Research Papers 2 and 3

Social Media and How It Affects Children in School

Damian Otchere

Montclair State University

10/07/18

Social Media and How It Affects Children in School

Abstract

Technology, particularly social networking, is increasingly growing tremendously from year to year. In that vein, the young generations, predominately students are the group of subjects that are most likely affected by social media. As such, it is essential to determine how social media affects students in schools, especially on their academic performance. This paper explores various study reviews by different researchers who particularly used questionnaires as the method of study in an attempt to determine the impacts of social media on students across the globe. Generally, the findings from the research reviews disclosed that there is a close relationship between social media and the overall academic performance, which is clearly seen in the overall average scores of the students.

Introduction

In regard to the witnessed immense advancement of technology, communication is a popular vice in this era. As such, social media networking is a commonly used method of communication in the recent times. Online sites such as Facebook, Twitter among others have been tremendously used as an essential means of communication across the globe, particularly by students. Despite the fact that social media use plays a role in the overall success of students in schools, there are various negatives impacts associated with the use of the notable social media platforms. For instance, studies have revealed that students spend most of their time on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and My Space among others. This may be viewed as a waste of time but in a different perspective, social media actually help students to develop significant social skills as well as knowledge. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the effects of social media on students in schools.

Wang, Chen & Liang (2011) conducted a research whose aim was to establish the relationship between social media and the efficiency of the schooling students. The study involved 102 college students, and 57% of them admitted that social media has negatively impacted their productivity in overall academics. Additionally, the survey revealed that two-thirds of the students use social media platforms while in class, doing homework or studying. In that view, a study by Ohio State University revealed that those students who actively engage in social media sites have lower grades compared to those who do not use the online sites. Therefore, the research resolved that use of social media by students breeds a vice known as multitasking which is detrimental to the academic performance according to the researchers in the subject. As such, the gain of popularity by social media sites like YouTube makes students procrastinate while working on their homework. On the other hand, students make use of social networking in an attempt to get academic assistance and support from the pool of databases at hand. This serves as the positive impact of social media. The study found that social media sites are attractive, and therefore college students are likely victims of the effects rendered by social media (Wang et al, 2011).

In another study, Alsaif (2016) examined and investigated the impacts of social media on students. The students on the subject were picked randomly from Cardiff Metropolitan University, and the survey method was a questionnaire. The survey found most students agreed that social media platforms have negative impacts on the overall. Most of them admitted that they spend most of the time on online sites rather studying. As such, we can undoubtedly conclude that social media sites have dramatically resulted in their low academic performance in schools. Again, interestingly the survey revealed unattended use online sites indulge students in the use of terrible slangs which contribute to abuse general public law. However, the research also revealed that social networking platforms help students in academics as it makes it possible for them to easily access, share and utilize academic scholarly resources (Alsaif, 2016).

Tarek A. El-Badawy1 & Yasmin Hashem conducted a research to determine the impacts of social media on the academic performance of the students in Egypt. The survey targeted youth aged 12-19, and it involved the distribution of questionnaires via Emails and Facebook to 110 subjects, both male and females. The study found that the most used media platform is Facebook followed by Google. Again, students spend one to three hours on online sites something which has negatively affected their grades in schools. Interestingly, the study revealed the student’s grades were high despite the fact that they do not study more compared to the time they spend on social platforms. Similarly, emerging studies have revealed that students spend a considerable portion of their daily life interacting through social media. Such a vice has been proved to be detrimental to academic performance (El-Badawy& Hashem, 2014).

Again, Al-Rahmi & Othman conducted a pilot study to determine the impact of social networking platforms uses on academic performance among the college students all over the world. The study found that Twitter and Facebook are the most used social media sites among the university students. The pilot study generally concluded that social media addicts find themselves paying little attention to their personal and professional responsibilities which ultimately leads to poor academic performance among the university students (Al-Rahmi & Othman, 2013).

Being the third biggest state in terms of internet usage, Indians students are likely to be diverted from studies due to their frequent use of online sites such as Facebook, Orkut among others. As such, Rithika & Selvaraj were prompted to conduct a survey in an effort to establish the impacts of social media sites on the academic performance of Indian students. To establish impacts of social media on students, the researchers designed a questionnaire and distributed it to randomly selected 100 subjects, both male and females. The results indicated that Indian students are fond of using social media sites such as facebook, twitter, YouTube, and Orkut. In that vein, we can undoubtedly conclude that social media usage among the Indian university students largely contributes to poor academic performance (Rithika & Selvaraj, 2013).

