Child abuse is an act of inflicting serious, physical injury and emotional torture on a child or person, which is intentional or unintentional and could endanger the physical, health, emotional, social, moral and educational wellness of the child. The contributing factor of child abuse can be identified as poverty and ignorance on the part of the parents or guardians and others. Observing the alarming endless cry of students and those hurt in the process and maltreatment, the researcher was therefore interested in investigating child abuse as it affect the academic performance of students in Boki LGA of Cross River State. To achieve this purpose two (2) null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A sample of 200 respondents were randomly selected for the study. The selection was done through simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. Test re-test reliability of the instrument was established, while Pearson product moment correlation analysis was the statistical technique considered appropriate. The critical level of .05 was used to test each hypothesis. The result of the analysis revealed that child physical abuse and sexual abuse were statistically related to students’ academic performance. Based on the findings recommendations were made on the need to affectionate and intensified campaigns for awareness creation on the menace of child abuse – physical and sexual abuse as they deaden the future of the child, family and society.
Keywords: Abuse, Academic, Child, Performance, Students
