PROf. ANERO, NNAMDI — DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PRIMARY EDUCATION
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
IGNATIUS AJURU UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
PMB 5047 RUMUOLUMENI
PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA
Abstract:
The study sought to establish the extent parents are aware of the child’s economic right and therefore
contends that if parents are aware of the economic right of children, they will be in a better position to
protect the child from economic abuse. In view of this, the study had four objectives and four research
questions. The adopted descriptive survey research design and accidental sampling technique to select
404 parents as respondents. A 22 researcher made questionnaire was the main instrument. The instrument
was validated by experts in childhood education measurement and evaluation. The reliability of the
instrument was ascertained through the use of test retest which gave a coefficient of 0.81. The data
generated was analyzed using mean. The basic findings of the study were parental awareness of child’s
right as a means of protecting the child against economic exploitation was low but single parents were
more disposed to sexual exploitation of children while married parents were more disposed to the
involvement of children in drug related businesses. Based on these, the study recommends thus: the
government and non-governmental apparatuses need to engage in aggressive public enlightenment
programmes by using all the media sources to enlighten the parents on the evils of different forms of
child’s economic abuse and that those who conduct marriages such as the parents, church, mosque, court
and other institutions must counsel both the married and prospective couples on how to take steps to avert
the child’s involvement in drug and sex related businesses.
Keywords: Parental Awareness, Child’s Right, Economic Exploration and Protection.