The role of counseling and parental involvement in behavior modification of secondary school students: A case study of Imenti South District

Abstract

Today almost all schools have established a proper guidance and counseling programme. Since i inception many emerging issues that require guidance and parental involvement have continued to persist, for instance drug abuse, physical and Emotional abuse, undesirable sexual behavior, peer pressure, unrest in schools, violence and acts of arson. This is the background under which the research on the role of counseling and parental involvement in behavior modification of secondary schools students concerned itself with. This research was carried out in Imenti South District and the respondents were students from 69 public secondary schools. The research design was descriptive survey because it required the respondents to describe the influence of counseling and parental involvement in modeling behavior of secondary school students. Data collection was done mainly by use of questionnaires. The data was analyzed by use of Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and descriptive statistics and frequencies determined. Presentations were done in form of tables for easier understanding. The study found out that involvement of the parents in counseling to modify teen's behavior would save them from involvement in acts such as lesbianism, homosexuality, alcoholism, drug abuse, violence and illegal gangs. The teenagers lacked proper parenting, guidance, and parental love, poor relationship between parents and teenagers and lack of role models among others. The study also indicated a need to merge the school and parental counseling to avert cases of indiscipline and misbehavior among students. Recommendations were that inclusivity of all parties, teachers, parents, and the curriculum as well as restriction to the social media is important for the behavior modeling of the teens in high school. Teachers Service Commission should therefore ensure enough supply of personnel to offer the counseling services. The school administration should lay down integrated strategies for school-based family counseling so that the students are holistically molded in behavior. The Ministry of Education should make counseling a core component of school curriculum so that behavior learning is part and integral to core learning process. Those students who are seeking further research familiarity in areas related to this study could also find it of importance. With the authority of the university and the researcher, they could access this information.