Causes and Consequences of Child Abuse as Perceived by Secondary School Students in Itesiwaju Local Government: Implications for Counselling Practice

Abstract

Child abuse is very prevalent among young adolescents and it is a great source of concern to education stakeholders in Nigeria. The study therefore, examined the causes and consequences of child abuse as 
perceived by secondary school students in Itesiwaju Local Government, Oyo State. A researcher developed instrument tagged: “Causes and Consequences of Child Abuse Questionnaire (CCCAQ)” was used to collect data from the respondents. Six hundred (600) respondents participated in the study, and stratified random sampling technique was used to select the participants to ensure a balanced representation among secondary school students based on gender. The findings revealed that inaccessible to quality education, financial difficulties, and lack of medical health care were the major causes of child abuse, while the study also revealed that low academic performance, emotional disturbances and sexual coercion/rape were the major consequences of child abuse among respondents. The study thus recommended that government should make education completely free to enable every child in the society have equal access to quality education. Counsellors in collaboration with the non-governmental organisations should organise awareness programmes, workshops and 
seminars with a view to educating all concerned on dangers and consequences of child abuse in Itesiwaju Local Government.