The Risks of Street Hawking among Students of Practical Agriculture in Secondary Schools of Taraba State

Abstract

The study determined the risks of street hawking among students of practical agriculture in secondary schools of Taraba state. The street child is defined as any child who may have parents or guardians in a locality but living and working on the streets. Street children engage in work or employment on a regular basis with the aim of earning a livelihood for themselves or for their families. Street hawking may also lead to behavioral patterns inimical to healthy citizenship. They may indulge in negative activities or criminal acts, such as prostitution, armed robbery, and pick pocketing, and later imprisonment.  For the purpose of this study, two research questions were stated. The study employed a survey design and Taraba State was the area of the study which consisted of 16 local government areas and 118 junior secondary schools. The population was made up of all 8839 JSS II students as at 2010/2011 school session. The sample size of 384 was drawn using the Taro Yamane formula. Questionnaires for students’ responses were instruments used to collect data from the students, which was validated by two experts. The instrument was pilot tested using the split halve method. Data collected were analyzed using the mean. For the research questions, a mean of 3.5 and above was considered agreed while less than 3.5 were considered disagreed.  Findings revealed that 8 out of the 10 suggested reasons for hawking by students were agreed on by the respondents. Respondents also agreed on 7 of the 15 suggested risks involved in street hawking such as moving round in the market, they get hungry sometimes while hawking, sometimes rain fall on them, they sometimes come back late in the night, they fight with other children, and they fall victims of accident when they go for hawking and they fall sick sometimes. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the poverty level of most Nigerian especially those in the rural areas be improved by the state government, well to do individuals and nongovernmental bodies. The government should make basic education free or affordable for the common Nigerian. The State government should legislate against street hawking by school aged children so that they can concentrate on their studies.