagers.

During the early 20^th century, these social changes led to a new era of extended development known as adolescence. According to Hamilton (2002), new disciplines emerged during the 20^th century that contributed to a more scientific understanding of the concept adolescent. During this period, a variety of perspectives on adolescence was addressed such as the biological, psychoanalytical, social-cognitive and cultural perspectives. Atwater outlines some areas of social change that affected adolescents in the 1990’s; advancement in technology, new family life patterns, greater awareness, exercise of personal rights among youths and greater affluence in the society. There was the birth of an Afrocentric theory of development by sociologist Patricia Hill Collins whose work took account of the effects of oppression and racial prejudice (Hamilton, 2002).

The American Cancer Society (1995) posited that over the past few decades, cigarette smoking has achieved the status of being the most preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States. Despite the well-known health hazards associated with smoking, adolescents are continuing to smoke at alarming rates. Approximately 1 million young people under the age of 18 years start smoking each year Johnston et al., (1995). Although not all youth who initiate smoking continue, data on adults suggest that between 80% and 90% of smokers began smoking by 18 years of age, reinforcing the notion of cigarette smoking as a pediatric disease or diseases for children (Kessler et al., 1994).

Contextually, most secondary school students in Cameroon are adolescents. Their age range falls between 12 and 18 years. Papalia et al., (2002) posited that adolescence last a decade, starting from about 11 or 12 years and lasting till late teens or early twenties hence justifying the classification of secondary school students as adolescents.  Adolescents in Buea Municipality are also involved in the direct purchase of alcoholic bevearages especially since the law prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages to, and its use by adolescents in the country is not enforced. Also adolescents in Buea do attend lots of social gathering such as birthday parties, funeral ceremonies and marriage ceremonies. In such social gatherings, alcoholic drinks are available in reasonable quantity such that interested adolescents have free access to them. This important youth and adolescent population constitute both an opportunity and a challenge to socioeconomic development, given the deficits in socioeconomic infrastructure (UNICEF, 2017). Current research on adolescence has moved beyond the traditional theories of development.

There are many students in Buea from different family background making them to copy bad behaviours from friends. Also, secondary school life in Buea tends to be highly dominated by students; faced with the temptation of being involved in committing immoral acts such as smoking, drinking of alcoholic drinks, drug abuse, sexual intercourse and violence. The frequency and severity of violent interactions increases. Although episodes of violence at school are highly publicized, students are much more likely to be involved with violence (or more often the threat of violence) in and out of school which may greatly affect their studies

The sexual and reproductive health behaviours of a large number of youths in Cameroon as in other Sub Saharan Africa countries continue to raise serious concerns in view of the implication for the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Rwenge (2000), in his study on Cameroon youths reports that more than 90% of his respondents mentions that consistent condom use could prevent AIDS, but that despite such knowledge only 25% of them were using condoms. The WHO (2005) reports that in Cameroon, 47% females and 57% males of the same age group reported using condoms at the previous high risk sexual encounter. 

Conceptually, adolescence comes from the Latin word “adolescere” which means to grow. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescent as any person who is between the ages 10-19. This transitional period is usually marked with substantial changes in physical maturation, cognitive abilities and social interactions. The concept of adolescent crisis is often defined in many ways but typically, adolescent crisis refers to the upheaval that happens during this period. Adolescence for boys can start at the age of 11 or 12 years and girls, adolescence can start at the age of 10 or 11 years, and diet and exercise exert some influence on their growth and behaviour. The period of adolescence is divided in to three stages, that is ages 11 to 14 includes pubertal and cognitive changes, ages 15 to 17 is a time of increase independence and experimentation, and ages 18 to 22 adolescence make important personal and vocational decisions.

During adolescents, children become pre-occupied with their looks and their bodies. All adolescents feel that these changes are unique and everybody is looking at them. Some psychologists describe it as feeling “on stage all the time”. All adolescents worry a lot about their looks and have a lot of anxiety about developing pimples about getting/not getting a beard, etc.  All adolescents love to follow the peer group culture (Santrock, 2001). This group develops a peculiar way of talking, walking and behaviour which seems very strange to adults.

