CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY

A broken home is a home that is not structurally intact as a result of divorce, separation, death of one parent, illegitimacy, diminished parental availability, and remarrying of a parent. Broken homes have been defined in various ways including recurrent residential moves, separation from parent figure and marital dissolution or divorce Adam and chase-lands dale, (2002).

   According to Frazer (2004), psychological home conditions arises mainly from illegitimacy of children; the label of adopted child, broken family, divorce and parental deprivation.

Forty percent of children growing up in America today are being raised without their fathers. Wade, Horn and Busy, “Fathers, Marriage and Welfare Reform” Hudson Institute Executive Briefing, (1997).    

The family is the child’s first place of contact with the world. The child as a result, acquires initial education and socialization from parents and other significant others in the family.  Agulana (2000) pointed out that the family lays the psychological, moral and spiritual foundation in the overall development of the child. Life in a broken home can be stressful for both the child and the parent. Such families are faced with challenges of inadequate financial resources (children defense fund, 2004).   Schults (2006) noted that if adolescence from unstable homes are to be compared with those from stable homes, it would be seen that the former have more social, academic and emotional problems.

Roche Pakistan (2003) is of the opinion that the family and its structure play a great role in children’s academic performance. Levin (2001), states parents are probably the actor with the clearest undimensional interest in a high level of their children’s academic performance. To some extent, there is simple evidence to show that marital instability brings about stress tension, lack of motivation and frustration obviously, these manifestation acts negatively on a child’s academic performance and health. According to Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage –Harvard University Press (1981) studies in the early 1980’s showed that children in repeat divorces earned lower grades and their peers rated them as less pleasant to be around. 

Levin (2001) asserts that children of unmarried parents /separated families often fall at risk emotionally.  However, this may not be completely applicable in all cases of broken homes. Some children irrespective of home background or structure may work hard and become successful in life. More so, Ayedele (2007) stated that the environment where a child finds himself goes a long way in determining his learning ability and ultimately his academic performance.  Furthermore, children of divorced parents are roughly two times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers who benefit from living with parents who did not divorce reported by McLanahan, Sandefur, “Growing Up With a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps” Harvard University Press (1994).

            Generally, the home has been identified as an overwhelming factor affecting students’ performance academically. It would appear then that, broken homes may present a very serious danger to the emotional, personality and mental adjustment of the young adolescence. The school and the home must provide conditions favorable for social development of children to excel in their academic pursuit. So far the researcher has examined the perceived influence of broken homes on the health and academic performance of adolescence.

            The period of adolescence is between two extremes in the continuum of human growth and developmental stages (childhood and adulthood) often put the youngster in dilemma of how to meet the society expectations. Coping with adolescence in Cameroon schools demands a thorough understanding of the peculiarities of this age group which according to Durojaiye (1972) is  an area of identifying crises when the young star begins to ask questions such as “Who am I”? Crow and Crow (1962) on the other hand refer to children of adolescence as the “terrible teens”.

Academic performance is the measurement of student achievement across various academic subjects. Teachers and educational officials typically measure achievements using classroom performance, graduation rates and results from standardized tests. According to Akinboye (2004) academic performance is of two types; positive and negative performance. Habits, family background, attitudes, interests and environment all these and more affect academic achievement.  He concluded that if these variables are modified and attitude changed positively then the level of individual’s academic performance would improve. 

According to Velez-Cohen, “Suicidal Behavior and Ideation in a Community Sample of Children”  Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1988)  says people who come from broken homes are almost twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who do not come from broken homes.   Furthermore, a study of children six years after a parental marriage breakup revealed that even after all that time, these children tended to be “lonely, unhappy, anxious and insecure, reported by Wallerstein “The Long-Term Effects of Divorce on Children” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1991).

1.1   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

            There is a global awareness of the importance of the home environment on students’ health and academic achievement. The effects of broken homes on children are traumatic.   Broken homes can cause children to question their self-worth, to experience unnecessary grief, guilt or confusion .young children especially have difficulty understanding the rationalities of their parents to be separated .In broken homes it is difficult for children to find a sense of security because experience shows them that what seemed stable and good fell to pieces and left them empty. Growing up in broken homes may also cause children to have difficulty in future relationship

            A horrifying picture of the extend of broken Britain has been painted by an international report which exposes her moral failure, have the worst record on teen pregnancy in Europe and more children living in one parent families than any other European country

            In our society, children are sometimes exposed at an early age to all sort of danger arising from malnutrition, disease and various temptation of surviving due to absence of one or both parents. Students’ life in broken homes is associated with emotional stress that can impair intellectual development thereby giving way for such children to grow up without being trained properly. However, absence of one or both parent deprives young children of the stable love, care, security and total support they have been accustomed to and tend to make children different in the eyes of peer group. If children are asked where the missing parent is or why they have a new parent replaced the missing parents they become embarrassed and ashamed. They may also feel guilty and unwanted by the society such stress situation leads to psychological, emotional and intellectual imbalance in growing children. These subsequently result to quitting from school or poor academic achievement of secondary school student as education require critical thinking, relaxed mind and proper family support to be able to perform to expectation in the school.

The investigator upon observations, she witnessed a case of a young boy who started school up to form three.  Then there was a family conflict before the end of that academic year, the parents divorced.  At the commencement of the next school year it was difficult for him and his siblings to go back to school.  He and his siblings drop out from school.  He began pushing truck in the market to support the mother and his younger ones.

In another occasion she met with a lady who was expressing her feelings about broken home.  She reported “my children will forever be affected by their father’s actions.  They have had to learn about unspeakable pains and disappointments at a very tender age.  They have also learned to face fears by surrendering or to moving forward”.

Finally, the investigator personal experience growing up in a broken home has never been easy.  She learned at an early age that she had to hawk to support her mother to enable her and her siblings go to school.  She studies without didactic materials and textbooks because her mum couldn’t afford them. 

All these motivated the investigator to find out “The Perception of the Influence of Broken Homes on Children’s Health and Academic Performance: The Case of EBC, Bota Limbe.”

1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Do broken homes have any significant effect on a child’s health?
• Do broken homes have any significant effect on the academic performance?

• RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

1¹There is significant effect of broken home on secondary or high school students’

    health

1⁰ There is no significant effect of broken home on secondary or high school

     Students’ health

2¹ There are significant effects in the academic performance of student from

     Broken homes in secondary or high school.

2⁰ There are no significant effects in the academic performance of student from

    Broken homes in secondary or high school.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.4.1 General Objective

• To find out respondents perception on the influence of broken homes on the health and academic performance of children in Mile II Limbe

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

• To find out the influence of broken homes on the health of a child
• To find out the influence of broken home on a child’s academic performance