INVESTIGATING THE EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE BEHAVIOUR OF PUBLIC JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ STUDENTS IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the external factors that influence the behaviour of public junior secondary schools’ students in Rivers State.  The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study consisted of all 14,365 junior secondary school students in Rivers State. Taro Yemane formula and simple random sampling techniques were adopted in selecting the sample size of 400 students. A structured questionnaire titled Investigating the External Factors that Influence the Behaviour of Public Junior Secondary Schools’ Students Questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Three experts validated the instructed and Cronbach Alpha Method was used to obtain an average reliability coefficient of 0.80. 400 copies of the questionnaire were administered to the respondents, and all were retrieved and used for the study. The items were rated on a four (4) point rating scale; mean and standard deviation was used to analyze the research questions while z-test was used in testing the formulated hypotheses. The findings reviewed that, the behaviour of junior secondary school students in Rivers State were influenced to a high extent by the family, peer pressure and the media. The researcher recommended that schools should organize workshops and seminars to educate parents on the importance of being actively involved in their children’s academic, schools should establish peer counseling systems where students can support and guide each other in making positive decisions, and personal development, and introduce community-based programmes to teach students about the impact of media and social trends, enabling them to make informed choices.