Adolescents also experience crushes; that is intense feeling of love towards a much older member of the opposite sex during this period. Peers of opposite sex might seem too immature and childish during that period. Another characteristic of adolescents is their idealism. Adolescents have passionate ideas about how good people should be, how they should behave and they generally believe in an idealistic world where everything is good, clean and just. All adolescents experience feelings of rebellion at one time or another. They feel the parents and adults do not understand them and they do not want to conform to adults’ ideas. They also take a lot of pleasure in doing things which the parents disapprove of, e.g., wearing different kinds of clothes or having tattoos on their bodies or listening to loud music. Almost all adolescents feel the ‘generation gap’ between the parents and their own generation. By age 17, it is estimated that about 25% of all adolescents have taken part in activities that can be considered to be harmful either to themselves or others (e.g., getting pregnant, taking drugs, failing school; Hamburg, 1997).

All adolescents, at one time or another, experience extreme mood swings. Adolescents are, as yet, not fully mature emotionally. They get easily influenced by what the others tell them. If somebody talks to them and tries to win their confidence, they easily confide in that person. This is because adolescents accept people on the basis of what they are saying rather than their motive. One of the important tasks of adolescent development is their identity formation. The question ‘who am I? gets running in their minds most of the time. If the people surrounding them especially their peers, are happy with their qualities, physique and behaviour, they develop positive self-concept. With increased cognitive abilities they form their own sets of rules and hence their own identity.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2000), it is very difficult to say exactly when adolescence starts. However, onset of puberty is generally accepted as the beginning of adolescence. The period around 11 or 12 years of age is the onset of puberty which usually last for 2 years. During these years there is a spurt in physical growth and appearance of sex characteristics. The first sign of puberty in girls is menstruation and in boys, nocturnal emission (ejaculation of semen during sleep).

Although it sometimes seems that adolescents’ bodies change overnight, the process of sexual maturation actually occurs over a period of several years. The sequence of physical changes is largely predictable, but there is great variability in the age of onset of puberty and the pace at which changes occur (Kipke, 1999). There are numerous factors that affect the onset and progression of puberty, including genetic and biological influences, stressful life events, socioeconomic status, nutrition and diet. The growth spurt, which involves rapid skeletal growth, usually begins at about ages 10 to 12 in girls and 12 to 14 in boys and is complete at around age 17 to 19 in girls and 20 in boys (Hofmann & Greydanus, 1997). For most adolescents, sexual maturation involves achieving fertility and the physical changes that support fertility. For girls, these changes involve breast budding, which may begin around age 10 or earlier, and menstruation, which typically begins at age 12 or 13. For boys, the onset of puberty involves enlargement of the testes at around age 11 or 12 and first ejaculation, which typically occurs between the ages of 12 and 14. The development of secondary sexual characteristics, such as body hair and (for boys) voice changes, occurs later in puberty.

The physical changes that herald adolescence; the development of breasts and first menstrual periods for girls, the deepened voices and broadened shoulders for boys are the most visible and striking markers of this stage. However, these physical changes represent just a fraction of the developmental processes that adolescents experience (APA, 2000). Their developing brains bring new cognitive skills that enhance their ability to reason and to think abstractly. They develop emotionally, establishing a new sense of who they are and who they want to become. Their social development involves relating in new ways both to peers and adults. And, they begin to experiment with new behaviours as they transition from childhood to adulthood.

Peer groups serve a number of important functions throughout adolescence, providing a temporary reference point for a developing sense of identity. Through identification with peers, adolescents begin to develop moral judgment and values (Bishop & Inderbitzen, 1995) and to define how they differ from their parents (Micucci, 1998). At the same time, however, it is important to note that teens also strive, often covertly, for ways to identify with their parents. Another important function of peer groups is to provide adolescents with a source of information about the world outside of the family and about themselves (Santrock, 2001). Peer groups also serve as powerful reinforcers during adolescence as sources of popularity, status, prestige, and acceptance.

During this time, involvement with the peer group tends to be most intense, and conformity and concerns about acceptance are at their peak. The intense desire to belong to a particular group can influence young adolescents to go along with activities in which they would otherwise not engage (Mucucci, 1998; Santrock, 2001). The need to belong to groups at this age is too strong to simply ignore. During middle adolescence (ages 14-16 years), peer groups tend to be more gender mixed. Less conformity and more tolerance of individual differences in appearance, beliefs, and feelings are typical. By late adolescence, peer groups have often been replaced by more intimate dyadic relationships, such as one-on-one friendships and romances that have grown in importance as the adolescent has matured (Micucci, 1998).

