Effects of gender and parenting styles on the acquisition of democratic values by Nigerian Youths in secondary schools

Abstract

Paragraph three of the National Policy on education spell out the values which should permeate the quality of instruction at all level of the education system. The extent at which school leavers acquire such values could be affected by many factors like age, ethnicity, home, geographical location and gender among others. This expost-facto study, therefore looked into the effects of gender and preening styles on the acquisition of democratic values by Nigerian Youths in secondary schools selected within five Local Government Areas sampled in Oyo State. Five Hundred school prefects were the subjects purposively selected for this study. A -16-item questionnaire designed identified twelve democratic values and three parenting styles upon which responses were gathered and analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, chi square and t-test statistics. The findings revealed that secondary school students acquired an appreciable level of discipline, intelligence, leadership, love, respect and solidarity/unity but are very deficient in the area of division of labour, freedom, morality, selflessness and vocational skills / creativity. Among the recommendations given is the need to lay more emphasize on democratic values both at home and in the school, and a reorientation of learners towards the quest for a democratic nation using education as a tool in the process of curriculum implementation.