Abstract

This study investigated youth culture as a predictor of students’ discipline problems within university neighbourhoods in Cameroon. Specifically, the work examined the extent to which alcoholism; smoking, dressing habits, dating experiences and gambling predict students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods. Three hundred and twenty-three participants consisting of 195 males and 128 females within the age range of 16 – 30 were sampled across seven (7) Faculties of the University of Buea. The survey research design was used and the sample of the study emerged through the purposive, snowball and convenient sampling techniques. A questionnaire and a support interview guide was administered on the participants for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics methods were used in data analysis. Descriptive statistics, consisting of tables of frequencies of the various weighted responses and percentages were used. Inferential statistical techniques using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used to verify the hypothesis of the study. With this bivariate linear regression was used as inferential statistical test. All the hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 and 0.01 level of significance. Bivariate linear regression analysis showed that youth culture was a significant predictor of students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon. Specifically, alcoholism [ F(l, 321) = 279.26, p <.001], smoking [F(l, 321) = 206.16,df=1p], dressing habits [F(l, 321) = 122.50,df=1p <.001], dating experiences [F(l, 321) = 282.19,df=1p <.001], and gambling [F(l, 321) = 212.59, p <.001] were significantly correlated with students’ discipline problems. Descriptively, dating (76.6%), indecent dressing (72.6%) and alcoholism (66%) were top on the chat with sexual crimes, violence, pornography, physical assault, misuse of school fees, duping of parents and sale of property as major cases of indiscipline. The above findings imply that youth culture actually predict students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon. The findings will also act as empirical evidence/literature to the fact that youth culture as practiced in university neighbourhoods is harmful, the findings will also enrich the knowledge bank and fill loop holes as far as literature is concerned within the area of study, this will assist other researchers in the field of study. In practice, students, staff and particularly counsellors will get more insights into the vices that emerge from youth culture within university neighbourhoods as such all stakeholders will know the angle from which to tackle the problem by fine tuning durable solutions to improve on discipline and morality in the society at large.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Historically, Austin and Willard (1998) indicated that the conditions necessary for the mass youth cultures recognizable today appeared after the formation of modern nation-states. The mass institutions of the nation-states, which separated young people from adults and gathered them in large numbers for education, religious instruction, training, work, or punishment, provided consistent locations in which youth cultures developed. According to Fasick (1984) youth culture developed in the 20th century when it became more common for adolescents to gather together. Prior to this time many adolescents spent a majority of time with adults or child siblings. As he posited, compulsory schooling and other societal changes which accorded young people more rights as postulated in the Universal Human Rights Act of 1948 made the joint socialization of adolescents with peer groups more prevalent.

As posited by Richardson (2012) adolescents in the 1960s entered high school and subsequently pushed their way into the nation’s universities in unprecedented numbers. This was as a result of the Baby Boom (a period when birth rates increased in the United States). the emergence of the Baby Boom came along with a strong culture which was a total contrast to that of the older generation. This was because their own culture as evident in music, style, language, and attitudes criticized and rendered former standards, limits, and boundaries questionable and permeable. As a result, the experiences of teenagers rapidly changed and deviated from earlier generations in significant ways.

The situation as indicated by Richardson (2012) enabled adolescents to emerge as a cultural, political, and economic force parents and other adults in and out of schools had to reckon with. Their style of dress, music, and the arts, use of media, social conventions, and expectations were transformed in ways that placed parents and youths at odds, a phenomenon that came to be known as the generation gap.

According to Fanso (1989) war veterans from World War II retuned with a lot of new ideas from the west. They had come to the realization that most of the “white men” were not different from them in some aspects of life. This now pushed them to demand for certain rights part of which was political freedom. This let to independence which came along with its benefits, part of which was higher education.

According to Fonkeng and Ntembe (2009) tertiary education began in Cameroon in 1962 when the Federal University was opened in Yaoundé until 1972 when it became the University of Yaoundé. It was mostly under the auspices of French men, noted for their lavishing and fashion-like lifestyles. Their social way of life coupled with the lifestyle of civil servants in the capital of Cameroon Yaoundé who had salaries to spend caught the attention of the university students. The need to make their own money, live their own life and be like the masters around them paved the way for the birth of what is today known as youth culture in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon.

Youth culture in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon today seems to have evolved from that which existed many years ago particularly in the 1960s because of  the expansion of the media with the evolution of technology. As observed in university neighbourhoods youth now consume excess alcohol, use more drugs, wear indecent and half naked clothes, play games of chance and engage in a series of romantic and sexual relationships. This seems to be fostered by trans-border trade through globalization.          With more than 200, 000 students admitted into Cameroon’s universities on an annual basis in recent years as revealed by the Statistics Unit (2015) of the Ministry of Education, student’s neighbourhoods have become congested. This has increased the demand for basic goods and services particularly dresses, shoes, drinks and hair styles and as well as the need for opportunities to make their own money. The situation as observed has facilitated illegal economic sojourns such as scamming, pick pocketing, gambling and most often sale of private property not forgetting squandering of school fees and blatant lies to parents. All of these are geared towards raising more money to finance their activities within the university neighbourhood like drinking, smoking, luxurious and indecent dressing and meeting the needs of romantic partners.