The nature of adolescents’ involvement with peer groups changes over the course of adolescence. Younger adolescents typically have at least one primary peer group with whom they identify whose members are usually similar in many respects, including sex (Savin-Williams & Berndt, 1990). To win the approval of peers or to avoid peer rejection, adolescents will sometimes take risks even they themselves judge to be too risky (Jaffe, 1998).  This marks the beginning of adolescent crisis and anti-social behaviours.

All of the ways adolescents develop; cognitively, physically, socially, emotionally prepare them to experiment with new behaviours as they transition from childhood to adulthood. This experimentation in turn helps them to fine-tune their development in these other realms. Risk taking in adolescence is an important way that adolescents shape their identities, try out their new decision-making skills, and develop realistic assessments of themselves, other people, and the world (Ponton, 1997). Such exploratory behaviours are natural in adolescence and teens need room to experiment and to experience the results of their own decision making in many different situations (Dryfoos, 1998). However, young people sometimes overestimate their capacities to handle new situations, and these behaviours can pose real threats to their health.

During adolescence, young people typically move from primary school to secondary or high school. Each of these transitions can present challenges both to academic participation and performance. Declines in academic performance are common following the move to secondary or high school, a transition that can be quite disruptive for some adolescents. For some, this signals the beginning of a process of disengaging from school. Just as adults sometimes make poor decisions, so do adolescents. This can especially be a problem when poor decisions lead adolescents to engage in risky behaviours, such as use of alcohol or violence. Immature adolescents are especially likely to choose less responsible options. This level of maturity of judgment has been found to be more important than age in predicting whether an adolescent will make more responsible decisions (Fischoff, Crowell, & Kipke, 1999).

Adolescence also experience what is known as rites of passage. In many cultures, the transition from one life stage to another is marked by some sort of public recognition, called rites of passage. A rite of passage is a ceremony or a set of rituals that recognizes or symbolizes an individual’s movement from one culture to another but are still practiced in some societies for both girls and boys. The following are frequently mentioned as rites of passage in North America society, graduation from high school, marriage, and entry in to first job. Frequently, in some communities these rituals can be harsh and painful; nevertheless, they ease the transition from one developmental stage to the next. The rites of passage help the adolescence arrive at understanding of their identity or self-definition as a separate individual in terms of roles, attitudes, beliefs, and values. Identity is achieved when adolescence demonstrate some measure of independence, initiative, and industriousness. In some cases, identity are refined and achieved in terms of tribal customs and beliefs. The differences between these cultures can be considered in terms of Erikson’s fifth crisis, identity versus role confusion. Puberty is a biological marker of the onset of adolescence. The cultural dimension of adolescence mainly relates to the status and role of the young person society.

During this adolescence, adolescents are faced with the challenge of integrating ideas that people have of themselves and what others think of them. To Erikson, (1973) individuals facing an identity crisis are in a state of confusion.  Most of them may withdraw from normal activities, school and become unable to make rational decisions. They may even turn to negative activities such as smoking and drugs abuse because to them having a negative identity is better than none. Successful resolution of this crisis depends on the adolescents’ developmental progress. Those who successfully go through this crisis develop a strong sense of identity, and become well equipped to face adulthood and those who do not end up acting contrary to societal norms. This thus marks the beginning of anti-social behaviours among adolescents.

Mash and Wolfe (2016) view anti-social behaviour as actions that harm or do not take into consideration the well-being of others. Fatima and Malik (2015) on their part refer to anti-social behaviour as any behaviour that goes against societal norms; that tends to hram, hurt or destroy someone or something. Burt and Donnellan (2009) supported this view and also opined that antisocial behaviour comprises of harmful actions or activities (e.g., sexual activities, theft, fighting, threats, aggression, disrespect for authority, alcohol consumption, use of drugs verbal abuse, cigarette smoking etc) that are harmful to other individuals in the community. Therefore, antisocial behaviour in this study is any behaviour of an individual that is not acceptable in a particular society or community and that may cause harm to others. According to Nelson (2006), anti-social behaviour arises whenever there is a conflict of interest(s) between individuals; and such people make life miserable for those who live around them. It is believed that antisocial behaviour occurs due to insufficient emotional, psychological, and social development of children at home or under socialization in society that makes them proffer causes for pampering in an unacceptable behaviour. According to Clare (2006), high risk factors (e.g., parental history of antisocial behaviours, hectic and unstable home environment, parental drug and alcohol abuse, death, divorce, or separation, lack of good parenting skills, use of corporal punishment) in a family can cause anti-social behaviour in their children. Peers and the broader community environment also have a strong influence.

