Project Topic

Influence of parental monitoring on the girl child's academic achievement in Lagos state.

1.1 Background to the study

The academic achievement of a girl child is a central focal point for any society due to the idea
that ensuring their education helps promote a more successful future (Boon, 2007). Students who
have higher academic achievement are at an advantage in terms of positive outcomes such as joy,
pride, and happiness (Elliot & Dweck, 2009). Having higher academic achievement has been
associated with positive characteristics, including self-esteem, self-efficacy, and motivation
(Bandura, 2007). Academic success in terms of higher academic achievement has long been
thought to be the path to a stable livelihood and a successful future (Hyde & Kling, 2011). Low
academic achievement may create many negative consequences for students. Students with low
academic achievement may be more vulnerable to problems such as stress, hopelessness,
delinquency, psychopathology, and substance abuse (Assarian, & Asqarnejad, 2006). Therefore,
it is essential to investigate factors that may influence academic achievement amongst school
going adolescent girls in public secondary schools in Makadara Sub County in Nairobi County.
Although there are many factors that influence academic success such as peer relationships and
school environments, parenting styles may be especially an important influence on academic
success (Eccles, 2010) Researchers such as Chao and Querido (2012) have shown that parents,
through their parenting styles built critical foundations for various aspects of children‟s
development and achievement. Moreover, Jacobs and Harvey (2005) indicated that parenting
style is one of the significant contributors to student‟s academic achievement in school. Further,
Spera (2005) postulated that parenting styles emphasize on the response parents provide to their
children and the method which they use to demand compliance from their children. Baumrind
(2005) 2 categorized types of parenting style based on two dimensions which are responsiveness
and demandingness. According to Baumrind, responsiveness refers to the degree that parents
promote self-assertion and individuality by showing care and acceptance to children‟s desires.
Care and acceptance includes kindness, support for independence, and logical contact.
Demandingness refers to demands that parents make on children to be included into society
(Baumrind, 2005). The demands are imposed through monitoring and controlling of children‟s
behaviors, as well as communicating the demands directly to the children. The combination of
the levels of responsiveness and demandingness creates three types of parenting styles:
authoritarian, authoritative and permissive (Baumrind, 2005). Authoritarian parents are highly
demanding and unresponsive, and tend to emphasize obedience and respect for authority.
Permissive parents have low levels of demandingness and high levels of responsiveness, and
moderately imbalance in leniency. In contrast, authoritative parents show a sense of balance
between high levels of demandingness and high levels of responsiveness. Parents who are
authoritative will communicate with their children, monitor their children‟s behaviors and
express warmth and support their children‟s needs and challenges. According to (Attaway &
Bry, 2006) authoritarian parenting is related to low academic achievement and higher levels of
school problems. Permissive parenting is also found to significantly correlate negatively with
academic achievement (Lee, 2007). This means that parents with too high or too low
demandingness and responsiveness have children with low academic achievement. Past studies
conducted in South Africa and Nigeria established a positive correlation between authoritative
parenting style and academic achievement (Slaten, 2009). As such, students with better academic
achievement have parents who are more authoritative

1.2. Statement of the problem

The effect of parent care on a child at any given time cannot be over emphasized. The home is
very germane and crucial to a child’s wellbeing and development in later life. Family is the
primary cell of society where the child’s upbringing must begin since his birth, still in cradle.
According to the person’s principles established since childhood are like letters engraved in the
back of a young tree, which grow, enlarge with it making its integral part. Therefore, right
beginning makes the most important part of upbringing/education. Nobody ever said that
children were easy to rise. They don’t come with guidelines or instructions, and they certainly
don’t come with a pause button. What they do come with is a crucial set of physical and
emotional needs that must be met. Failure of the parents to meet these specific needs can have
wide-ranging and long-lasting negative effects especially on academic performance.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to find out the influence of parental monitoring on the girl child's
academic achievement in Lagos state.
. The specific objective of this study includes:

1. To determine the influence of parenting adopted by parents in bringing up girl child

affects her chosen career.
2. To examine the relationship that exist between girl child from permissive home and
those from authoritarian home.
3. To ascertain the level of academic achievement of girl child from authoritarian home and
those from permissive home.
4. To assess the level of motivation available to girl child from parents who are educated
and from those from parents who are not educated.

1.4. Research Questions

The following questions were raised to guide the study:

i. To what extent does parental influence affects your ambition?

ii. To what extent does the parenting style affects the girl child relationship with her parents
iii. To what extent does parental influence affects the girl child academic achieve
iv. To what extent does the parental motivation affects the girl child education

1.5. Research Hypotheses

H01: there is no significant relationship between parental influence and academic achievement.

1.6. Scope of the study

This study is focused on the influence of parental monitoring on the girl child's academic
achievement in Lagos state. This research is delimited to all girl child in public Senior Secondary
Schools 1-2 in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State.

