Factors Affecting Students Performance in School (Mini Thesis in English II)

Submitted By: -Charlie Liwanag -Gerard Pastrana -Catherine Pucyutan -Mark Ramos -Reynaldo Valderama

Submitted To: Prof. Nea Sualog

I.

Introduction:

Education is considered as the most important factor in our human society. It plays an important role in building the human capital, and is connected to the persons characteristics and its capability to make a decision in life. It ensures and acquisition of knowledge and skills that enables the person to increase their productivity and improve their quality in life. This increase in productivity also leads towards new sources of earning which enhances the economic growth of the country. The quality of a students performance remains at top priority to their educators. They have been interested in knowing the factors contributing effectively to the quality of performance of students. These factors are inside and outside the school that affects the students quality of academic achievement. These factors may be termed as Family Factors, Peer Factors, Health Factors, and Psychological Factors. Generally these factors include age, gender, socioeconomic status, parents education level, parental profession, and family income.

Besides other factors, socioeconomic status is one of the most researched and debated factor among educational professionals that contribute towards the academic performance of students. Socioeconomic status of students affects the quality of their academic performance. The low socioeconomic status has a negative effect on the academic performance of students because the basic needs of students remain unfulfilled and they do not perform better academically. Low socioeconomic status causes environmental deficiencies which results in low selfesteem of students.

II.

Factors:

A. Family Factor:

a) Arguments in the Family

Families have their fair share of arguments. It is when the arguments start to get frequent where troubles start to become out of hand. Not all students suffer from negative effects of family fighting, but ongoing or intensifying arguments may have lasting impacts on the physical and mental health of the students.

The stress brought on by family arguments can lead to emotional breakdown for everyone involved. Students minds may focus more on the arguments at home and whether or not their family will remain intact rather than on whats going on in social studies. Some students begin to show cognitive problems including slower cognitive functioning and limited problem-solving skills.

Students start by being frightened by their parents arguing. Later, they get disgusted. Eventually they develop a fear of being similarly trapped and as adults may have the tendency to bail out of relationships early. Much is written about the damage caused by divorce, the damage is even worse for students whose parents stay in unhappy, bitter, horrible marriages.

b) Broken Families The Family is an essential factor for a humans whole-being, everything about a man, his background, attitude, all of his achievements, his honor and dignity, relies on the structure of the family a man lives in with. A family is composed of a father a mother and their offspring, bonded by their love for each other. Here in the modern age a family could be two things, complete or broken. A broken family is believed to be a cause of a childs mislead in life, some people give it as the main reason of the rebellious and unclear acts of children. School, another factor which meld us on becoming successful, but how will it make us successful if we cant focus, we cant do schooling like others cause we mind the problems we encounter in our homes. Broken families affect much of the childs emotional and spiritual being, that it greatly distresses the childs education.

The effect of a broken family to a child is very hard. A child's mother is like an adults money. That child feels like he needs his mother everywhere he or she goes, and when that "money" is taken away, the child feels lost, cold, insecure, and like everything/everyone around them is out to hurt them. A child needs there family, without their family, there bound to be a screw up in life, and live the exact way they were raised because theyre going to think its okay.

B. Peer Factors

a) Bad Influencing Peers

A peer group is defined as a small group of similarly aged; fairly close friends, sharing the same activities. Peer groups provide a sense of security and they help adolescents to build a sense of identity. Given that adolescents spend twice as much time with peers as with parents or other adults, it is important to study the influences or pressures that peers place on each other.

As students enter the school, friends take on a more important role in their lives. Peer influence has been more commonly conceptualized as encouragement from friends to engage in delinquent behaviors, pressure to hold undesirable values and attitudes, or discouragement from participating in desirable behaviors. The motivation of the students peer group influenced individuals change in motivation across the school year.

Peers can influence everything from what an adolescent chooses to wear to whether or not an adolescent engages in drug related or other delinquent behavior.

b) Fraternities

Fraternities promote an environment where nonmembers are considered outsiders. Often times, students are encouraged not to associate with other students who are not brothers or will be punished for being seen at social events outside of the fraternity. This kind of exclusivity is counterproductive to what a college social environment should be: tolerant, diverse and dynamic.