Theoretically, Erikson (1968) posited that the primary goal in the developmental stage of adolescence is to answer the question: “Who am I?” This being the case, it is natural to assume that in determining one’s identity, one would seek others within the same age group to grow and learn together and understand the social norms and values of society. In so doing the youth commonly engage in a common culture comprising different kinds of practices such as drinking of alcohol, smoking, dressing alike, dating, gambling and formation of gangs as part of conformity and the need to belong and be accepted by peers. This is a common situation in today’s university neighbourhood in Cameroon and in Molyko neighbourhood in particular.

Also Bandura (1977) in his social learning theory emphasized observation and modelling of behaviours, attitudes and emotional reactions of others as the basis of learning. He revealed that most human behaviour is learned observationally though modelling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviours are formed and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. The social learning theory explained human behaviour in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioural and environmental influences. Most of the aspects of youth culture in students neighbourhood such as the way the eat, talk, walk, dress, dance and party are imitated and modelled from peers, media, admired persons and other significant others within their environment and this forms the bases of their behaviours.

In addition, Harris (1998, 1995) in her group socialization theory revealed two important points about young people. The first was that parenting had no long term effects on the way children reasoned and behaved. The second was that peer groups had a primary environmental influence on children’s mentality and behaviour. In line with this study, the group that some young people identify with when out of the home is most often peer groups with whom they share common characteristics. This group plays a significant role in youth’s life. Such is the case with youths in university neighbourhoods who practice many aspects of youth culture like hanging out in bars late at night, clubbing, partying, wearing of indecent and luxurious fashion clothes, consuming intoxicated drugs in public and forming immoral romantic relationships. All of these are often done because they want to be feared, respected, accepted, and looked upon as heroes.

This psychological revelation is a clear picture of the scenario in university neighbourhoods where many students most of them still adolscents live their homes and parental control and now become independent youth, living a life of their own and trying to establish who they really are. This new and sudden independence paves the way for experiments and trials of all sorts motivated by the presence of peers and the nature of the environment or neighbourhood.

The situation was described by Hall (1904) as the period of “storm and stress” for adolescents. Even though it can be rightly said that many students in universities are already in their twenties way above the adolescent stage, a majority of them still experience the adolescent crisis. This is happens because some of them forfeited the adolescent experiences sometimes because of too much parental control, low socialization rate and sometimes too reserved nature. However the situation is often different in the university with an outburst or sudden realization of the need to involve, conform and be recognized.

As a result therefore, youth particularly those from universities in Cameroon are thus faced with a consequence probably behaviours which are often in contrast to the rules and regulations governing their studentship in the schools (universities) where they happen to be undergoing learning. This is assumed to be some form of indiscipline.

According to Dare, Hashim, Sweinam & Ofie (2004) as cited by Zubaida (2009) discipline in schools is seen as respect for school laws and regulations and the maintenance of an established standard of behaviour. All these imply self control, restraint, respect for oneself and others. A behaviour that contradicts the above becomes a discipline problem. As revealed by Bear (1998) and Gabor (1995),  most present day school discipline problems come in the form of verbal abuse, violence, bullying and disorderly behaviour which is often facilitated by and exhibited by young people under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. All of these as observed are aspects of youth culture.

According to Yahaya (2005) serious breaches of school discipline policy include; assault by students on teachers and other students, verbal abuse, offensive language against teachers and other students, sexual and other forms of harassment, threat and intimidation of teachers and other students, possessing offensive weapons, supplying or using illegal drugs, intrusions into the school or classrooms by adults with the intention of confronting teachers.

Ruberu (2003) acknowledged that general discipline in universities has deteriorated to such an extent that indiscipline tends to become the accepted norm. The students, the teachers and even the administration are afflicted with this calamity. A consequence of allowing this to continue unchecked, ignored and disregarded has increased chaotic incidents and activities within university neighbourhoods. He further revealed that chaos and anarchy in universities was evident in the frequent student clashes, staff student conflicts, absenteeism, gang fights, cheating in exams, falsification of results, violence, destruction of property and other documents.

As observed most of these discipline problems manifested are often planned and organized in the numerous bars and clubs that exist within the neighbourhoods of the university and sometimes under the influence of alcohol and other harmful drugs like marijuana. Such was the case with the frequent university strikes controlled by gangs and cults whose members spent time at night in bars and clubs intoxicating themselves with alcohol and other drugs to manifest and carry out violent strikes in the morning hours that disrupted university functioning. Such violent protests also destroyed property and injured while killing in most cases fellow students.

According to Sulaiman (2008) discipline problems have reached epidemic proportions in many school districts. In some universities in Cameroon lack of respect for authorities, staff, other school employees and the rights of other students is undermining the ability of schools to provide students with quality education.

