The Effect of Divorce on Pupils Academic Performance in Primary Schools

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

It is observed by the researchers that marriage between a man and a woman is expected to be a permanent affair and lasting association until death takes away one of the partners but changes in the Nigerian society, marriage is now seen to be a temporary affair which can be dissolved if either part by cruelty, desertion or adultery goes against the wishes of their union. Divorce is actually a legal dissolution of the marital union which, involve the governance of the marriage bind between a husband and his wife. For a marriage to be successful there is need for a couple to be in harmony mentally, physically and spiritual. In other words, the husband and the wife must have a common goal and each have to contribute his or her own towards the fulfillment in the family and keyword should be love (Cohen, 2002).

Parents play a vital role in their pupil’s lives, serving as their earliest and most important role model. Children tend to look up to and observe their parents behavior from a very young age (Herzog & Cooney, 2002.). Throughout childhood, family experiences play a vital role in building pupil’s attitude, beliefs and expectation. (Rogers and Rose (2002) report that children of divorce experience determined sad effects such as depression, anger, aggression, parent-child conflict as well as parental divorce in terms of research, a common question among social scientist regarding children and divorce is how these children are affected by their experience and how they are different from those who are not experiencing ongoing parental conflict and discord. Experiencing parental discord may lead a child to trivialize the importance of commitment and view the institution of marriage with negativity (Doland 2003).