The Effects Of Social Networking Sites On The Secondary School Students Behaviour In Oredo L.G.A Of Edo State
ABSTRACT
The essence of this study was as a result of how much secondary school students are involved in this virtual world of social networking in Nigeria and the effects of these sites on students. Despite its importance, there has been a consistent decline in the performance of senior secondary school students in this very important subject. Thus, this study took a critical look on the effect of social Networking on the behaviour of Secondary School students in Edo state. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. 400 students were drawn from the population of 4364 students from the public schools in the study area. Four research questions guided the study. Simple tables, frequency and percentages were adopted for the study. Based on the findings, recommendations were made amongst which is that sites should be created for academic purposes.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page – – – – – – – –
Certification page – – – – – – –
Dedication – – – – – – – –
Acknowledgment – – – – – –
Abstract – – – – – – – –
Table of content – – – – – – –
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction – – – – – –
1.1 Background of Study – – – – –
1.2 statement of the problem – – – –
1.3 objective of the study – – – – –
1.4 Research questions – – – – –
1.5 Significance of the study – – – –
1.6 scope of the study – – – – –
1.7 definition of Term – – – – –
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Literature Review – – – – –
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Research methodology – – – – –
3.1 Research design – – – – – – –
3.2 Population of the study – – – – –
3.3 Sample/sample techniques – – – – –
3.4 Research instrument – – – – – –
3.5 Data collection procedure – – – – –
3.6 data analysis techniques – – – – –
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Presentation of analysis of data – – – –
4.1 Data presentation – – – – – –
4.2 Data analysis – – – – – – –
CHAPTER FIVE
5.3 Recommendation – – – – –
5.4 Conclusion – – – – – –
Bibliography – – – – – –
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Social Networking Sites (SNS) are the latest online communication tools that allow users to create a public or private profile to interact in real time with other people in their networks (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). The Facebook (FB) website was created by Mark Zuckerberg with the aim of helping residential college and university students to identify fellow students in other halls of residence.. It is described as “an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities” (Zuckerberg, 2005, p. 1). MySpace and the more popular FB have millions of registered users, with FB being the overwhelmingly more popular SNS (Gavin, 2009; Gonzalez, 2009, check facebook.com). Research has proved the overridingly immense impact of technology on academic achievement and development of children and teenagers. Both positive and negative effects of technology on students’ achievements’ have been documented (Espinosa et al, 2006). He investigated the role of technology in early childhood development using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Findings showed that access to internet had contributed to the learning potential of the students. The authors cautioned parents to encourage educational use of technology to improve academic achievement. Studies on the specifics of access and acknowledge that quantity is not as important as quality when it comes to technology use and student achievement (Lei and Zhao, 2005). Specifically, when the quality of technology use is not closely monitored or controlled, computer use may do more harm than good to student achievement in school. In addition, technology that was found to have a positive impact on academic achievement, or technology with educational value, was not popular with students and they used it less frequently (Espinosa et al, 2006). It has also been documented that there is no relationship between computer use and academic achievement. For example, no relationship was established between time spent on the computer at home and (GPA) in a sample of adolescents (Hunley, Evans, Delgado-Hachey, Krise, Rich, & Schell, 2005). Other studies found out that recreational Internet use is strongly correlated with impaired academic performance (Kubey, Lavin, & Barrows, 2001). Approximately 10-15% of study participants reported a feeling of not being in complete control of their Internet use and that it hurt their schoolwork. Students who reported Internet-caused schoolwork problems were found to have spent five times (x5) more hours online than those who did not, and they were significantly more likely to report that their Internet use caused them to stay up late, get less sleep and miss classes (Kirschner, 2009). Although not specifically mentioning FB, the authors conclude that it is not so much the Internet that causes these problems as the new social opportunities of the Internet (Kirschner, 2009). Students who reported academic problems were more likely to use the Internet for real-time social activities such as chat rooms. Kubey et al (2001) noted that these social uses are what hold students captive, especially late at night. According to Vanden Boogart (2006), in an unpublished Master’s thesis, he found out that heavy FB use (i.e., more time spent on FB) is observed among students with lower GPAs, although no control variables were implemented in the analyses. There was no correlation between Facebook use and GPA in a sample of students from a public Northeast Research University (Kolek & Saunders, 2008). However, more recently, an exploratory survey study reported a negative relationship between FB use and academic achievement as measured by selfreported GPA and hours spent studying per week (Karpinski & Duberstein, 2009).
