Effect Of Cognitive Restructuring And Shaping Techniques In Handling Lateness To School Among Secondary School Students

CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter contains the discussion of findings, conclusion, implications of the study to counselling services, recommendations, limitations of the study and suggestions for further researches.
Discussion of Findings
The discussion was guided by the key issues in the findings.
Effect of Cognitive Restructuring in Reducing the Number of Days of Lateness
Cognitive restructuring was found to be effective in reducing the number of days of lateness of perpetual latecomers in secondary schools. In this case, most of the students were late for 20 consecutive days before treatment but with cognitive restructuring treatment, most of them changed positively in their behaviours. One was late for just
9 days, 2 for 14 days, I for 15 days and 5 for 16 days for another 20 days after receiving cognitive restructuring.   Also 5 others came late for 17 days, 10 for 18 days while 5 came late for 19 days. One of the perpetual latecomers could not avoid coming late. The finding confirms the proposition of Okoye (2001) who stated that lateness to school can be treated by using techniques that will make them realize what they are doing by coming late to school. Also Okoye (2006) suggested the use of cognitive restructuring on latecomers to make them change their behaviour.
In addition, the present finding agrees with the proposition of Anameze (2002). For him, behaviour of school children can be changed through cognitive restructuring technique in such a way that their perceptions and understanding of the matter and the consequences become more meaningful to them.
The findings showed that it is not easy to reduce the lateness behaviour of perpetual latecomers because of the circumstances that made them come late. Some of the circumstances include hawking goods like pap (akamu), plantain and finishing the domestic works in the house before going to school. Some of the children who are house helps will finish sending the children of their madams to school before preparing for their own school.
These propositions were supported by Anagbogu (2002) and Osisioma (1997), who stressed that some parents and guardians send their wards to hawk in the morning before going to school and stressed that the child may definitely be late to school. Osisioma (1997) further argued that since the house helps must finish tidying up the house before going to school when other children must have gone to school, they must be late to school. It points to the fact that they may reduce in the magnitude of their lateness.
Effect of Cognitive Restructuring in the Reduction of the Magnitude of Lateness of Perpetual Latecomers
In this study, it was discovered that cognitive restructuring technique is effective in reducing the magnitude of lateness of perpetual latecomers in secondary schools. Before the treatment, 20 out of the 30 students came late between 8.36 and 9.05am and the remaining 10 of them came late between 9.06 and 9.35am, showing the magnitude of severe and very severe lateness. Then after the treatment with cognitive restructuring technique, 5 of them came late between 7.35 and 8.05am (very mild lateness) while 25 others came late between 8.06 and 8.35am (mild lateness). These show a high level of reduction in the magnitude of lateness of the perpetual latecomers after treatment.
Since some unavoidable circumstances making the students to be late to the schools were not treated, one could easily see that cognitive restructuring as a counselling technique is effective in reducing the students’ magnitude of lateness.