The Effect of Child Abuse on Youths and their Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of Child Abuse on Youths and their Academic Performance in Bayelsa State. The study used descriptive survey as the design of the study. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select 52 schools out of 161 from which samples of 208 teachers and 1,139 students were drawn using the simple random sampling technique. Five (5) research questions and five (5) hypotheses were used for the study. The hypotheses were tested using t-test. A researcher’s structured questionnaire was used to obtain data for the study. The questionnaire contained twenty five (25) items to elicit teachers and students response based on the study. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant difference between the students abused and those not abused in their reading habits, but not applicable in their subject mastery, classroom participation, pass grade in examinations and submission of assignment. Based on the prevalence of child abuse in our society, it was recommended that there should be public enlightenment programmes to combat ignorance and public awareness on the right to freedom from all