Influence of Drug Abuse on School Attendance among Senior Secondary School Students in Uromi Metropolis

The study investigated the influence of drug abuse on school attendance among senior secondary school students in Uromi metropolis. One research question and hypothesis was raised and formulated respectively to guide the study. Descriptive based on survey method was used as the research design of the study. Research participants were 589 public senior secondary school students drawn by simple random sampled technique from a population of eleven thousand, seven hundred and seventy (11,770) student in Uromi metropolis. The instruments used include a School Attendance Checklist (SAC) and an adapted questionnaire titled: Drug Abuse Screening Test Questionnaire (DASTQ) with a reliability alpha (α) of 0.86. Percentages and t-test statistical analysis were used to analyse the research question and test the hypothesis respectively at 0.05 alpha level. The result showed that there is no significant difference between victims and non-victims of drug abuse on their school attendance (p>0.05). The study recommended that continued collaboration between the school and family should be intensified through Parents Teacher Association (PTA) meetings to sustain the support needed by children to grow into well-adjusted individuals.