Influence of Bullying and Anxiety on Academic Achievement Among Senior Secondary School Students in Bichi Education Zone, Kano State, Nigeria

This study examines the influence of bullying and anxiety on academic achievement among senior secondary school students in Bichi Education Zone Kano State, Nigeria. Three objectives with corresponding research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Ex-Post Facto research design was used. The population of the study consists of 4436 senior secondary II students in Bichi Education Zone. A sample of 357 SS II students was selected as guided by research advisor (2006). Two Instruments were adapted for the Data collection; the modified instrument Bully Behavior Questionnaire (BBQ) and Brazilian State - Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to collect data on bullying and anxiety respectively. The bullying variable had five levels based on an individual’s scores on the BBQ these are bully, assistant to the bully, victim, defender of the victim and outsider. Anxiety was assessed as high or low. The BBQ has an original reliability of 0.72 while STAI has 0.79. To further ensure the validity of the instrument, face and content validity were established by researcher’s supervisor and other experts from the Department of General Studies Federal Polytechnic Kabo, Kano. The reliability of the instrument was obtained through pilot testing. ANOVA and t-test for independent sample were used to test study hypotheses. It was found that, there is high level of bullying behavior among senior secondary schools students of Bichi Education Zone, Kano State with 23%, there is significant difference in academic achievement between bully, assistant to the bully, victim, defender of the victim and outsider students of senior secondary schools in Bichi Education Zone, Kano State Nigeria in favor of defender and outsider and there is no significant difference between academic achievement of high-anxiety and low-anxiety students of senior secondary schools in Bichi Education Zone, Kano State Nigeria. Based on the findings it was recommended that there is need for teachers and counselors to work hand in hand to improve academic achievement of victims of bullying among the students by regularly sharing students’ progress report with parents/ caregivers.