Contextually, youths living in university neighbourhoods today like those in Molyko are like no other young people in history. While the older generation was once their age, they never experienced the kinds of difficulties and pressures that are experienced in contemporary society. To name a few of these difficulties as revealed by Sulaiman (2008) young people face violence, easy access to drugs, alcohol, graphic sexual images on billboards, magazine covers, easy access to internet sites, multiple gambling opportunities and movies as well as music stars who portray immorality in songs, dance and dressing which are common within the university neighbourhoods.

All of these are aspects of youth culture closely linked to indiscipline which they manifest and exhibit partly because of the neighbourhoods in which they live and in some cases facilitated by pressure from peers.  As observed, this is truly a complicated and challenging time for young people to develop and grow into intellectuals and morally upright citizens (leaders of tomorrow) which is the prime of their studies in the university.

To gain a better understanding of how youths are raised in Africa in general and Cameroon in particular, the societal realities that affect them have been examined and it is realized that more than ever before, there is tremendous pressure placed on them. According to Carstens (2013) contemporary youth struggle to make sense or meaning of their lives. It is so because they live in a world where they witness daily unsolvable problems of struggling economies, poverty, HIV, and religious and national conflict, and where they are generally treated with ambivalence and a threat to the existing social order.

Carstens (2013), also revealed that young people struggle because within the public imagination they exist on the fringe of society and many of them grow up in single parent homes; many begin working when they reach their teen years, many come from poor socio economic backgrounds and many are faced with conflicts and violence both within and out of their homes. As he indicated they must make difficult moral choices and experience more societal pressures than it has ever been imagined. As observed even those who come from financially stable homes are overwhelmed with excesses in basic needs and wealth which gives the latter a leeway to navigate through aspects of youth culture. Some of which are; wearing of clothes that expose their body parts which should be covered, playing games of chance to make excess and easy money, excess consumption of alcohol that leads to drunkenness as well as over use of cigarettes, tobacco and other intoxicants.

Fasick (1984) posited that youths are in a position to choose from many varying ideologies and subcultures, in some cases, they seem to be creating their own sub-cultures, seeking to break away and destroy the dominant mainstream culture. As posited by Kupelian (2011) in past eras, if parents were very imperfect or even corrupt, their children still had a reasonable chance of “growing up straight,” since the rest of society still more or less reflected Judeo-Christian values. The youngster could bond to a teacher, minister, mentor or organization that could provide some healthy direction and stability. But today, because of the near-ubiquitous corruption “out there,” if parents fail to properly guide and protect their children, they get swallowed whole by the child-molesting monster called youth culture. This indicates that even models and institutions like churches that could help in providing the standards as well as guide young people towards morality have collapsed.

As propounded by Giroux (1998), the contemporary neighbourhood settings and environment where most youth group together is certainly not the right environment where they can be groomed to and nurtured to maturity intellectually and academically.  As observed in Molyko, this stems from the fact that there are numerous bars that act as host to many negative activities like prostitution, drunkenness, excess public smoking that is harmful, violent quarrels and fights, improper spending  of pocket money and school fees, numerous gambling opportunities, pick pocketing and many others. As such, it will certainly not be an easy task for young people to emerge therein as true leaders of tomorrow as well as for the economic, social and political emergence of the nation by 2035.

Worried about the foregoing character and attitude portrayed by young people in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon, this study is geared towards finding out if there is a causal bond between youth culture within university neighbourhoods and students discipline problems in universities in Cameroon with a view of proposing solutions.

Statement of the problem

The essence of culture in any community is to provide norms that will guide its members to live happily together and support each other to succeed. Cultures like youth culture too ought to help develop positive young people and create an identity for them. However, this seems not to be the case as some aspects of youth culture in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon as observed instead helps to bring about discipline problems. This is evident in the way some of its aspects are manifested in university neighbourhoods such as alcohol abuse, use of drugs and other dangerous substances, indecent dressing, sexual relationships and betting of money on games of chance. All of these as observed is worsened by the influence of peer groups which play a negative role as some youth because of conformity and compliance , the need to belong and be accepted by peers,  frequently and abusively practice the aforementioned features of youth culture.  This seems to endanger the moral development of these young people who are allegedly regarded as leaders of tomorrow, corrupts the sanity of university neighbourhoods and poses a barrier to the wholistic development of youth and militates against efficient and effective functioning of the universities and as well as wastage of valuable resources. Given the statuesque, there is an urgent need to investigate the issue scientifically so as to propose solutions.

Objectives of the study

The main objective of this study was to investigate youth culture as a predictor of students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon.

Specifically, this investigation aimed at;

1. Determining the extent to which alcoholism predicts students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon.
2. Investigating the extent to which smoking practices predict students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon.
3. Finding out the extent to which dressing habits predict students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon.
4. Ascertaining the extent to which dating experiences predict students’ discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon.
5. Examining the extent to which gambling leads to students discipline problems in university neighbourhoods in Cameroon.