Abstract

This study was aimed at finding out the effects of parenting styles on students’ academic performance in the Buea Municipality. The population of the study area was 75 students drawn from three secondary schools in the Buea Municipality randomly selected. A survey research design was used for the study.

The instrument used for the study was a questionnaire, which was used to collect the data, and percentages and averages were used to answer the research questions. Three parenting styles were used in the study which are the laissez-faire, authoritarian, and democratic parenting styles. Three research questions guided the study.

How does laissez-faire parenting style affect the academic performance of students in the Buea Municipality? How does the authoritarian parenting style affect student’s academic performance? How does the democratic parenting style affect student’s academic performance?

From the findings, it was discovered that the democratic and authoritarian parenting style is best for parents who have children in school that is against the laissez-faire parenting style. It can also be said that children from laissez-faire parents do not perform well in academics due to a lack of control by parents.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

Education is the process of developing or training an individual to cope with the challenges of living. The quality of educated individuals available in any society determines its pace of development. The emergence of the Western form of education brought the formal education system (that is, the school system). According to Ojerinde (2000), the introduction of this system of education led to the type of education that is planned and provided under classroom situations by trained teachers.

School is a creation of community and students in schools are from different homes, the home activities go a long way in determining learners ‘success. For instance, Bakare (1994) advanced four causative phenomena that could affect individual scholastic achievement, these include the child’s attitude, family, school, and society. From these phenomena, parents stand in the position of the family. This shows the importance of the involvement of parents in the improvement of students’ academic performance.

Parental involvement includes a wide range of behaviors, but it generally refers to parents’ mode of training and investment of resources in their children’s schooling. Parents’ involvement at home can include activities such as discussion on school, helping with homework, and reading with children (Dauber, Epstein, 1993).

Parental beliefs and perceptions have also been shown to be strong predictors of parental involvement. In addition, Karback (1989) opined that the more favorable children perceived their parent’s behavior towards them, the more they are likely to perform successfully in school.

The style of parenting adopted in different homes affects the children’s disposition. This can be to the development of a child or to the detriment of his or her academic career. Baumrind (1973) attempted to link family interaction to children’s cognitive development. Goodmow (1988) and Miller (1986) have shown that

Positive parenting and child acceptance enhance children’s academic performance. This also makes them feel relaxed in odd circumstances, which include examination conditions (Heward 1992; Baumrind, 1988; Agbenihae, 1999).

Similarly, Taylor (1995) found that students whose parents adopted autocratic parenting styles scored lower grades in school. Also, students whose parents were permissive scored lower grades. Positive parenting does not only enhance the child’s cognitive development, it also aids in school-related behaviors.

Involving parents in the task of correcting school-related behavior is a practice that has been used effectively in a variety of therapy approaches (Lavigueur, Paterson, Sheese, and Peterson, 1973). Aremu (2001) noticed that recent studies place a high premium on the importance of positive parenting in children’s academic output. He added that a warm and positive child-parent interaction could serve as a boost to academic performance.

Generally, the parenting style of each parent directly has an effect on the child either positively or negatively in school. So, the academic performance of students in school counts so much on the types of parents they have and that is why the researcher is out to investigate the types of parenting styles and how they affect students in schools in the Buea municipality.

Statement of the problem

The education of a child involves teamwork between the home, school, and society. What is enhanced in school is expected to be reinforced at home. Unfortunately, this is not so. Some children do not perform well not because the school is not doing its part but because of the parenting style at home. Thus, this study aims at investigating the extent to which parenting style affects students’ performance.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to examine the various parenting styles of parents in the Buea municipality and how these styles affect the academic performance of children.

Objectives of the study

Specifically, this study intends to find out

1. If the Laissez-faire parenting style leads to students’ academic success.
2. If the authoritarian parenting style leads to students’ academic success.
3. If the democratic parenting style leads to students’ academic success.

Further Readings

PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECTS ON STUDENT’S ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN BUEA-SUB DIVISION SOUTH WEST REGION OF CAMEROON