INFLUENCE OF DRUG ABUSE ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL FEMALE STUDENTS IN NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Drug abuse most especially among female students is causing a lot of concerns and need to be handled with all seriousness. The constant abuse of drugs by female students in our secondary schools has led to juvenile delinquencies, lost of concentration, truancy, school drop outs and poor academic achievements among female students. The study was therefore carried out to investigate the influence of drug abuse on academic achievements of senior secondary school female students in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The study was guided by one objective, one research question and one null hypothesis. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of drug abuse on the academic achievement of female senior secondary school students in Nasarawa State. The study employed a descriptive survey research design and the population of the study was 10,590 female students from 235 public senior secondary schools in the state with a sample of 322female students chosen using multi stage sampling techniques. A questionnaire tagged “Drug Abuse and Academic Achievement” (DA&AA) was used as instrument for data collection. Mean and standard deviations were used to answer the research question while the null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 significant level using t- test. Findings of the paper revealed that drug abuse has led to poor academic achievement among female senior secondary school students in the area. The study therefore recommends that the secondary school authorities in Nasarawa state should liaise with other relevant agencies to embark on sensitization campaign in secondary schools on the danger of indulging in drug abuse.