Abstract
The objective of this research work is to find out the effects of indiscipline behavior on academic performance of senior secondary school students in Bwari area council of FCT, Abuja. Indiscipline as a feature of Secondary schools in Nigeria was no longer a news. Despite general consensus of everybody that a relatively peaceful atmosphere is needed before a minimum amount of learning could be achieved, this phenomenon has persisted in our schools. The findings indicated that schools which yielded poor academic performance were faced with learners’ disciplinary problems, which manifested in poor class attendance, late coming, persistent class disruptions, learners’ retaliation when disciplined by educators, alcohol and drug abuse, mocking and ignoring educators and plagiarism.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1     Background to the Study
Discipline, according to Jemibewon
(1976) is a highly desirable quality of human being or social group.ÂÂÂ
Discipline behavior is accepted as essential characteristics of any educated or
cultured person. Discipline, therefore, is a subject of great concern to
parents, teachers, and administrators who are interested in the moulding of the
character of young people.
In Nigeria, there appears to be a
great concern about the lack of indiscipline in schools, in offices and among
people in public sectors. However, the problem of widespread indiscipline
among primary school pupils and post primary schools is very clearly
noticed. Every year serious cases of rioting, arsons, damages to school
property occur in several post-primary schools and universities. In spite
of the extreme cases of indiscipline that attract newspapers headlines, there
are routine cases of truancy, disobedience, absenteeism, drug-abuse, fighting
and other example of indiscipline in the classroom which do not appear or are
reported in the Newspapers. From indiscipline among the students, it has
attracted much more attention than indiscipline among members of staff.ÂÂÂ
Parents blame teachers for the indiscipline among school children and teachers
blame parents, government and school administrators for the indiscipline in the
society. Nigeria like any other nation wants to live in peace and harmony
with their fellow country people regardless of their various ethnic groups and
religious affiliation. Today, education has contributed and attracted
increased government’s attention among other priorities. However, if
these objectives are to be achieved, discipline must be maintained in our
school system since learning and teaching cannot effectively take place under a
threatened atmosphere. But today, acts of indiscipline: riot, vandalism,
lawlessness and the breakdown of law and order has become a way of life of our
present school system. What then could be responsible for these acts of
indiscipline in our school system? Identification of these factors is
urgent if Nigeria is to achieve her goals in the committee of nations.
1.2 Statements of Problem
 Indiscipline in Nigerian
schools had been a running sore in the educational system of this
country. Indiscipline in our system had continued to persist in spite of
the series of warnings from the Heads of State and concerned Nigerian that
discipline should be maintained in the school system. Thus a number of
measures that were adopted, such as closing down riot schools, suspension or
dismissal of ring-leaders and the mass transfer of teacher in such school have
not yielded any good results.
The question therefore is; who is to
blame, the teachers or the peer-group or the home or the students?
Therefore, this study is designed to
investigate the causes of indiscipline among senior secondary school students.ÂÂÂ