CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Kaplan and Haenlein
(2010) defined social media as the interaction among people, through which they
create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and
networks via social media sites. According to Bertotet.,
al (2010) the concept of social media is based
on four main pillars covert strengths: partnership, participation, enablement,
and time. Through the use of social media, users achieve some form of
sanctioning that allows a free forum for interactions (Duggan & Smith,
2013).
Social media
networks are designed for the intention of communal acquaintances(Eijkman,
2009). Today’s students are accessing Facebook and Twitter to connect and share
information with those around them (Virkus, 2008). Social media encompasses a
wide range of tools and apps such as wikis, blogs, video sites and other forms
of online interactions. The widely used social media channels in Nigeria are
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snap chat, online dating
sites, Youtube and Viber (Social Bakers, 2013).
Importance of social
media, effects of social media on social behaviour,
negative effects of social media utilization on academic performance and why
social media addiction among the youths. According to Boyd (2007) report,
teenagers and students embraced social media so as to interact with peers, for
information sharing, re- formulating their personalities and thereby getting
their social lives off the ground.
There is evidence
that while social media is used as means of communication it can alsobe used to
propagate deviant behavior among young people. Deviant behaviour isconsidered
to be abnormal or antisocial if it is uncommon or different from the norm
anddoes not conform to what society expects (Thio, Taylor, & Schwartz,
2012). Moralbehaviour among young people can be attributed to a combination of
several generalizedfactors (Hinduja&Patchin, 2013).
Ogidefa (2008)
argues that leading contributingfactors of youth deviant behaviors in America
include the social media, the influence of family
life, widespread abuse of drugs and alcohol, the ease of access to weapons and
a lack of strong punishment that exists for juvenile offenders. He further
states that if this rise in aggressive acts is to be stemmed, the causes of
youth violence must be determined and analyzed to determine which ones, if any
can be affected by change.
Anderson & Bushman,
(2002) have shown that time spent on social media increased by 37% in 2012
compared to 2011. Further, MartinezPrather and Vandive, (2014) point out that
the usage of social media has fostered communication among teenagers. This has
greatly influenced their indulgence into “Sexting” which promotes unethical
sexual behaviors. A research done by Bolton, et al., (2013) on understanding
“generation Y” and their use of social media sites in the United States
established that, extreme usage of social media sites in the long run
contributes to teenagers engagement in risky sexual behaviors. Another study by
Larkin and Dwyer, (2016) on the influence of social media sites and fighting
among high school girls showed that circulation of fighting videos online has
an influence on the desire of young girls to engage in physical fighting with
other teenagers. Chen, Ho, and Lwin, (2016) conducted a meta-analysis of
factors predicting cyber bullying perpetration and victimization in China among
the youth and found out that the frequency of social media usage has had the
highest influence on cyber bullying and violent acts among youth. A study by
Udris (2014) on cyber bullying and online disinhibition among Japanese high
school students found out that, students had a tendency to cling onto social
media sites and this seems to have contributed significantly to cyberbullying.
According to Ogidefa
(2008), detailed information on youth moralbehaviour is lacking
in Africa and this is attributed to the absence of reliable databases. However,
some of the
African countries such as Tanzania, Namibia and South Africa are beginning to
collectinformation to map future trends. Nevertheless, there is evidence of
increasing lawbreakingamong young people. He further argued that victimization
surveys in several countries, as well as qualitative observations, suggest
law-breaking behaviour amongyoung people (12-25 years) in terms of violent
behaviour, drug-related and gang activityoffences is increasing in developing countries
at a much higher rate than in the developedcountries.
A study undertaken by
the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (2012), on theNational School
Violence in South Africa indicated that atleast 22.2% of high school students had
experienced some form of violence. The highest form of violence meted on the
high school students was found to be cyber violence and this was attributed to
thehigh prevalence of online chatrooms and media sites. Findings from a study
undertaken by Nwabueze and Aduba-Doris (2014) on the influence of social
networking onsecondary school students in Enugu State, Nigeria showed that
extensive use of socialmedia sites such as 2go, Facebook and Whatsapp had negatively
influenced thebehaviour of students.
