INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS IN NASSARAWA STATE: IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELLING

Abstract

This study examined influence of school violence on academic performance among secondary schools 
students in Nasarawa State: Implications for counselling. Two research questions and two hypotheses were 
formulated and tested for the study. The study adopted descriptive survey design. 250 Teachers and 20 
Principals representing 15% of the total Population was sampled from Northern senatorial district using 
simple random sampling technique. The structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was used to 
collect data. The instrument was validated by experts and a reliability ‗r‘ coefficient of 0.82 was obtained. 
Mean, standard deviation and chi-square was used to analyze the data collected in the study. The major 
finding revealed that violence has effects on secondary schools students‘ academic performance. Based on 
the findings of the study, it was concluded that there is significant influence of violence on secondary school 
students‘ academic performance and there is significant influence of guidance and counselling on secondary 
school students academic performance. Thus, it was recommended that Guidance counsellors should set up a 
mechanism for settling violence in schools such as inculcating positive attitude to students by encouraging 
them to engage in interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships with both the students and teachers. This is 
to maintain peace and safety environment for students and teachers