Effect Of Cognitive Restructuring And Shaping Techniques In Handling Lateness To School Among Secondary School Students

According to Anagbogu (2002) and Ogbuvbu (2008), distance the child covers to school could be responsible for this child to be late.   So any effort the child could make to be in the school on time after treatment could only reduce the magnitude of the lateness. The child either runs to school or wakes up on time to be able to get to the school in time. For Oni (1986), some schools are very far away from the students’ homes and this could be responsible for their lateness.
Effect    of    Shaping    Technique    in    Reducing    Lateness Among Secondary School Students
Shaping technique was found to be effective in reducing the number of days of lateness of perpetual latecomers. Before the treatment, 30 students were found to be late for 20 consecutive days. After the treatment, one of them came late for 15 days, 5 came late for 14 days, 6 came late for 15 days, 2 came late for 16 days while 5 of them came late for
17 days. Although 5 came late for 19 days, one did come late for the 20 days after receiving treatment.
The findings above agree with the views of Okoli (2002) who pointed out that shaping technique could be used effectively in handling lateness among secondary school students. In addition, the present finding is in line with that of Akinade and Adedipe (1994), which used shaping successfully to reinstate verbal behaviour of hospitalized psychotics.
Also, the present finding agrees with the views of Zimbardo in Afolagbe (1983) on the issue that when desirable behaviours are followed with immediate tangible rewards, they become more frequent. So lateness to school by students was reduced by praises and giving gifts to habitual latecomers who showed change in behaviour. The rewards were to encourage punctuality in the students.
Furthermore, it was discovered that shaping technique was effective in reducing the magnitude of lateness among secondary school students. Specifically, before the treatment, 23 out of 30 students were late to school between
8.35 and 9.05am (severe lateness) while the remaining 7 came late between 9.06 and 9.35am (very severe lateness). Then after receiving shaping therapy, 6 of the latecomers came to school between 7.35 and 8.05am (very mild lateness), 23 others came late to school between 8.06 and 8.35am (mild lateness) and only one of them came late between 8.36 and 9.05am.
According to Ogbuvbu (2008), a child might be making every effort to come to school on time but could not make it due to traffic jams in the morning. A little encouragement for students in this problem can make them device a means of avoiding the traffic jams. So may reduce in their magnitude of lateness if they could not avoid being late.
Another category of students whom Okoye (2001) said could reduce in their magnitude of lateness if encouraged are those whose parents carry to school. If they have been identified as habitual latecomers and are given treatment like shaping, they may be reminding and disturbing their parents that they do not like going late to school. Sometimes they could lead to making their parents improve in their take-off time. If the parents of these children do not value sending them to school on time, there is nothing the above therapy could do on the children.
Osisioma’s (1997) view was collaborated by the findings of this study. She was of the view that any encouragement or motivation like the one used in this shaping therapy on the students who come late to school because they do not want to participate in tidying up the school compound, will make them change their behaviour. Some of these latecomers who were coming late because they do not like taking part in the cleaning and tidying the compound could have been among those that changed positively in their behaviour.