Factors Affecting Students’ Performance in School

(Mini Thesis in English II)

Submitted By: Submitted To:

-Charlie Liwanag Prof. Nea Sualog

-Gerard Pastrana

-Catherine Pucyutan

-Mark Ramos

-Reynaldo Valderama

I. Introduction:

Education is considered as the most important factor in our human society.

It plays an important role in building the human capital, and is connected to the

persons’ characteristics and its capability to make a decision in life. It ensures and

acquisition of knowledge and skills that enables the person to increase their

productivity and improve their quality in life. This increase in productivity also

leads towards new sources of earning which enhances the economic growth of the

country. The quality of a students’ performance remains at top priority to their

educators. They have been interested in knowing the factors contributing

effectively to the quality of performance of students. These factors are inside and

outside the school that affects the students’ quality of academic achievement.

These factors may be termed as “Family Factors”, “Peer Factors”, “Health

Factors”, and “Psychological Factors”. Generally these factors include age,

gender, socioeconomic status, parents’ education level, parental profession, and

family income.

Besides other factors, socioeconomic status is one of the most researched

and debated factor among educational professionals that contribute towards the

academic performance of students. Socioeconomic status of students affects the

quality of their academic performance. The low socioeconomic status has a

negative effect on the academic performance of students because the basic needs

of students remain unfulfilled and they do not perform better academically. Low

socioeconomic status causes environmental deficiencies which results in low self-

esteem of students.

II. Factors:

A. Family Factor:

a) Arguments in the Family

Families have their fair share of arguments. It is when the

arguments start to get frequent where troubles start to become out

of hand. Not all students suffer from negative effects of family

fighting, but ongoing or intensifying arguments may have lasting

impacts on the physical and mental health of the students.

The stress brought on by family arguments can lead to emotional

breakdown for everyone involved. Students’ minds may focus

more on the arguments at home and whether or not their family

will remain intact rather than on what’s going on in social studies.

Some students begin to show cognitive problems including slower

cognitive functioning and limited problem-solving skills.

Students start by being frightened by their parents arguing. Later,

they get disgusted. Eventually they develop a fear of being

similarly trapped and as adults may have the tendency to bail out

of relationships early. Much is written about the damage caused by

divorce, the damage is even worse for students whose parents stay

in unhappy, bitter, horrible marriages.

b) Broken Families

The Family is an essential factor for a human’s whole-being,

everything about a man, his background, attitude, all of his

achievements, his honor and dignity, relies on the structure of the

family a man lives in with. A family is composed of a father a

mother and their offspring, bonded by their love for each other.

Here in the modern age a family could be two things, complete or

broken. A broken family is believed to be a cause of a child’s

mislead in life, some people give it as the main reason of the

rebellious and unclear acts of children. School, another factor

which meld us on becoming successful, but how will it make us

successful if we can’t focus, we can’t do schooling like others

cause we mind the problems we encounter in our homes. Broken

families affect much of the child’s emotional and spiritual being,

that it greatly distresses the child’s education.

The effect of a broken family to a child is very hard. A child's

mother is like an adults’ money. That child feels like he needs his

mother everywhere he or she goes, and when that "money" is taken

away, the child feels lost, cold, insecure, and like

everything/everyone around them is out to hurt them. A child

needs there family, without their family, there bound to be a screw

up in life, and live the exact way they were raised because they’re

going to think it’s okay.

B. Peer Factors

a) Bad Influencing Peers

A peer group is defined as a small group of similarly aged; fairly

close friends, sharing the same activities. Peer groups provide a

sense of security and they help adolescents to build a sense of

identity. Given that adolescents spend twice as much time with

peers as with parents or other adults, it is important to study the

influences or pressures that peers place on each other.

As students enter the school, friends take on a more important role

in their lives. Peer influence has been more commonly

conceptualized as encouragement from friends to engage in

delinquent behaviors, pressure to hold undesirable values and

attitudes, or discouragement from participating in desirable

behaviors. The motivation of the students’ peer group influenced

individual’s change in motivation across the school year.

Peers can influence everything from what an adolescent chooses to

wear to whether or not an adolescent engages in drug related or

other delinquent behavior.

b) Fraternities

Fraternities promote an environment where nonmembers are

considered outsiders. Often times, students are encouraged not to

associate with other students who are not brothers or will be

punished for being seen at social events outside of the fraternity.

This kind of exclusivity is counterproductive to what a college

social environment should be: tolerant, diverse and dynamic.

