THE IMPACT OF ABSENTEE PARENTHOOD ON CHILD'S SOCIAL, COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE CASE STUDY OF PUPILS IN OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, EDO STATE

ABSTRACT

This research work sought to investigate the impact of absentee parenthood on child's social, cognitive and emotional development of pupils in Oredo local Government Area, Edo state.In order to effectively carry out this study, three (3) research question were raised, question one was answered while question two and three were hypothesized. The study was conducted using the descriptive survey design and the population of the study consists of pupils in primary school in Oredo local Government Area , Edo state. The sample was 100 primary five pupils purposively selected from 4 primary schools in Oredo local Government Area.The research instrument was a questionnaire which was validated using the Cronbach Alpha statistics and gave the value of 0.81.The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research question one, while hypothesis two and three were tested using independent sample t-test at 0.5 level of significance. The findings that emerge revealed that: pupils from absentee parenthood homes social, cognitive and emotional development skills is not affected but emotional development skill is low, There's no significant difference in the level of social, cognitive and emotional development skills of pupils from absentee parenthood homes and intact parenthood homes, A significant difference exist between male and female pupils' social skills development from absentee homes, female develops social skills better than the male. However, there's no significant difference between male and female pupils'cognitive and emotional skill development from absentee parenthood homes. Based on the findings, it was recommended that: parenting Education should be introduced in schools, churches, and hospitals so as to enable intending parents to be aware of responsibilities that comes with parenthood, Working class Parents/Guardians should endeavor to create time for their children to avoid distance relationships, Parentsteachers association (PTA) should be strengthened in schools, and there should be regular meetings for counseling Parents/Guardians on the need for them to be emotionally present in their child's life, Government should be up to tasks in making sure the needs of left behind children are met and Society should promote cultural values and assist the social institution within it locality to orientate families on the effects of parental absence.