Abstract

This study sought to investigate the influence of peer group on student’s behavior in the Buea municipality. The historical, conceptual, theoretical and empirical framework led to explicit stating of the identified problem. Research questions were constructed through which both structure items were deduced to make up the questionnaire.

This study revealed that peer group influence students behavior in secondary school. However, to a greater extent peer group influence students behavior positively than negatively. The research was limited to two secondary schools within the Buea municipality.

These schools are Government Bilingual High School Muea and Summerset Bilingual College Molyko Buea. The researcher recommended that parents, teachers should caution their children on the type of friends they make; their peers should be of good influence rather than bad. The government should provide school counselors o advice the students on the type of friends they keep.

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Introduction

The effect of peer group in some secondary schools is a study worth researching because behavior and academic performance also depends on how students interact with their peers.  My focus will be on the effects of peer group on behavior of students in some secondary schools in the Buea municipality

Historical Background

The effects of peer group on students behavior is an important issue to be looked at in an educational setting. Different theories   attempt to explain this and according to some of them, the average ability of class mates has an effect on one another schooling outcomes while others say that it promotes ones achievement Marsh (2005)one important   thing about peer groups is that, students instruct each other.

Also, it should be noted that as children leave their families to educational settings, they begin to form attachments and friendships develop through their play. These relationship influence behavior, peer pressure on behavior gradually becomes more dominant. Harris (1998), (2002) and Rowe (1994) stated that peer group has strong influence on them than that of their parents.  Gradually, children discover that others can share their feelings or attitudes or guide different ones. Peer groups serve as a measuring rode for student’s examining themselves and their feelings about self and family.

In recent years, the estimation of peer effects in schools has received much attention. Research has provided essential information about these effects in different situations. Many studies have discovered that students benefit from being around high achieving peers are Hoxby (2000), Sacredote (2001), Groux and Maurice (2011) and Ammermueller and Pischke (2009) .Students could be indirectly affected by their peers.

This can for instance come about through the way teachers react to different groups of students.  In its most acceptable form, the peer group is a healthy coming –of-age arbiter, by which children grasp negotiating skills and learn to deal with hostility and to solve problems in a social context. In its most destructive modes, the peer group can demand blind obedience to a group norm, which can result to behaviors that are unacceptable and also can result in socially alienated gangs with pathological out looks Perry (1987).

Furthermore, in ways similar to the community, the peer group becomes an agency of enculturation and learning. Even every young children develop a sense of self from their perception of Important people in their surroundings, including relatives, ethnic identity and parents occupations affect how families view themselves and the process by which they socialize their children Bronstein (2002).Later, as children leave the home setting, their self perception and socializing skills become influenced by how their peers view them.

The peer group also influences development of children’s socializing skills. These early friendships help children learn how to negotiate and relate to others, including their siblings and other family members. They learn from peers hoe to cooperate and socialize according to group norms and group sanctioned modes of behavior.  Also peer group can influence what the student’s likes, knows, wears, eats and learns. The extent of this influence depends on other situational constraints, such as the age and personality of students and the nature of the group Harris, (1998), Hartup, (1983).

Contextual perspective

The successful formation and navigation of inter-personal relationships with peers is a process central to adolescent development in all cultures. In European-American cultural context, an ever increasing amount of each day is spent in the company of peers from 10 percent as early as two years of age to 40 percent between the ages of seven and eleven   Voydanoff and Donnelly (1999).By high school, teens are spending more than half of their time in the company of their peers Updegraff et al (2001)

However, this study sets out to find out different type of peer group that are common among students and to find out if this group have more of a positive or negative effect on students behavior in secondary schools in the Buea municipality.

Statement of problem

From various researches one will notice that peer group has effects on student’s behavior and even academic performance. The nature and extend of involvement in any activity has an impact on the life of an individual behavior. Students sometimes make the right choices for friends and wrong ones.

It is with effect that one can come up with conclusion that peer groups have negative as well as positive effects on students’ behavior and therefore the ways and manners by which peer groups influence students behavior needs to be researched and documented. This will go a long way as to assist parents and counselors to understand the pattern of peer influence.

This study therefore set out to investigate the extent to which peer group influence the behavior of students in secondary schools in the Buea municipality.

General objectives of the study

The general objective of the study is to find out how peer groups affect students behavior in secondary schools in Buea municipality.

Specific Objectives

1. To determine whether social gatherings has an effect on student’s behavior.
2. To investigate whether group study has an effect on student’s behavior.
3. To investigate the extent to which the home environment influences student’s behavior.

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