AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
COOPERATION OF SCHOOL AND FAMILY IN PREVENTION OF AND DEALING WITH
PROBLEM BEHAVIOUR OF PUPILS IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
a
INGRID EMMEROVÁ,
b
TOMÁŠ JABLONSKÝ
Faculty of Education, Department of Pedagogy and Special
Pedagogy, Hrabovská cesta 1, 034 01 Ružomberok, Slovakia
email:
a
ingrid.emmerova@ku.sk,
b
tomas.jablonsky@ku.sk
The article was supported by a Grant Agency GAPF of the Faculty of Education,
Catholic university in Ružomberok
_____________________________________________________________________
Abstract: The study presents current trends in problem behaviour, or risk behaviour of
pupils at elementary, secondary and high schools. Based on theoretical analysis and
the results of objective researches it presents opportunities and problems in the area of
cooperation of pedagogical and vocational training employees of schools with parents,
with special focus on their cooperation in prevention of and dealing with problem
behaviour of pupils.
Keywords: cooperation of school and family, communication of pedagogical and
vocational training employees of schools with parents, problem and risk behaviour,
prevention and dealing with problem behaviour
Preface
Family is an important preventive and protective factor in the
context of socio-pathological phenomena, but it is also the
dominating risk factor for the occurrence of problem behaviour.
For children, family represents the world of their closest ones;
family background influences their development. Dysfunctional
family background influences the occurrence of socio-
pathological phenomena of children; harmonious family
background and supportive upbringing are the best starting
points for each child.
Family, together with school, represents the dominating
educational and socializing factor. Good-quality cooperation of
school and family has positive effect on pupils. By cooperation
of school and family we understand activities of pedagogical and
vocational training employees and parents that help unite their
opinions on education and upbringing of pupils.
Active cooperation of school with parents is an important
qualitative indicator of the school, as well as the basic
precondition for the success of the educational process; it also
affects the school climate. According to C. Scholzová (2012), if
we want to ensure high-quality education of pupils that is not
deprived of the formative component, we must ensure joining of
efforts of both educational institutions - family and school -
which can only happen through improvement of the
communication between themselves, because each high-quality
relationship is based on mutual communication. Cooperation of
school and parents of pupils contributes to:
strengthening of the partnership between family and
school,
increased reliability of school in the eyes of parents,
increased communication,
the opportunity of united influence of family and school,
acquirement of such information for school that help to
plan mutual activities,
improvement of school success of children.
Children are intensely influenced by their family background
and thus it is important to pay adequate attention to cooperation
of school and family. Cooperation of school with family is
important in general; it is suitable in prevention, but absolutely
necessary in dealing with problem behaviour of pupils.
1 Current trends in problem and risk behaviour of pupils
Increase in socio-pathological phenomena in society is also
projected in the occurrence of problem behaviour of children and
youth – pupils of elementary, secondary and high schools. The
causes may be found in macro-environment, or even in the
global environment. However, especially strong influence is that
of local environment. Environment may have spontaneously
positive influence, i.e. in accordance with socially desirable
norms and patterns of behaviour. But it also may have negative
influence. Social factors of environment have strong influence
and play the determining role in the occurrence of problem or
risk behaviour of children and youth. It is so due to the fact that
everything that surrounds children and youth – family, peers,
school, gangs, media – greatly influences the development of
attitudes and values. Etiology of problem behaviour is always
determined by multiple factors and it is always the result of
interaction among several factors: biological, personality and
social ones.
Elementary, secondary and high school teachers more and more
often face problem behaviour of pupils, of more or less serious
nature (Rahman, Abdulah, 2013). Deviant behaviour of pupils
and violation of school regulations is becoming a serious
problem that requires constant attention – in a preventive way,
but also in a sanctioning way and effective handling. S. Bellová,
G. Siváková and K. Tišťanová (2019) state that the issue of
inappropriate behaviour of pupils also means the so-called
devaluation actions of pupils, in other words – disturbance of the
educational process by different undesirable activities of pupils,
including devaluating attitudes and actions towards the teacher.
Truancy is a lasting and one of the most common forms of
problem behaviour at elementary, secondary and high schools. It
is demonstrated by intentional avoidance of school duties. It
represents violation of one of the basic regulations that
determine the role of pupils, because their duty is to attend
school. Truancy is an evasive reaction; its aim is to avoid
unpleasant school tasks. It also means fear of exams, or fear of
bullying. However, it may also be an adventure. Annual V12
reports of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of
the Slovak republic suggest that thousands of truancy cases are
annually being dealth with. Prevention of truancy is very
important, because truancy is closely connected with other socio-
pathological phenomena of much more serious nature. It may
become one of the factors encouraging criminal behaviour.
Pupils committing truancy spend their newly acquired free time
in various ways, starting from innocent TV watching or reading
at home, through wandering (individually or with a gang), up to
smoking, drinking alcohol, visiting pubs or gambling houses, or
even committing delinquent behaviour.
One of the most serious problems of today is still pupils’
experimentation with drugs, or recreational usage of legal or
illegal drugs, which presents a considerable risk of developing
an addiction. Drug usage causes problems in the social sphere;
pupils neglect their school duties or commit other deviant acts
(thefts, truancy, etc.). Drug intoxication can severely damage the
health of young people and sometimes even endanger their life.
The situation is clarified in TAD (TAD stands for Tobacco,
Alcohol, Drugs) school researches: pupils at elementary,
secondary and high schools have personal experiences with legal
drugs; they also experiment with illegal drugs, most often with
marihuana (Nociar, A., 2018). When it comes to alcohol, we can
literally speak of risk drinking. It is proved by the results of
TAD2 that was conducted among high school pupils: 72.8% of
boys admitted to tipsiness and 42% admitted to drunkenness and
a blackout; 74.1% of girls admitted to tipsiness and 39.4% of
them admitted to drunkenness and a blackout.
Aggressive behaviour of pupils is another negative phenomenon
that is on the rise. Aggressive behaviour of pupils is already a
relatively common phenomenon at schools. The results of the
researches of M. Kolaříková, A. Petrová and E. Urbanovská
(2017) prove that. Almost 40% of their respondents (teachers)
stated that they often encounter aggressive behaviour at their
schools.
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