Single Parenting and Indiscipline Among Teenage Pupils : In Selected Zambian Secondary Schools

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the relationship between single parenting and indiscipline in selected Basic and High Schools in Lusaka, Zambia. The research design used in this study was contrasted group design. This design enabled the research to contrast between single parenting and double parenting in relation to teenage indiscipline in schools. The target population was made up of all pupils in grades eight(8), nine(9), eleven(11) and twelve(12). The probability sampling procedure used a stratified random sampling technique. The sample size was one hundred and sixty-eight (168) respondents. The study demonstrated that certain factors such as late coming to school, absenteeism, poverty, smoking, drinking and drug taking contributed to indiscipline in single than in double parented children. The study also examined the effect of indiscipline on the academic performance of children from single and double parented homes. The findings of this study however, showed that there was a significant relationship between single parenting and indiscipline in selected Basic and High Schools of Zambia.