The period of adolescence needs that, the movements of the adolescence should be monitored, cautioned, provide their basic needs, and even show a lot of attachment to see that the child’s state of mind is focus and not disturbed. Adolescence development is shaped by the time period and location in which they grow up. Leflore (1988) holds that, parental controls are significant inhibitors of adolescence anti-social behaviours. He holds that, adolescence who feels warmth and support from parents are less likely to engage in risky behaviours and also, adolescence whose parents convey clear expectations regarding their children’s behaviour and show consistent limit setting and monitoring are less likely to engage in risky behaviours and vice versa.

The period of adolescence transition bring transformation and reorganization in family relationships. Moreover, adolescents start viewing themselves as adults and, on the contrary, parents may find it difficult to adapt to this perception (Steinberg, 1990). Atwater (1988) also asserts that the adolescent stage of life is marked by emotional developments that include mood swings, enthusiasm, tenderness, cruelty, curiosity and apathy. It is also marked by an increase in crimes and delinquency tendency. According to Ndondo (2004), during adolescence, students engage in antisocial behaviours such as drug and alcohol abuse and irresponsible sexual behaviour, which leads to decline of moral integrity, because they lack knowledge on how to effectively spend and manage their leisure time. These antisocial behaviours could sometimes be a mirror image of violence regularly witnessed in and out of school. According to Ibuchim (2016) the following are types of anti-social behaviours in our educational system: bullying, examination malpractice, bullying, truancy, stealing, drug abuse, sex offences, cigarette smoking, illicit drinking, absenteeism and lateness to school. This study focused on sexual behaviour, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and drugs abuse.

Parrott et al., (2004) opined that most adolescents start indulging in drugs as early as the age of 12. This problem usually begins with smoking cigarettes at the toilets and behind  classroom even during lessons and break periods. Thus this negatively affects their academic participation. This is so because they spend time smoking while lessons are on-going.  Adolescents also tend to be violent and aggressive towards their friends, peers, mates, are under towards their parents, educators, and other members of the community when under the influence of drugs. Hence this limits their academic participation as some may be suspended while their mates are studying or even dismissed.

Adolescents indulge in such practices of drugs and substance consumption for several reasons among which are: due to their developmental stage, peer group pressure, family problems and stress relief (Jaffe, 1998; Liddle & Rowe 2006; Rice & Dolgin, 2008).  In doing this, they seem not to consider  the long term effects of these drugs on their lives. According to Berk (2007), the consumption of substances by adolescents is an indication of the element of sensation seeking available in the years of adolescence. Adolescents indulge in substance abuse as a means of channelling their heightened energy which constitutes this developmental stage (Rikhotso, 2002).  It is also a source of fun and pleasure for many (De Miranda, 1987; Rice, 1992; Rice & Dolgin, 2008). More so, adolescents also indulge in substances as a means of showing their boldness and sense of adventure because to them nothing disastrous can happen to them (Conger, 1991). Some adolescents consume substances as a means of rebellion, protest, and showing their dissatisfaction with stated rules, norms and values.

According to Berk (2001) alcohol and drug consumption have lifelong effects in the in the life of adolescents. They influence not only their physical health, but also their thoughts or cognition and subsequently their behaviours. A depressant such as Alcohol may cloud the adolescent’s judgment and reduces social inhibition (Gabhainn and Francois, 2000). Given that Adolescents are generally and naturally less in control of their emotions alcohol use may make things worse by decreasing their ability to make rational decisions. Thus alcohol and other drugs such as Indian hemp increase adolescents’ risk-taking and antisocial behaviours especially their sexuality or sexual behaviours (Strunin and Hingson, 1992; Unachukwu and Nwankwo, 2003).