Modern technology in communication no doubt has turned the world into a global village. Technology has helped people to be better informed, enlightened and keeping abreast with world development. In this era, there are more people more than ever surfing the web and a huge percentage of these internet users either have one or more accounts with some of the major Social Networking Sites. These major Networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, 2go, Blackberry Messenger (BBM), Snap Chat, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Google+ etc.
The wide usage of internet and communication technology has made human beings to quickly connect and interact with group of people from any part of the world. Teenager/adolescent people are more attracted by this new trend called Social Networking Site (SNS). Since it is a platform for sharing ideas, expressing feelings and reconnecting with lost/old friends, most often at times, these young ones are intimately engrossed to the use of internet. Teenage students’ attitudes and behaviours changed due to social networking site and they spend substantial time communicating or chatting through social media. According to Krishna and Sumana (2015), adolescents use social media more compare to other age group of users. According to them (i.e. Krishna and Sumana 2015), an empirical survey conducted in 2009 states that 73% of the youths use SNS which is 18% increase compare to 3 years earlier.
A lot of Nigerians have access to the internet. As at July 2016, of the total population of 186,987,563 about 86,219,965 of the population are internet users. This number is about 46.1% of the nation’s population (internet live status 2016). However, the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC as at August 2016 revealed that the number of internet users on Nigeria’s telecoms networks has hit 97.21 million. It is pertinent to mention that a huge percentage of social network users fall between the ages of 14 – 20 years and this is the range of the schooling age for senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria. The reason is the ease at which people get access to the internet through mobile devices which are easily affordable. Statistical work by premium times shows that 100% of Face book users in Nigeria do so via their mobile phones.
Since the advent of Social Networking Sites in the 1990’s, it is assumed that the academic achievement of students is facing a lot of neglect and challenges. There is the assumption that usage of Social Networking by students could lead to deviation, distraction and divided attention amongst Secondary School Student. It has been observed that students devote more time to social networks than they do to their studies. It is now a common thing to see students chatting (Social Networking) during and after school hours.
A number of researches have been carried out in recent times to find out the impact of social networking on the academic achievement of students. There are however, diverse opinion/findings. For instance, Ito et al (2009) opined that teens use Social Networking for a number of positive activities which include delving deep into interest-driven communities and participating in various activities. For Jwaifell (2013), social networking sites could be used as a tool for interaction and communication between students and profession. This view is also supported by Shosanya (2013), who declared that teenagers in Nigeria are in the habit of making and chatting with friends using the Social Networking platforms as against visiting them for their academic purposes.
According to Oskovei (2010), the internet is advantageous to both students and teachers if used as a tool of knowledge creation and dissemination. This finding was further asserted by Yunus et al (2012), who declared that students gained more vocabulary development and improved their writing skills as a result of their participation on social networks and this in turn improved on their reading skills. However, a number of studies also revealed that Social Networking has negative effect on students’ academic achievement. Junco et al (2010), Rithika and Selvaraj (2013) and Mingle and Adams (2015).
