Consequences Of Child Abuse On Students Academic Performance As Perceived By Secondary School Teachers
[A CASE STUDY OF ILORIN METROPOLIS]

In recent times, the use of more positive forms of behaviour modification is advocated such as persuasion, appeal to reason and good judgment plus the reward for desirable forms of behaviour. In addition, there is also the belief that there should be unconditional acceptance and regard for the learner and recognition that the child is worthy and should be treated not as an animal but a human being with feelings.
It is the believed that if these strategies are used, children will be willing to attend and be active partakers in the education system. Teachers and students unintentionally inflict emotional pains on students. For instance in an attempt to punish students for misbehaviour, teachers usually ask students to kneel or stand with one foot in front of the classroom. In one school visited, students reported that their teacher usually ask them to demonstrate as if they were “riding a bicycle”. The mere fact that they are being punished in front of other students lower their self-esteem and if constantly punished that way may lead to poor performance, hostility, apathy and eventual dropping out of school. Other punishments adopted include threatening or terrorizing students as well as belittling them. Instances abound in schools where teachers use sinister languages in addressing students such words/phrases like ‘idiot’, ‘never do well’, ‘I know you’ll never perform better’, etc. this use of words/phrases not only belittles the child but may ridicule and lead to lack of concentration and withdrawal of students to themselves and eventual dislike of school.
Confining students to dark rooms is used in many schools as a form of punishment. In one school, a child reported that those who did not pay fees were packed into the assembly hall and locked up until the school was over. The school ended up punishing innocent children instead of their parents whose responsibility it is to pay the fees. The children are not only embarrassed but missed out on what was taught during those periods of confinement as those lessons would not be repeated again even after they had had their fees paid. Teachers have also been found to fail to provide love, support, care and guidance to children under their care. A particular instance was reported where a child had stayed for the first three years in school and could not handle a pencil. On interview, it was found that the teacher completely abandoned the child because he was slow in learning. It took the intervention of a lesson teacher and parents extra coaching to train the child to write. This shows the inability of the teacher to provide appropriate guidance needed by the child.
Bullying is another form of emotional abuse that takes place in schools. The senior or older students who should provide emotional support for the younger and new students easily bully them. This can easily affect the children and make them withdraw from associating with other peers leading to personal-social maladjustment. The points enumerated show that teachers/school authorities intentionally/unintentionally indulge in emotional abuse which ultimately affects the child’s ability to learn. This can also distract them from gaining meaningfully from the process of education leading to eventual abandonment of school. Learning can only take place in a conducive environment that promoted cordial relationship between the teacher and the learner. Thus the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provide for the protection of the child against physical and psychological abuse, discrimination and all forms of threat, be they with weapons or words.