Fraternities can also have a negative effect when it comes to an member's academic standing. Most fraternities require a significant time commitment in terms of helping with fundraisers, parties or other social events. There are usually weekly meetings to attend and other responsibilities a student must shoulder in addition to his academic course load. Some college students can find it hard to juggle classes and fraternity responsibilities. The pressure from his fraternity will often cause him to sacrifice his grades in order to put the fraternity first.

C. Health Factors

a. Fatigue, Sleep Deprivation, Substance abuse

Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and depression. Students who are working or studying long hours may experience episodes of sleep deprivation. This can cause daytime sleepiness, sluggishness, and difficulty concentrating or making decisions. Moreover, insufficient sleep is responsible for motor vehicle and machinery-related crashes, causing substantial injury and disability each year. In short, drowsy driving can be as dangerous and preventable as driving while intoxicated.

Some college students experience significant pressure to use alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, especially when trying to make friends and become part of a group. Drinking among college students and on college campuses is more pervasive and destructive than many people may realize. Studies show that four out of five college students drink alcohol. One in five students report three or more binge drinking episodes in the prior two weeks; binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks for men and four or more for women within a short period of time. It is associated with other health-risk behaviors, including high-risk sexual behavior, smoking, and physical fighting.

b. Stress and Anxiety College is full of exciting new experiences, from meeting people to living away from home. But, college can also be stressful as you try to develop new routines, maintain a healthy diet, and manage responsibilities on your own. Keep these tips and information in mind to stay safe and healthy in college. Everybody has the blues, feels anxious, loses interest in enjoyable activities, or gets stressed sometimes, but when it continues for a long time or interferes with daily activities, it may be more serious. Stress is the body's response to any demand or pressure. These demands are called stressors. When stressors in your life are constant, it can take a toll on your mental and physical health. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps you deal with a tense situation, study harder for an exam, or keep your focus during an important speech. However, if you cannot shake your worries and concerns, or if the feelings make you want to avoid everyday activities, you may have an anxiety disorder. Healthy relationships increase our self-esteem, improve mental and emotional health, and help us have fuller lives. Feeling scared, humiliated, pressured, or controlled are all signs of an unhealthy relationship. Instead, you should feel loved, respected, and free to be yourself. Friends are an important source of support and advice. They play a powerful role in shaping attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

D. Psychological Factors

a) Laziness

Laziness is not a character trait. It is more an instinct, or perhaps an inherent characteristic of living things, for it is part of all humans, and, in fact, most animals in general. Laziness is an essential part of humans and many other types of animals; it is an instinct that helps to ensure the survival of the individual possessing it. Laziness is not a vice, but in modern times it has been accentuated in humans beyond the norm of the natural world. It soon becomes sloth, which is a vice.

There is another kind of laziness, an extreme type of laziness, or sloth, which is more of a character trait, and not present in all animals, just humans. This is what most people call laziness, the unwillingness to do work such as daily tasks. This is not useful in the natural world, and has grown stronger with the advance of technology. It is this type of laziness that has caused the advent of all types of energy-saving devices.

Laziness can lead to a total failure in a person's life. Laziness has a bad effect on our physical and mental health both.

b) Boredom

Boredom is a disease that is wide spread and if handled incorrectly, can lead to death. If you suffer from boredom, please consult a friend for help.

There are many ways to get rid of boredom temporarily but it will definitely return at some point. One way is to look up definitions on this site which is probably why you found this. Others include playing catch, drinking, smoking, ding dong ditching homes, playing sports.

It was found that this syndrome can be curable but just for a short amount of time. Some of the cure that had been found working are Xbox, PS, and lots of expensive gadget but be warn that the cure only works temporarily.

Boredom is also linked to problems with attention. After all, it is hard to be interested in something when you cannot concentrate on it. Scientists have even demonstrated this by manipulating a test environment so that people have trouble engaging in certain tasks. Boredom may also grow out of a pathological inability to focus.

III.

Conclusion

In this research, we can totally say that most of the problems of students are mostly connected to each other like Arguments in the Family can lead to a Broken Family; Peer Influencing can lead to joining a fraternity, Not taking care of yourself can affect your performance in all of its ways, and Laziness is connected to Boredom. But there is one thing that is common to all of these factors, and that is the Adolescent stage of the student, because the adolescent stage of a student is the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of these factors. It affects their growth depending on how good or bad their experiences are. The worse experiences the adolescents face in their lives, the lower their performance in school will be.