PARENTAL ROLE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DRUG ABUSE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA.

Abstract

The paper addressed problems faced by adolescents in the secondary schools especially JS2 students in Nigeria and also offer parents idea to helping their wards to face the juvenile delinquencies in the habit of drug abuse.  The role of parents in helping their children to positively face the adolescence challenges, especially the challenges of drug abuse, cannot be under-estimated. However the extent to which parenting styles predetermined secondary school student’s involvement in drugs is not well understood. The study investigated parental principles as indices and predictors of drug abuse among public secondary school students in Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design. This is appropriate because the children sometimes learn by observation. The population for the study from the selected schools used were 399 participants with girls (221) and boys (178). Two purposes, two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Among the findings of the study, multiple linear regression showed that parental role significantly predicts drug abuse among secondary school students and that it also account for student’s involvement in hard drugs. The findings also discovered that majority of the students relate with relations on drugs related issues rather than their parents. Authoritative styles try to correct children but invariably create fear in them. The study therefore, recommends that government through the Ministry of Education, should train school counselors to help the students, and parents to handle the menace their children are into.