EFFECTS OF DRUG ABUSE ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING: A CASE OF STUDY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN IKENNE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE

ABSTRACT

Drug abuse, equally known as substance abuse, is the use of a substance usually for non-medical purposes which pose physical, emotional, social and mental threats to the users. Drug abuse penetrates across every phases of humanity, but more pervasive among adolescents and middle-aged youths. The study examines the effects of drug abuse on senior secondary school attitudes towards learning in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State. The study adopted the two-stage sampling technique in which 120 respondents were randomly selected from four secondary schools in the study area. A well-constructed questionnaire was developed to generate data for the study via its administration to the respondents. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistic analysis and the Pearson product moment of correlation was employed to test the hypothesis. Findings from the study reveal that alcohol is the commonest drug abused by the students; the perceived reasons for students’ engagement in drug abuse  amongst others include to reduce fear and tension, to build-up self esteem, confidence and boldness, peer influence, ability to face crowd and experimentation and curiosity. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found to exist between drug abuse and students’ attitude towards learning (r=-0.347; p<0.05). To this end, the study suggested that schools should sensitize their students to that they will know that hard work secures success in life and they should be serious with their studies, in order to be useful to  themselves, their families and the country at large.