PREVALENCE OF SOCIAL VICES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN DEKINA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KOGI STATE

Abstract

There needs to be careful thought given the alarmingly high proportion of social vices among young people, especially secondary school students. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that contribute to the prevalence of social vices among secondary school students in Kogi State's Dekina LGA. The research design for the study was a descriptive survey, and the sample size of 234 respondents was chosen using a basic random sampling technique from a population of 638 public school students in the Dekina local government. A questionnaire was employed to gather data. Thirty pupils from other schools outside the research area were given the instrument to verify its dependability after it had been validated by professionals. Because of this, the Cronbach alpha technique was employed to assess dependability. Dependability coefficients of 0.75, 0.70, and 0.76 were found for clusters A, B, and C, respectively. The total dependability of the device was calculated to be 0.85. Two research assistants who had received training on the instrument's administration procedures assisted in delivering the test to the schools that were sampled. The device was used and immediately collected. Data collected were analyze using mean and standard deviation for the research question and t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study revealed that students often engage in Social Vices, engage in social vices because of their quest for quick money, engage in social vices because they want to impress others, engage in social vices because they want to live above their family level, the need for power makes students engage in social vices and Greediness is one of the most reasons they engage in social vices. Findings further revealed that poor economy of the country/ society directly has an impact on engagement of students in social vices. The findings also revealed that ‘there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female students’ on the level of prevalence of social vices among secondary school students in Kogi State. Hence the study concluded that the issue of social vices among secondary school students is very high and therefore needs to be taken seriously by the various stakeholders in the state. Therefore, the study recommended among others that Schools should organize symposiums, lectures and awareness programmes that can encourage students from engaging in social vices