THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL VALUE SYSTEM ON SUCCESS ORIENTATION AMONG ADOLESCENTS
ABSTRACT
The study examined the influence of parental value system on students’ success orientation at the secondary level in selected public secondary schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State. Also, this study reviewed some relevant and related literatures under sub-headings.
The descriptive research survey was applied in this study for the assessment of the opinions of the selected respondents for this study, with the use of the questionnaire and the sampling technique.
A total of 120 (one hundred and twenty) respondents were sampled for this study. Four null hypotheses were formulated and tested, with the application of the t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation tools at 0.05 level of significance.
1. There is a significant influence of parental value system on students’ academic performance in school.
2. There is a significant influence of negative parental value system on students’ social adjustment in the society.
3. There is a significant relationship between positive parental value system and adolescents’ success orientation in school.
4. There is a significant gender difference in students’ success orientation due to parental value system.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The child’s parents are the greatest influence on his/her development in two indisputable ways. Firstly, parents provide the child with his/her biological heritage. Secondly, they organize his/her life. Parents within this family structure, act as socializing agent in providing goals and value system from which the child develops various patterns of behaviours.
In some situations, parents adopt care free attitude towards the learning of their children, even their social orientation, and this has in many instances, caused the low academic performance of children even their maladaptive behaviours in their immediate society (Hake, 1999).
According to Ndubuisi (2005) there is a positive correlation between parental attitude and children’s social orientation and academic achievement. Ndubuisi is of the opinion that parents’ dimensions of value placement on their children’s well-being or otherwise significantly affects the child’s positive or negative adaptation to his/her society.
As Adeleke (2000) puts it, parents who place positive value on their children, care for them very well by providing them with necessary amenities at home which help to facilitate their educational careers, and by providing medical care and nurturing them morally. The resultant effect is the moulding of good behaved children who are well adjusted to their immediate environment.
Uzomah (2006) postulates that if parents exhibit positive values in terms of providing for their children’s education, such children who are well catered for, will no doubt, be high academic achievers, while those whose parents place negative values on their education will grow up to be low achievers in their educational career. This will equally show in their poor social adjustment to their larger communities.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Parents’ attitudes play important role in the social and academic lives of their children. For instance, parents who place negative values on the academic career of children will not provide them with the necessary books, school uniforms and pocket money for feeding. They will not also give the children good and nutritious diets that would cause them to grow rapidly and to be more intelligent. The result of this is poor academic performance by the children. In terms of their social orientations, children would not behave well in their society, if their parents display negative values in the method of bringing them up in the right dimension. This study is embarked upon as a result of the concern for the influence of parental value system on success orientation among adolescents in the society.