Conclusions

In conclusion, the various study reviews explored in this paper have revealed that the use of social media sites renders negative effects on students in schools. In as much as social networking has been tipped to help students in academic research, more measures need to be employed in an attempt to curb the negative effects associated with frequent use of online sites among students across the globe. Keen monitoring of academic progress serves to prevent the effects social media platforms renders to the overall academic performance of students.

References

Al-Rahmi, W., & Othman, M. (2013). The impact of social media uses on academic performance among university students: A pilot study. Journal of information systems research and innovation, 4(12), 1-10.

Alsaif, A. (2016). Investigate The Impact of Social Media on Students (Doctoral dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University).

El-Badawy, T. A., & Hashem, Y. (2014). The impact of social media on the academic development of school students. International Journal of Business Administration, 6(1), 46.

Rithika, M., & Selvaraj, S. (2013). Impact of social media on student’s academic performance. International Journal of Logistics and Supply Chain Management Perspective, 2(4), 636-640.

Wang, Q., Chen, W., & Liang, Y. (2011). The effects of social media on college students.

Appendix

Title

The impact of social media uses on academic performance among university students: A pilot study

Authors

Al-Rahmi & Othman

Participants

The data for this study was collected by way of a survey questionnaire administered on 80 Undergraduate and postgraduate students during the 2012/2013 academic session. The age-range of the respondents was between 18 to 36. The sample consisted of 31 males and 49 females. Students were instructed in the survey to offer information about their experiences and impact of using social media on academic performance through collaborative learning. A quantitative approach and give the students the questionnaire in UTM library was used to draw the data for the study.

Setting of research

In this research 80 set of questionnaires was randomly distributed to Undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. SPSS application was used to analyze the data.

Journal

Journal of information systems research and innovation

Title

The impact of social media on the academic development of school students. 

Authors

El-Badawy & Hashem

Participants

Questionnaires were distributed through the social media platform, Facebook and emails, amongst a sample of students aged 12-19. The sample consisted of 110 male and female students aged 12-19, which are in grades 7 to 12. They are from different socioeconomic classes and the types of school programs varied between IG, American, French, German and National.

Setting of research

School-based data collection, amongst a sample of students aged 12-19

Journal

International Journal of Business Administration

Title

Impact of social media on student’s academic performance.

Authors

Rithika & Selvaraj

Participants

100 respondents were only students, who filled a questionnaire. The data collected were carefully assessed to the statistical software i.e. SPSS and the results were taken, as they were required for the analysis of this research study.

Setting of research

School-based data collection, in classrooms during school time.

Journal

Contemporary School Psychology

Title

The effects of social media on college students

Authors

Wang, Chen & Liang

Participants

The research study drew a random sample (N=48) of males (n=26) and females (n=22) who were administered a student perception questionnaire on how social media affects college students. Thirty-five percent of the participants were undergraduates and 65% were graduate students, studying at Johnson & Wales University. Thirty-one percent of participants have full-time jobs, 30% have part-time jobs and 39% do not have jobs. The results of the survey questionnaire indicate that 45% of the sample admitted that they spent 6-8 hours per day checking social media sites, while 23% spent more than 8 hours; 20% spent 2-4 hours and only 12% spent less than 2 hours on this task. Results indicate while most college students use social media and spend many hours checking social media sites, there was a negative aspect to college students’ use of social media.

Setting of research

School-based data collection, in classrooms during school time.

Journal

Johnson & Wales University ScholarsArchive@JWU

Title

Investigate The Impact of Social Media on Students 

Authors

Alsaif

Participants

The primary data for this research study was collected using a distrusted questionnaire; the data of questionnaire was collected from 40 participants which will be using as the primary source of data for the analysis of this study and that lead this research study to the investigation of the impact of social networking websites on students. At the same time literature review of this research study will be used as the secondary data source for this study, which have been gathered from different published research articles.

Setting of research

School-based data collection and literature reviews as the secondary sources.

Journal

Contemporary School Psychology