The Effect Of Truancy On The Academic Performance Of Senior Secondary School Students
[A CASE STUDY OF OGBOMOSO SOUTH, OYO STATE]

According to Pam Willenz (2006) the introduction of internet use had denied students the chance of thorough research work as ready-made materials are deadly found on the internet. This make them to lack the in-depth knowledge about the object of inquiry, hence resulting to “educated illiterates”. All these have drastically reduce the level of students academic performance in both internal and external examination.
2.6    Conceptual Framework
    Poor attendance arouses strong feelings, which are expressed in different and often contradictory ways depending on individual’s own perspective. Psychiatrists and many psychologist regard poor attendance as a symptom of disturbance in the child or in the family. The disturbance may result from temperamental or disturbed family relationships. In which case, the child or the family needs treatments. Truancy as an act of indiscipline is very rampart among secondary school students. Many researchers have tried to study the causes of truancy. Amongst them are: Contessa and Paccione – Dysziewski (2004), Walz and Miller (2008), Tyrrel (1999) Marguerite and Oils (2002) Tyerman (2004), Stott (2005) Turney (2006), Fontana (2003), Glueck (1998) and Murray (2008), Contessa and Paccione _Dysziewski (2004), State that “School phobia refers to an extreme reluctance to go to school as a result of severe anxiety or a morbid fear of some aspects of the school situation”. They go on further to say that hidden beneath a variety of headings including “Socially maladjusted” “Truant”, etc. are thousands of children and young adults who are experiencing school phobia. This problem poses a serious threat to healthy educational psychological and emotional growth and presents a unique challenge to school psychologists, counsellors, teachers and administrators.
 Walz and Miller (2008) in their work say that “Schools” are seen as organizations which have institutional norms and goals. The nature of these norms effect the overall climate and subsequently the behaviour and attitudes of students. They say further that there are apt to be a number of students who do not see the school as a referent group that rather derive their values and attitudes from other sources.
    Research has shown that within schools there are deviant students who hold different norms than the predominant norms. These deviant sub-groups have special problems adjusting to the school environment. It appears that the adjustment and success of an individual student may well be a function of: (a) the type of climate of the school he attends and (b) the extent to which the school climate is supportive of his individual needs and values. In explaining what could lead to truancy of school phobia, Tyrrel (1999) says that each child reacts to school in his own way. Each needs something different from his parents by way of support at home. Parents with more than one child at school scarcely need to be told this. But if often helps parents of only one child or whose first child has just started school to know that other children are just as quickly through in different ways. For example, one child may get rather tired by the end of the school day. He may keep his self-control until he gets home and then become thoroughly cantankerous which may lead to truancy or school phobia.
    Another child (particularly a fist child) may find school very stimulating; he enjoys the freedom and anonymity which he gets from being in a large group. Some students enjoy talking about their school; they constantly recount stories about it and bring home models and samples of writing Maguerite and Oils (2002) reports that truancy is one of the outward signs of maladjustment and the wise teacher is at least alerted.
    Truancy indicates that the child is not happy in school, and we can assume therefore that the school is not meeting his need-that is not giving him sufficient ego satisfaction companionship affection, sense of worth and variety.
    They also say that in many cases, truancy is a definite sign of the fact that the truant is not able to achieve sufficient success in school or that he finds it monotonous and dull.
    Tyerman (2004) carried out a research based on the social factors in truancy. He took a group of forty truants and sub-divided this group into those who were truants although their parents know of it; those who were occasional truants without parental knowledge and those who were occasioned truants in spite of parental knowledge. Only two of the forty were girls.
    He examined the relationship between truancy and home circumstances. He found very definite correlation between poor home circumstances and persistent truancy without the knowledge of parents. His conclusion suggests that truants are generally suffering from a considerable degree of person maladjustment. Stott (2005) secured a large national sample of truants. One hundred and sixty-eight welfare officers sent him, in all three hindered and five (305) children representing their two most recent truants, one from primary school and the other from secondary school.