1.7. Significance of the study

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of benefit to ministry of
education and parents. This study would provide a feedback to parents‟ through which they
would be able to gauge themselves to see whether or not they are within the realm of the larger
society as far as parental monitory of Girl-Child Education is concerned. The study will also be
of great benefit to the researchers who intends to embark on research on similar topics as it will
serve as a guide. Finally, the study will be of great importance to academia’s, lecturers, teachers,
students and the general public.

1.8. Methodology

POPULATION OF THE STUDY

The population of the study is the total group of all individuals who fit into a group by some pre-
set criterion, Adeosun & Udabah, (2013). The population of this study consist of all the girl child
in public senior secondary school (SS1-SS2) in Kosofe local government of Ogun State.

SAMPLE AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE

Due to the large number schools located in the area of study, coupled with time, financial
constraints, the researcher pegged the sample size to 200 girl child in SS 1 and 2. This size stands
to represent the whole of the population of study. The size afforded the researcher the comfort
and ease to analyze all data gathered through questionnaire.

The sampling procedure used for the study is convenient sampling technique. The respondents
are from all works of life to be able to get valid and accurate data for analysis

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

For the purpose of this study, the researcher makes use of Respondents’ Questionnaire (RQ) as
an instrument for data collection. The instrument consists of two parts: the descriptive and the
analytical part. The descriptive part consists of respondent’s bio-data while the analytical part
consists of twenty questions in all, which is sub divided into four headings and each headings has
five questions which is design using likert scale format with four options:

SA- Strongly agree (4)

Agree (3)

D- Disagree (2)

SD- Strongly disagree (1)

1.9 BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW

MOTHER’S MONITORING ON THE GIRL CHILD'S

In research, the role of mother or woman as an educator has been identified as a
significant resource in the creation of an individual's identity, maybe even more important than
the parents' marital status and professional standing in their own right. To some extent, being a
mother seems to be more powerful for a woman than being the father of a specific child for her
husband. Whenever possible, the earliest and most appropriate chunk or segment of a child's
development corresponds to the biological and physiological link between the mother and the
infant. A mother's life is important since she is the one who brings her child into this world and
then raises them from infancy until maturity, when they are completely independent from her
(Ceka, & Murati, 2018).
Mother's engagement is crucial in this regard and it may be divided into two portions or
directions: the first is tied to the child's defense and the second is linked to the child's overall
development. Mother's protection is a broad term that incorporates a wide range of behaviours
and activities as a role. A child's physical protection falls under the first category, which means
that the child must be provided with healthcare and sanitation conditions so that he or she can
live a healthy life in a safe home environment in all senses of the word, including the ambiance
in which the child lives, which must be well-lit, a healthy place where the child can be showered,
fed and cared for in general. Mental protection is the second kind and may be observed in the
child's emotional security and psychological protection, especially when the mother is there, i.e,
when she is present with him.
This also covers maternal duties that are associated to the child's growth, which include
his or her physical, intellectual and emotional development as well as their own. The expectation
is that every child who grows up and is educated in the presence of his or her mother will
achieve an adequate level of physical development as well as psychological and social
development. These children have a much more pleasing appearance in this regard and they
appear to be having a good time. They appear to be enjoying childhood in general. As a
consequence, they are talkative and ready to work with others (Ceka, & Murati, 2018).
A consequence of this is that the mother's love and care for her child is thorough and
well-rounded and as a result, it is often accepted by other family members. For the appropriate
development of a family's children, this kind of developed love and dedication may be regarded
an essential prerequisite. The physical and psychological effects of the mother's behaviour are
passed on to the children, who perceive them as role models who impact their continuous
development throughout their emotional stage of moral value creation as a whole. This
component of the so-called child's identity is instilled in the child's mind for years on end and
continues to be imprinted in the child's psyche throughout his or her whole life. Their personality
and temperament are shaped by this and as a consequence, his or her opinions and thoughts are
reflected in interactions with others and in their overall behaviour with society. The ability for
mothers to provide basic child care while managing other obligations that are vital to the family's
well-being is something that almost every culture has figured out (Ceka & Murati, 2018).
Although women nowadays have a variety of alternatives for accomplishing or completing their
motherly roles, depending on their economic, social and emotional restraints, doing so is
beneficial to the child's overall development and helps mothers to enjoy being a mother. Modern
experiences have shown that derailments from this course of action are highly widespread, as
evidenced by the fact that single mothers from low-wage homes, teenage mothers and so on, are
all too often seen in this situation.

1.10. Definition of terms

INFLUENCE: The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of

someone or something, or the effect itself.

PARENT: In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where “child” refers to offspring, not
necessarily age). A biological parent is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male through
the sperm, and a female through the ovum. Parents are first-degree relatives and have 50%
genetic meet.

GIRL CHILD: The Girl Child. Though life for the girl child is steadily improving, many are
still subjected to horrific practices, such as female genital mutilation, son preference often
resulting in female infanticide as well as child marriage, sexual exploitation and abuse.
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: Academic achievement or (academic) performance is
the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long-term
educational goals. Cumulative GPA and completion of educational degrees such as High School
and bachelor’s degrees represent academic achievement.