Impact of Peer Group Influence on Secondary School Students’ Academic Behaviour in Borno State

This study examines the impact of peer group influence on the academic behaviour of secondary school students in Borno State, North East Nigeria. Adolescent peer relationships are a powerful socialising force that can either reinforce or undermine students' commitment to learning, attendance, and academic effort. In Borno State, where the Boko Haram insurgency has disrupted schooling for over a decade, re-enrolling students face additional peer environment challenges including exposure to out-of-school peers with different normative orientations. A descriptive survey design was adopted, with questionnaires administered to 320 students in Senior Secondary School One and Two across 15 public schools in Maiduguri and Jere. Peer influence is assessed across dimensions of study group participation, peer pressure to skip school, and academic goal alignment among friend groups. Academic behaviour is measured using attendance records, assignment completion rates, and self-reported study habits. Regression and chi-square analyses are applied. Findings indicate that membership in academically oriented peer groups significantly and positively predicts study effort, attendance, and assignment completion. Conversely, association with peers who frequently skip school is a strong negative predictor of academic behaviour. The study concludes that peer environment is a significant determinant of academic engagement in Borno State secondary schools. It recommends that school counsellors develop structured peer mentoring and study group programmes to harness positive peer influence as a lever for improving academic behaviour.

Keywords: peer group influence, academic behaviour, secondary school, Borno State, peer mentoring.