In the study of Rithika and Selvaraj (2013), which was carried out in Indonesia, there was a significant impact of social media usage on students’ academic performance. This finding is also supported by Yeboah and Ewur (2014), in Ghana, who declared that social media can be distractive to academics. Junco et al (2010), carried out a study in the United States, and discovered that Social Networking is related to academic impairment at the bivariate level. In a study carried out in Malaysia by Oye, Mahamat and Rahim (2012), it was revealed that students unconsciously get addicted to the use of social media networks and get obsessed with them. They went further to state that students spend few minutes with their books and spend hours surfing and updating profiles as well as viewing photos. Mingle and Adams (2015), declared that despite the benefits that come with the participation of students on social media networks, it could impact negatively on their academic performances if not used properly. The studies of Muhingi et al (2015), carried out in Kenya also revealed that secondary school students in Kenya were much more vulnerable to the adverse effects of social networks in a manner consistently and concurrently similar to that found elsewhere in the worldwide. According to this group of scholars, social networking leads to conversion of academic into recreational session and subsequent poor academic performance among the majority of secondary school students in Kenya.
An empirical study on relationship between academic performance and Facebook usage was carried out by Kirschner and Karpiaski (2010). In the study, samples were taken from 219 university students and they found that Facebook users had lower Grade Point Average (GPA) and they were online most of the time and utilized very less time for their studies in comparison with students who did not use Facebook. Only 26% of students reported that SNS impacted positively and helped to grow in their lives and 74% said that it had adverse impact like procrastination, lack of concentration or distraction and poor time management. The two researchers- Kirschner and Karpiski also found that even though students use interest for educational purposes, they are attracted or distracted by SNS. In a study carried out on 258 Kofoidua technical students in Ghana by Anyaw, Asante and Asante (2017), it was discovered that female students spend more time on social networking sites than male students. Furthermore, SNS has negatively affected students’ academic performance. However, Shah et al (2011), declared that some students are positively affected by information they receive from internet and thereby enhance their knowledge, while at the same time a large number of students have drastic impact of leisure on internet on them and thereby become academically poor.
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem
Social media sites have brought many positive implications to human life. The idea of the global village has been translated into reality through these sites by connecting millions of people from all around the world. Most of these media sites are designed to fulfil all aspects of life which include fashion, politics, music, sport, education amongst others. Social networking sites are modern interactive communication channels through which people connect to one another, share ideas, experiences, pictures, messages and information of interest. Social media is indeed a fascinating one for Nigerians, especially the youths. This is not surprising as it is generally acknowledged that the youths by nature are more disposed to social communication technologies. Social media sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, 2go, Badoo, Myspace among others, provide instantaneous access to information to youths at all times. In the same vein, almost two third of the youths in Nigeria use social media to connect to millions of people all over the world.
Notwithstanding the benefits of social media on youths, it has inadvertently given rise to moral decadence in Nigeria, especially among secondary school students. Ibrahim (2012) points out that students sometimes abuse the socializing tools by neglecting the informative and educational benefits that social media has to offer instead Nche (2012) reveals that one of such exhibitions affects matters of immorality displayed by youths in our schools today. Things they learnt not from school nor parents, but from social media because it has no restrictions. As a result, the issue of cyberbullying, fraud, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, lesbianism, examination malpractice, truancy, rape, alcohol abuse,
school violence, drug abuse, texting, pornography, privacy, terror group, membership to secret cult and abuse of numerous kind are easily subscribed to and this would affect their behaviour, academics and social life as whole.
Akintunde (2001) observes that student‟s behavior is the most important aspect of his life to teachers, parents and society because their behavior portray the image and the name of the family in the sight of the community. This explains the reasons why most parents work hard towards bringing their children up to live reputable lives. Sum (2008) asserted that the closeness of secondary school students to social media network has made them develop new sets of behaviour as a result of peers and groups they found online. According to Long (2012) the decay affects child-parents, Students –teacher and weaken school tie relationship. Solanke (2012) cited that social media has derailed the attitudes of secondary school students as they no longer have respect for elders.
Habitually, these students are also seen moving along the streets with their mobile phones and other technological devices constantly and even in the face of a disaster in which people are maimed, injured or killed, youths rather than coming to rescue only care about taking pictures or recording of the disaster and the victim with their phones then upload their images on YouTube, Facebook or any online forums.
