EFFECTS OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT COUNSELLING TECHNIQUE ON TOBACCO SMOKING AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KATAGUM, BAUCHI STATE-NIGERIA (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the effect of positive reinforcement counselling technique on tobacco smoking among secondary school students in Katagum, Bauchi State. The research design adopted for this study was a quasi-experimental involving a pre-test and post-test research design. Population of the study consists of 1772 SS2 students from twelve senior secondary schools. The instrument used for this study Tobacco Smoking Assessment Scale (TSAS) was designed by the researcher. Section A sought for the Demographic data while Section B contains 15 items that may likely be the reasons of tobacco smoking. Data collected were analysed using Spearman’s coefficient correlation to find out the reliability of the instrument. A coefficient correlation of 0.778 was obtained. The procedure for data collection in this study was in three stages, the pre-test, treatment session and post-test, the subjects were pretested then exposed to positive reinforcement counselling technique treatment for six weeks; each session lasted for 30 minutes. The Treatment group were post tested after the treatment. The data collected were analysed.Null hypothesis one was tested using the inferential statistics of paired sample t test, null hypothesis two and three with the independent t test. It was found out that significant difference existed on the effect of Positive reinforcement counselling technique on reducing tobacco smoking among secondary school students (t = 23.09 and p = 0.00), There was no significant difference in effect of positive reinforcement counselling technique on tobacco smoking among male and female secondary school students (t = 0.97 and p = 0.34) and There was no significant difference of positive reinforcement counselling technique on tobacco smoking among secondary school students in the rural and urban area (t = 0.73 and p = 0.47). Based on the findings,it was recommended that the school counsellors should make use of positive reinforcement counselling technique to reduce and manage the tobacco smoking habit of the secondary school students among others.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
It is the ambition of every parent to see the successful graduation of their children or wards without any behavior problem. One of the major problems constituting a stumbling block to the achievement of that ambition is the problem of adolescents, particularly on drug and substance abuse. One of the substances commonly abused by the adolescents particularly of secondary school level is nicotine, which has been classified as one of the leading ‗‘gateway‘‘ drugs. The gateway drugs have been described as the substances people tend to try first when they start using drugs. This substance has been classified along with alcohol and marijuana. Personal experiences by the researcher in some secondary schools in Bauchi state show that students hide themselves in groups confining themselves in obscured places during break times to indulge in cigarette smoking which is harmful to their health.
Cigarette smoking remains one of the foremost causes of preventable disease and death across the world. In the United States, approximately 23% of adults are regular smokers (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2002) and smoking is associated with one in every five deaths (CDC, 1999). Recent reports show that the rate at which people quit smoking in clinical trials are on the decline and suggest that those smokers able to quit relatively easily have done so (Irvin & Brandon, 2000 and Irvin, Hendricks and Brandon, 2003). The remaining smokers are believed to be those who are particularly dependent or have disproportionate difficulty quitting. It has been suggested that the recalcitrant nature of remaining smokers reflects underlying psychological and biological factors rendering these individuals highly resistant to change and disproportionately prone to relapse following a quit attempt (Gilbert & Gilbert, 1995 and Gilbert et al., 1998)….
