ABSTRACT

Research worldwide shows that the prevalence of alcohol abuse is on the increase and it has both genetic, and environmental causes with grave consequences for learning of children who live with parents where the problem exists. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the influence of parental alcohol abuse on their level of participation in children‟s learning achievement in pre-schools within Hilton slum, in Kaptembwa Location, Nakuru County, Kenya. The objectives that directed the study were: to find out the influence of parents‟ alcoholism on their participation in payment of fees, provision of pre-school children‟s learning needs, enforcing pre- school children‟s class attendance as well as learning and to suggest measures that could be put in place to mitigate the problem. The study was guided by Epstein‟s (2001) Model of School, Family and Community Involvement. The underlying assumption was that parents exessive use of alcohol, which affects their pre-school children‟s performance could be linked to interactions with social environment. The study adopted a descriptive research design using the correlation method. The target population was all the 14 pre-schools in Hilton slum, Kaptembwa, Nakuru County. Their head teachers and 48 teachers. A sample size of 8 (55%) out of the 14 targeted pre-schools, their head teachers and 24 (50%) pre-school teachers (three from each school) were selected. To obtain the required data, the study used a questionnaire for teachers and interview schedule for head teachers. A pilot study was conducted in  four pre-schools to test the validity and reliability of the research instruments. Data analysis involved quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques because both approaches complement each other. The study findings revealed that parents‟ alcoholism has some influence on their participation in pre-school children‟s learning, leading to reduced enrolment of pupils and in some cases a failure to attend school entirely. Further, parental alcoholism was found to be a great challenge to the society and mostly to young children who seriously needed parental guidance in their early years in school, particularly because mitigating factors that could alleviate the problem as seen in other studies were not available in this location. Thus the study recommends more measures to be put in place such as setting up of rehabilitation centres and creating awareness to the community on the effects of alcoholism to affected parents and society at large.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

            Introduction

This chapter details the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose and objectives of the study, research questions and significance of the study. It also presents the theoretical and conceptual frameworks, assumptions, limitation and delimitations of the study as well as the definitions of significant terms.

            Background to the Study

Alcohol abuse which is the habitual excessive use of this substance is a serious problem worldwide that stems from genetics and environmental causes. This is because, the family which comprises parents and children, is acknowledged as the fundamental unit of the society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of children as Reid, Macchetto & Foster (2009) propose. Erikson (1963); Berk (1997); Steinglass, Bennet and Wollin (1987 also concur that the family genetics and the home environment including how the child is nurtured are both very important social contexts of personality development.

According to Richard and Marsha (2010), the United States national survey report indicates that 8.3 million students are living with at least one of their parent who engaged in alcohol abuse or was dependent on an illicit drug or alcohol in the past year. The study comprised of 13.9% of children aged two years and below, 13.6% of children between ages 3-5 years, 12.0% aged 6-11 years and 9.9% youth of between 12-17 years. These

children were at a high risk of being neglected or abused by their affected parents, which was a recipe for poor performance academically, socially, physically and socio- emotionally as Bergeson (2006) seemed to suggest.

Further, Shea and Bauer (1994) also indicate that parental alcohol abuse has a negative impact on the children and the family in general. They report that two things happen to children from such families where parents abuse alcohol: first, the interactions that usually occur between parents and the young children may not occur because the parents are preoccupied with obtaining and using these substances, and secondly, such parents involved in in these forms of abuse usually do not have the same priorities as other parents.

Their key concern is to acquire and use the substance of their choice, and hardly focus on care for their young ones, as a result of which children’s needs are neglected. Children of alcohol abusers also usually, live in very unstable and often dangerous environments. Similarly, living with an alcoholic parent and in particular a stepfather is associated with a significantly higher risk of behavior problems in girls according to a new study by researchers at a Virginia Commonwealth University (Ketchum, 2006) most probably because of the likelihood they may experience sexual harassment or abuse more than the boy child in such a situation.

A report from the British Council on Alcohol in London showed that when some individual has a drinking issue, he/she is by all account, not the only one who perseveres through (Donellan, 2009) because the entire family is drugged into the problem.

Moreover, the social occasion drinking energetically also impacts family and friends and every now and again make them as miserable as the customer. However, most of the above studies on alcohol abuse have been conducted internationally hence making it necessary to establish the status of the problem, in Africa.

Regionally, Alwan, Viswanathan, Rousson, Paccaud and Bovet (2011) conducted a study on the association between substance use and psychosocial characteristics among adolescent students in secondary school in Seychelles using a mean age 14. They found out that young men with parents who were alcoholic abusers were also reported to be abusing alcohol in secondary school. The above study however involved older children in secondary schools. The current one therefore focused on the effects of parental alcoholism on the youngest age set of children in preschools.

Locally, alcohol abuse is on the rise with devastating effects as (NACADA, 2004) reports. It has been reported to have injurious psychological, physiological and behavioural effects on the abusers. The frequency as well as the type of abuse however varies from region to region. Miruka (2006) in a survey in our country for example shows that Western Kenya led with the highest prevalence of alcohol use at 90%, followed by Nairobi at 89.9% then Rift Valley at 86.1% followed by Central at 84.1%. According to Miruka (2006), North Eastern region posts the least prevalence at 15.6%.

A survey by Miruka (2006) also revealed that alcohol and substance abuse among parents is closely associated with risky sexual behaviours, quarrelsome in families, violence, criminal behaviours and neglect of children. Socially, alcoholism abuse of alcohol has led to break-up of families. Consequently, children of such parents have found themselves out of school because all resources were spent on alcohol consumption. It is estimated that 200,000 children have dropped out of school while a significant number have been neglected due to alcoholism (NACADA, 2004) in most parts of the country. In Nyeri, about 65% of women complained each and every day about their husbands who spent most of their time at drinking sprees thus not providing for their families as (NACADA newsletter February Edition, 2010) showed. These studies however were conducted a couple of years ago and fresh studies could highlight the current status.

In a study conducted on alcohol abuse among urban slum adolescents aged between 12- 24 years in Nairobi, Kenya, showed that young men abused alcohol and even other drug substances to cope with life hardships such as unemployment and poor background. The study further revealed that young men were more likely to engage in alcohol abuse as a way of passing time due to idleness than young women as (Mugisha, Arinaitwe-Mugisha, & Hagembe, 2003 indicated. Unfortunately preschool children end up modeling behavior of such siblings and their parents.

Though there is sufficient information on alcoholism in the local context, there were no studies that focussed on parental involvement in the academic endeavours of their children in Nakuru County. The current study therefore sought to gain further insights on

the effects of parental alcoholism on their children‟s academic careers in the Kenyan context, specific to children in pre-school institutions in Hilton Slum, Kaptembwa.

            Statement of the Problem

According to Richard and Marsha (2010), and Alwan et al (2011), alcohol dependence are on the rise, and have reliably demonstrated that parental alcohol abuse may have significant negative shortcomings on their children school life and also the whole family environment.   The   study‟s   concentration   however   was   not   in   a   local   context   and subsequently the requirement for the current study to find out the situation as it was, particularly in our cultures within the country. Further, the regional study in Seychelles focused on older school children but the current one was intended for younger children in pre-school.