INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL RULES AND REGULATIONS ON STUDENTS' AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BUTERE SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

School rules and regulations are mechanisms designed to control, regulate and manage students’ behaviour in schools in order to create conducive learning environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of school rules and regulations on students’ aggressive behaviour in public secondary schools in Butere Sub-County, Kenya. The study was informed by three specific objectives; to identify school rules and regulations that are frequently violated, to establish the aspects of school rules and regulations that influence students’ aggressive behaviours and to find out other determinants in relation to school rules and regulations on students aggressive behaviours. Study population comprised 3290 students and 319 teachers all from 28 public secondary schools. Descriptive survey research design was used. Stratified sampling was used to categorize the schools into girls’ boarding, boys’ boarding, girls’ day, boys’ day and mixed day schools. Purposive sampling was used to select 8 deputy principals and 32 teachers. Simple random sampling was used at school level to select 40 students per school in the 8 selected secondary schools. Based on this criterion a sample size of 360 respondents was accessible for data collection on students’ aggressive behaviour. Validity and reliability of instruments were established by experts in the department of education psychology of Maasai Mara University. A pilot study was carried out in four schools different from those where actual study was done. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data on students’ aggressive behaviour. Data generated by questionnaires and interview schedules were analyzed by descriptive statistics using frequency distribution and variable percentages. The findings were presented in graphs and Tables. The findings of the study revealed that students violated school rules and regulations that guard their behaviour and emotions by engaging in aggressive and violent activities such as theft, fighting, quarreling and destruction of school property. The study indicated that age is determinant in students’ aggressive behaviour evidenced by high violations in form 2 and 3 where students are at prime adolescent stage. Some school rules and regulations are not clear to the students while others are rigid. This is because students are not involved at formulation stage which makes them to easily violate these rules and regulations. The study equally revealed that disciplinary measures conditioned students to behave in a certain manner without molding their character given the high number of repeated mistakes after punishment. The study recommends that school rules and regulations be reviewed to accommodate age challenges, disciplinary measures such as suspension and replacement of stolen items be repealed and that students be involved at formulation level. The findings of the study inform policy makers about the influence of school rules and regulations on students’ aggressive behaviour and the need to restructure them to make them appealing as control and management tools.