Sexuality according to Insel and Roth (2004) is a domain of personality shaped by biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors. Furthermore, Samuel (2010) went further to elaborate that the sexuality of humans consists of ones’ behaviour and processes, including the physiological, social, cultural, political and spiritual or religious aspects of sex. In this study, sexual behaviour is seen as synonymous with sexuality and adolescent sexual behaviours are seen as all those behaviours which adolescents engage in which are fallouts of their sexual development and desires.

Amonini and Donovan (2006) opined that adolescents are experimenters as they experiment with lots of human behaviours including drug use and sex. Alcohol and drug use among adolescents can be influenced by a number of factors such as the availability of alcohol. The availability of alcohol enhances its use and abuse by adolescents. Alcohol use has been observed by Hahn and Payne (1997) to be a very big issue for most secondary school students. To them this is owing to the fact that the use of alcoholic beverages is very common in most social occasions and gatherings. Kloepet al., (2001) also observed that alcohol is readily available to adolescents through direct purchase. In addition, Berk (2001) stated that Alcohol, tobacco (including cigarettes) and Indian hemp are  the most commonly used and abused drugs in most societies. Drugs in this study therefore refer to such drugs of abuse as Indian hemp, tobacco, glue, thinner, cocaine, tramadol among others. These substances and alcohol are capable of changing ones’ perception which also influences ones’ behaviour.

Furthermore, adolescents seem to experiment with substances and illicit behaviour even after hearing the dangerous effects of such practices. Parrott et al., (2004) posited that the experimentation with alcohol, tobacco and cannabis is a very common practice among adolescents. This happens because of their desire to behave and look like grownups which is a developmental need as well as to protest and challenge adult authority (Donald et al., 2007; Rice & Dolgin, 2008). Adolescents, who no longer see themselves as children, want to look more mature and adult-like. They feel that being in possession of a drink will make them look grownup (Donald et al., 2007). This type of behaviour can have profound health, economic and social consequences, for example, some adolescents participate in deviant peer groups, unprotected sexual intercourse, interpersonal violence, destruction of property and perform poorly in their studies (Jaffe, 1998)

More so, to Rayne (2009) having drunken sex is easier but very dangerous as it is more likely to result to sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. To him this happens in that when someone is under the influence of alcohol or drunk, he/she is less likely to make use of contraceptives. Ilo (2004) also found out that there is a high rate of unsafe sexual practices among a majority of teenagers. This could be linked to the increase in the number of youths who are abusers of sex (Bamaiyi, 1998; United Nations Office on Drug Abuse and Crime-UNDOC, 2007). Rayne (2009) also observed that cases of rape during dates are very high when the victim is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Thus there is a need for intervention so as to limit and if possible stop alcohol and drugs use among adolescents.

Dependence on any substance/drug is damaging to the individual as well to society (Alloy et al., 1996; Butcher et al., 2004; Carson et al., 2000). Substance abuse does not only affect the individual, it also  affects  the  family,  friends,  teachers  at  school  and  other  members  of  the  community. Adolescents abusing substances may become withdrawn, moody, irritable or aggressive. That often leads to deterioration in family, peer group, and school relationships (Parrott et al., 2004). All these limits students participation in lessons and other school related activities. In the long run the academic performance may drop followed by an increase in truancy (Berk, 2007; Burger, 2008). Finally, they end up being dismissed from school due to poor behaviour (Donald et al., 2007).

Furthermore,  school  children  who  use  substances  often  suffer  from  impairment  of  short-term memory  and  other  intellectual  faculties,  impaired  tracking  ability  in  sensory  and  perceptual functions,  preoccupation  with  acquiring  substances,  adverse  emotional  and  social  development and thus generally impaired classroom performance. Reduced cognitive efficiency leads to poor academic perfkormance, resulting in a decrease in self-esteem and the adolescent may eventually drop out altogether. This contributes to instability in an individual’s sense of identity which, in turn,  is  likely  to  contribute  to  further  substance  consumption,  thus  creating  a  vicious  circle (Lakhanpal & Agnihotri, 2007).

Adolescents academic participation is an assessment of  adolescents involvement in academic activities. It also refers to the extent to which adolescents involve themselves in a class, course, assignments, and in both curricular and co-curricular activities. Items that might be evaluated in adolescents participation are engagement in class discussions, engagement in online discussions and adolescents behaviour in group settings. Students, who find difficulties in coping with adolescent crisis, turn to face challenges in their academic participation. It is vital for education stake holders to encourage students to actively participate in academic activities both inside and outside the classroom so as to enhance academic performance. According to Wade (1994), children can learn more if they are  active and participate in class discussions. To him, effective learning process occurs when both the teacher and students collaborate and actively participate in the learning activities. However, most often than not, students do not actively participate but they remain passive in the classroom despite the encouragements and use of various teaching methods by the instructors to stimulate active participation from students (Abdullah, Bakar & Mahbob, 2012).

