Abstract:
The study investigated the counseling needs of parents for increased awareness of Child’s Rights Act in Nigeria. Three-hundred and seventy parents from Nsukka Urban in Enugu State of Nigeria were purposively selected for the survey study. The reliability coefficient of the 21-item instrument used for data collection was 0.91alpha. Results showed that parents needed counseling services that would enable them learn to appreciate and uphold their children’s right to free education, the right to develop their abilities, the right to special care and attention amongst others. It was also found that parents needed counseling on child rights issues to guard against street hawking and school child dropout, child discrimination, sexual exploitation of children, child marriage and pregnancy among others. Results further showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the mean responses of male and female parents on their counseling needs for increased awareness of child’s rights act. The limitations of the study are discussed in the context of these findings.
