Dr Anne Ndidi Meremikwu & Mark Odock
Abstract
This study was designed to correlate corporal punishment and junior secondary school students’ academic performance in Mathematics in Calabar Metropolis of Cross River State, Nigeria. The study therefore sought to establish the relationship between corporal punishment (flogging, spanking, pick pin, castigating) and junior secondary school students’ academic performance. The research design adopted was ex-post facto design. A 20 item questionnaire and 20 item Mathematics Achievement Test were used for data collection from a sample of 200 students randomly drawn from the population. Data generated from the administration of these were subjected to statistical analysis using Pearson Product Moment Correlation at .05 level of significance. The result obtained from the analysis revealed a negative relationship between corporal punishment (flogging, spanking, pick pin, castigating) and junior secondary school students’ academic performance in the research area. Based on this finding, it was recommended that Mathematics teachers should employ other youthfriendly disciplinary measures, instead of corporal punishment, in their bid to curb learners’ delinquencies.