According to Dancer and Kamvounias (2005) participation can includes a student’s total engagement process which comprises of: preparation, contribution to discussion, group skills, communication skills, and attendance. Classroom participation is an important factor in producing positive learning outcomes for students as well as develops their abilities. Participation helps students build on their knowledge and understanding, prove that they have understood the subject matter, develop confidence, and their ability to apply theory to practice. According to Garside (1996) it helps students to think critically and engage in appropriate interaction with their mates and teachers on the basis of knowledge acquired. These skills are important for their advancement throughout their educational ladder as well as preparing them for their future careers. To Rocca (2010), the more students participate in teaching and learning, the less memorization they will do. This also promotes high levels of thinking such as interpretation, analysis, and synthesis (Smith, 1977). Participation also improves students’ communication skills, group interactions and their ability to function in a democratic society (Dancer & Kamvounias, 2005.

The more a student uses tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and other substances, the more likely he or she will perform poorly in school, drop out, or not continue on to higher education (Berk, 2007; Davison et al., 2004; Rice, 1992). Furthermore, adolescents who abuse substances may neglect and abandon their academics and even absent from school. This leads to the obtainment of poor scores/ grades. To make matters worse, they also become very hostile and aggressive towards their mates and teachers (Donald et al., 2007).  Given the fact that some substances are very expensive, the need to sustain their independence may lead them to stealing so as to purchase them (Donald et al., 2007). Some adolescents drop out of school and turn to other crimes such as robbery and gang-related activities to support their habit.

Liu (2001) elaborated four types of student behaviours in the classroom as full integration, participation in the circumstances, marginal interaction, and silence observation. In full integration, students engage actively in the class discussion, here they know what they want to say and what they should not say. Their participation in class is usually spontaneous and occurs naturally (Zainal, 2007). In marginal interaction, students act more as listeners and less to speak out in the classroom. Unlike the students who actively participate in the classroom discussions, this category of students prefers to listen and take notes than involved in the classroom discussion. Lastly, in silent observation, students tend to avoid oral participation in the classroom. They seem to receive materials delivered in the classroom by taking notes using various strategies such as tape-recording or writing. It can be conclusively proven that being active in classroom discussion will make the students to learn more. However, the instructor and the education provider must take into consideration the factors that stimulate or hinders the students to be active learners in the classroom (Abdullah, Bakar & Mahbob, 2012). Despite all the efforts put in by the teachers and the educational stake holders, adolescents’ academic participation is still timid since most of them are found in acts of violence, school abandonment and poor academic performance. These factors are largely caused by the involvement of these adolescents in early sexual behaviours, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and drug use.

Theoretically, this study was guided by the following theories:

• Social Disorganization Theory (Shaw Clifford & Henry McKay, 1942)
• Observational (Social) Learning Theory(Albert Bandura, 1986)
• Erik Erikson (1958-1963): The Psycho-Social Development Theory
• Theory of Student Involvement (Astin, 1984).

The theory of social disorganization states a person’s physical and social environments are primarily responsible for the behavioral choices that a person makes. At the core of social disorganization theory, is that location matters when it comes to predicting illegal activity. Shaw and McKay (1942) noted that neighborhoods with the highest crime rates have at least three common problems, physical dilapidation, poverty, and higher level of ethnic and culture mixing. Shaw and McKay (1942) claimed that delinquency was not caused at the individual level, but is a normal response by normal individuals to abnormal conditions. Social disorganization theory is widely used as an important predictor of youth violence and crime

Bandura (1986) is noted as one of the exponents of the theory of social or observational   learning. Bandura has been the single figure most responsible for building a solid empirical foundation for the concept of learning through modelling, or imitation. Social learning theory deals with how people learn through observing others. According to Bandura, children are affected by observational learning, or modelling, which, he argues, plays a highly significant role in the determination of subsequent behaviour. His work, focusing particularly on the nature of aggression, suggests that modelling plays a highly significant role in determining thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. Bandura claims that practically anything that can be learned by direct experience can also be learned by modelling. This means that we learn by observing the behaviour of others and in this light, adolescents turn to copy from their peers. In social learning theory, reinforcement is not a prerequisite for learning to occur, but this increases the chance that what has been learnt will definitely be performed. Social Learning theory is also a major theory that implies that criminal behavior is learned through close relations with others, it asserts that children are born good but learn to be bad.

Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development identifies eight distinct but related stages of development. During each stage, the person experiences psychosocial crisis which could have either a positive or negative outcome for personality development or behaviour.  According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. This study focuses on the fifth stage of Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development (Identity vs. Role confusion) that takes place during adolescence (12 to 18 years). This is because the study is centered on adolescents in secondary schools. This phase of life is impressively influenced by independence and self-consciousness.

The theory of Student Involvement (Astin, 1984) emphasizes on the active participation of the student in the learning process. The theory of student involvement encourages educators to focus less on what they do and more on what the student does: how motivated the student is and how much time and enerkgy the student devotes to the learning process. The theory assumes that student learning and development will not be impressive if educators focus most of their attention on course content, teaching techniques, laboratories, books, and other resources. With this approach, student involvement, active participation in a lesson-rather than the resources or techniques typically used by educators-becomes the focus of concern.

Statement of the Problem

Children are expected by society in general to be of good moral values and character within and out of school; for this goes a long way to guarantee their success in school and in life. Unfortunately, one of the major social problems in our schools is the reported increase in the number of students involved in delinquent acts of violence, drug abuse, smoking, and aggression daily. It is very common to find students nowadays smoking, drinking alcohol and fighting with their teachers and even with the school administration.

Despite the government’ efforts to enforce discipline and appropriate behaviours in schools such as the increase in the number of discipline masters, mistresses and counsellors per school, antisocial behaviours are becoming rampant in secondary schools with a new dimension such as killing. Furthermore, due to these inappropriate behaviours, the students may suffer from poor academic participation; avoid school engagements, as some end up behind the classrooms or dormitories indulging in acts such as smoking even during lessons. Some may end up being suspended, dismissed thus constituting wastage in our educational system. Some of these antisocial behavours such as smoking, drug abuse, illicit sex are also claiming the lives of our future leaders. This thus motivated the researcher to carry out this study to find out whether anti-social behaviours influences adolescents’ academic participation.

Objectives of the Study

The study was guided by the following objectives:

General Research Objective

To investigate the influence of anti-social behaviours on adolescents’ academic participation in some selected secondary schools in Buea Municipality.

Specific Research Objectives

• To investigate the influence of sexual behaviours on adolescents’ academic participation.
• To establish the extent to which alcohol consumption influences adolescents’ academic participation.
• To determine how cigarette smoking influence adolescents’  academic participation.
• To assess the influence of drug abuse on adolescents’ academic participation.

Research Questions

The following research questions were derived from the above stated objectives:

General Research Question

To what extent does anti-social behaviour influence adolescents’ academic participation?

Specific Research Questions

• To what extent does sexual behaviour influence adolescents’ academic participation?
• To what extent does alcohol consumption influence adolescents’ academic participation?
• How does cigarette smoking influence adolescents’ academic participation?
• To what extent does drug abuse influence adolescents’ academic participation?

Research Hypothesis

The study was guided by the following hypothesis

General Hypothesis

Ho₁: There is no significant relationship between anti-social behaviours and adolesents’ academic participation

 Ha₁: There is a significant relationship between anti-social behaviour and adolescents’ academic participation

Specific Hypotheses

Ho₁: There is no significant relationship between sexual behaviour and adolesents’ academic participation

Ha₁: There is a significant relationship between sexual behaviour and adolescents’ academic participation

Ho₂: There is no significant relationship between alcohol consumption and adolescents’ academic participation

Ha₂: There is a significant relationship between alcohol consumption and adolescents’ academic participation

Ho₃: There is no significant relationship between cigarette smoking and adolescents’ academic participation

Ha₃: There is a significant relationship between cigarette smoking and adoledcents’ academic participation

Ho₄: There is no significant relationship between drug abuse and adolescents’ academic participation

Ha₄: There is a significant relationship between drug abuse and adolescents’ academic participation