Fraternities can also have a negative effect when it comes to an

member's academic standing. Most fraternities require a significant

time commitment in terms of helping with fundraisers, parties or

other social events. There are usually weekly meetings to attend

and other responsibilities a student must shoulder in addition to his

academic course load. Some college students can find it hard to

juggle classes and fraternity responsibilities. The pressure from his

fraternity will often cause him to sacrifice his grades in order to put

the fraternity first.

C. Health Factors

a. Fatigue, Sleep Deprivation, Substance abuse

Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases

and conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, obesity,

and depression. Students who are working or studying long hours

may experience episodes of sleep deprivation. This can cause

daytime sleepiness, sluggishness, and difficulty concentrating or

making decisions. Moreover, insufficient sleep is responsible for

motor vehicle and machinery-related crashes, causing substantial

injury and disability each year. In short, drowsy driving can be as

dangerous and preventable as driving while intoxicated.

Some college students experience significant pressure to use

alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, especially when trying to make

friends and become part of a group. Drinking among college

students and on college campuses is more pervasive and

destructive than many people may realize. Studies show that four

out of five college students drink alcohol. One in five students

report three or more binge drinking episodes in the prior two

weeks; binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks for men

and four or more for women within a short period of time. It is

associated with other health-risk behaviors, including high-risk

sexual behavior, smoking, and physical fighting.

b. Stress and Anxiety

College is full of exciting new experiences, from meeting people to

living away from home. But, college can also be stressful as you

try to develop new routines, maintain a healthy diet, and manage

responsibilities on your own. Keep these tips and information in

mind to stay safe and healthy in college.

Everybody has the blues, feels anxious, loses interest in enjoyable

activities, or gets stressed sometimes, but when it continues for a

long time or interferes with daily activities, it may be more serious.

Stress is the body's response to any demand or pressure. These

demands are called stressors. When stressors in your life are

constant, it can take a toll on your mental and physical health.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps you deal with a

tense situation, study harder for an exam, or keep your focus

during an important speech. However, if you cannot shake your

worries and concerns, or if the feelings make you want to avoid

everyday activities, you may have an anxiety disorder.

Healthy relationships increase our self-esteem, improve mental and

emotional health, and help us have fuller lives. Feeling scared,

humiliated, pressured, or controlled are all signs of an unhealthy

relationship. Instead, you should feel loved, respected, and free to

be yourself. Friends are an important source of support and advice.

They play a powerful role in shaping attitudes, beliefs, and

behaviors.

D. Psychological Factors

a) Laziness

Laziness is not a character trait. It is more an instinct, or perhaps

an inherent characteristic of living things, for it is part of all

humans, and, in fact, most animals in general. Laziness is an

essential part of humans and many other types of animals; it is an

instinct that helps to ensure the survival of the individual

possessing it. Laziness is not a vice, but in modern times it has

been accentuated in humans beyond the norm of the natural world.

It soon becomes sloth, which is a vice.

There is another kind of laziness, an extreme type of laziness, or

sloth, which is more of a character trait, and not present in all

animals, just humans. This is what most people call laziness, the

unwillingness to do work such as daily tasks. This is not useful in

the natural world, and has grown stronger with the advance of

technology. It is this type of laziness that has caused the advent of

all types of energy-saving devices. 

Laziness can lead to a total failure in a person's life. Laziness has a

bad effect on our physical and mental health both.

b) Boredom

Boredom is a disease that is wide spread and if handled incorrectly,

can lead to death. If you suffer from boredom, please consult a

friend for help.

There are many ways to get rid of boredom temporarily but it will

definitely return at some point. One way is to look up definitions

on this site which is probably why you found this. Others include

playing catch, drinking, smoking, ding dong ditching homes,

playing sports.

It was found that this syndrome can be curable but just for a short

amount of time. Some of the cure that had been found working are

Xbox, PS, and lots of expensive gadget but be warn that the cure

only works temporarily.

Boredom is also linked to problems with attention. After all, it is

hard to be interested in something when you cannot concentrate on

it. Scientists have even demonstrated this by manipulating a test

environment so that people have trouble engaging in certain tasks.

Boredom may also grow out of a pathological inability to focus.

III. Conclusion

In this research, we can totally say that most of the problems of students are

mostly connected to each other like Arguments in the Family can lead to a Broken

Family; Peer Influencing can lead to joining a fraternity, Not taking care of

yourself can affect your performance in all of its ways, and Laziness is connected

to Boredom. But there is one thing that is common to all of these factors, and that

is the Adolescent stage of the student, because the adolescent stage of a student is

the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of these factors. It affects their growth

depending on how good or bad their experiences are. The worse experiences the

adolescents face in their lives, the lower their performance in school will be.