Social media has made some students in Nigeria, especially secondary school students to become careless in terms of dressing and develop poor writing skills because they use abbreviation in text messages, poor reading culture as a result of hours they invest in Face booking, prone to disasters, accidents, distracted from their studies and responsibilities to themselves, their families, teachers, friends and communities.
The aforementioned should not be allowed to continue because it will affect the entire fabric of the future generations. What can be done to remedy this trend, how can the gap observed by dearth in literature on the influence of social networking site on academics, as well as the behavior of secondary school students.
1.3 Objective of the study
The main objective of the study is to examine the effects of social networking sites on secondary school students behaviour in Oredo L.G. A. of Edo state. Specifically the study aims:
- To find out the type of social networking sites secondary school students are exposed to.
- To know how these networking sites has influenced secondary school students.
- To examine the motivating factors that influences the use of the social network.
- To recommend some measures on the proper use of social media.
1.4 Research Questions
- What type of social networking sites are secondary school students expose to?
- What is the influence of social networking on secondary school students?
- What are the motivating factors that influence the use of social networking sites?
- What measures can be put in place to curb the negative influence of social media on secondary school students?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The research provided an enhanced view on how social networking sites such as Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter can be used as a medium to source for vital information that could be used for academic activities instead of chatting and whiling away time. This study enables proper regulation to be stipulated with the aim of censoring contents posted on these media sites and also will benefit the readers by increasing their knowledge on the influence of these media sites on education. This research was conducted to know the level of exposure of students to these media sites and how it has helped their lives as a young adult.
It also serves as raw materials for other researchers in the covered area and other related areas. Lastly, this study contributed to the existing body of knowledge on the relationships between the variables under study.
1.6 Scope/Limitation of the Study
This study focuses on the assessment of influence of social networking among young people, particularly secondary school students. The study took place in Oredo L.G.A. The study looked at the social networking effects on student‟s academic activities as well as their behaviour. The target population for this study is secondary school students comprising of SSS3 students within Oredo Area of Edo state was due to the fact that most, if not all are exposed to these sites. The researcher was unable to cover all the social networking sites due to time and financial constraints.
1.7 Definition of Key Terms
Facebook: Facebook can be defined as one of the new social networks which provide users with the mix of interpersonal and mass communication capabilities that have not existed before and which place emphasis on interactively and mobility (Paxson,2010).
Influence: Oxford dictionary defined influence as the effect something has on the way persons thinks or behave or on the way that something works or develops. Influence is also described as an action exerted by a person on another to cause change. For the purpose of this study, influence is defined as a person or thing that affects the way a person behaves and thinks.
Social Media: Social media is referred to as internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web which allows for creations and exchange Kplan (2010).They are referred to internet-based social web sites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and so on which allows users to interactively communicate with one another Ikpe and Olise(2010).
Social media can be described as web –based and mobile technologies which are used to turn communication into interactive dialogue between organization, communities and individuals (Adaja and Ayodele, 2013). For the purpose of this study, Social media is defined as an online location where people can interact with others about information, entertainment, news and which will be their own choice and creation.
Students: According to oxford dictionary, students is defined as a person who is studying at school, university or college. It can also be referred to a sets of individuals studying in order to acquire education. For the purpose of this study, a student is defined as a person who is studying at college.
Whatsapp: Whatsapp can be defined as a messenger is a proprietary, cross platform instant messaging subscription for Smartphone and selected feature phones that uses the internet for communication. Individuals who use this can send themselves images, audio, video media messaging and their location using integrated mapping features(retrieved July 2015) www.google.com. (Research work)
Do you need help? Talk to us right now: (+234) 08060082010, 08107932631 (Call/WhatsApp). Email: [email protected].IF YOU CAN'T FIND YOUR TOPIC, CLICK HERE TO HIRE A WRITER»
