Ethical issues and tobacco usage among secondary school students in Cross River State, Nigeria

Introduction: Even though tobacco is not a banned substance, there are moral principles guiding its use and advertisement. Among the ethical or moral principles guiding tobacco use are the sale of tobacco products to minors and the smoking in public places. Enforcement of legislation on such moral principles appear to be weak or nonexistent. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine ethical (moral) issues and the use of tobacco among secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was guided by three research questions. The survey research design was adopted in the study. The population of the study comprised 6,361 public secondary school students from 77 public secondary schools in the study area. Stratified and proportionate sampling techniques were used in selecting a sample of 620 respondents from 25 randomly selected secondary schools in the area. The instrument used for the study is a self-structured and administered questionnaire tagged: “Ethical Issues and Students' Tobacco Use Questionnaire (EISTUQ).” The instrument was treated using the Cronbach Alpha reliability method, to obtain internal consistency. A coefficient of .864 suggests that the instrument was usable for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and percentage. Results: The result of the analysis indicated that a ban on direct sales of cigarettes to minors, open advertisement of tobacco products, and ban on smoking in public places, significantly influenced students' use of tobacco respectively. Recommendations: Based on the results, it was recommended that government at all levels, should strictly enforce the ban on direct sales of cigarettes to minors; open advertisement of tobacco products through various advertorial channels; and ban on smoking in public places

Perception and Acceptability of Regular Education Teachers Towards Inclusion of Children with Intellectual Disability in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

Access to education has been a challenge to individuals with intellectual disability (ID) in Cross River State, Nigeria, as a result of limited schools that accept these individuals. This study consequently investigated the knowledge and perception of regular teachers about children with ID and their level of acceptance into the regular classroom. Two hundred (200) teachers in public primary schools in Calabar municipal were randomly selected for the study. A descriptive research design was adopted. “Teachers’ Knowledge, Perception and Acceptability of Teachers towards Children with Intellectual Disability (TKPATCID)” was used as an instrument for data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency count, simple percentage standard deviation, and mean scores. Findings showed that the knowledge of regular teachers about children with ID is very low. The majority of the regular teachers have negative perceptions of children with ID. Similarly, the majority of the respondents were of the opinion that children with ID should not be accepted alongside their non-disabled counterparts in the classroom. It was therefore recommended, among others, that awareness of the nature of ID be created. Regular in-service training should be organized for regular education teachers by the government in order to properly equip them with relevant and up-to-date knowledge of children with ID