A survey done by
Philista and Arne (2015) in Kibra informal settlement found out thatmost of the
youths in Kibra informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, especially boys are
being recruited into criminal gangs just after completing primary school. The
report further showed that due to the abject poverty in this settlement, most
of the young adults start living in streets where they engage in criminal
activities as well as being recruited into street gangs. According to the
report, drug abuse among secondary school studentswithin Kibra is a common
occurrence. Further, sexual immorality has been propelled bythe poverty in the
slum and intolerant sexual behavior has been favored by theavailability of
sexual imagery online. Hence, this study will contribute to the body
ofknowledge by establishing if any the association between social media usage
and violentbehavior, sexual immorality within the Kibra informal settlement.
According to Njoki
(2014) on the factors leading to antisocial behavior among youths in theNairobi
west and South C. estates, found out that the main deviant behaviors among
young adults included negative sexual behaviors and cases of violence. Moreover,
the availability of cyber cafes that are not well regulated have made access to
ponographic materials online easy to students. She again noted that secondary
school students join upestate gangs that prey the estate roads looking for
young girls to engage in sexualactivities with. Therefore the study is to
investigate the effect of social media on moral outcome of secondary school
student. (A case study of selected secondary schools in Odeda Local Government).
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
There is evidence that
the emergence of the social media and associated availability ofsexual material
has led to an increase in deviant behaviour among the youths. The ability of social
media to offer discretion and a seamless sharing tool has led to the increased
sexual immorality among secondary school students. Further, in some of the
social media sites such as Facebook numerous groups have been set up that
glorify drug abuse among secondary school students as a “cool” thing to engage
in.Due to the anonymity that one can achieve through social media interaction
by usingfictitious names, secondary school studentshave been known to hunt
their counterparts of the opposite sex online. Sometimes students engage in
extremecyber bullying which could affect the emotional stability of the
victims. In addition, social media sites have allowed peers from the same
secondary schools to form closed user groups where they arrange on how to cyber
bully their rival school students and other particular individuals in online
communities. Besides, through these social media groups, students have been
known to communicate and share information regarding the arrangement of school
strikes which have led to arson attacks and at timesloss of lives of their
fellow students within the school. This research thereforehas investigated the effect
of social media on moral outcome of secondary school student.
1.3 Purpose
of the Study
The purpose of this
study is to investigate the effect of social media on moral outcome of
secondary school student. The specific objectives of this study were to:
i.
investigate the effects of social media
on drug abuse among secondary school
students;
ii. assess
the effects of social media on cyber bullying among secondary school
students;
iii. establish
the influence of social media on acts of violence among secondary
schoolstudents and
iv. evaluate
the influence of social media on sexual behaviour among secondary
schoolstudents.
1.4 Research
Questions
i.
What are the effects of social media on
drug abuse among secondary schoolstudents?
ii.
What are the effects of social media on
cyber bullying among secondary school
students?
iii.
How does social media influence acts of
violence among secondary school
students?
iv.
How does social media influence sexual
behavior among secondary school
students?
1.5 Significance
of the Study
The findings of this
study will benefit secondary school administrators by highlighting
the relationship between the use of social media and moralbehaviour among
students. The findings of this research shall offer secondary school
administrators with knowledge and insights to guide in the formulation of
policies and procedures to guide ethical usage of the social media. Educational
practitioners too will find the study findings useful in designing intervention
strategies that are more holistic and inclusive of all stakeholders. Further
the findings will provide basis for educating students on ethical usage of
thesocial media.
1.6 Scope of the
Study
The study will be limited
to the influence of social media in terms of sites such as Instagram,Facebook,
Twitter and WhatsApp on deviant behaviour. The behaviours that include:Cyber
bullying, sexual practices and images, drug abuse and violence. The study will
belimited to selected secondary school in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun
State.
1.7 Definition
of Terms
Cyber Bullying: For
this study, cyber bullying refers to consciously using electronictechnology to
communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information to other students.Electronic
technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers,and
tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text
messages,chat, and websites used by secondary school students.
Deviant
behaviour: For this study deviant behaviour refers to
students‟ behaviour whichis against societies accepted norms. This includes
drug and substance abuse, violence
inschools, sexual behaviour, cyber bullying among secondary school students.
Drug:
In this study a drug is any substance that, when
absorbed into the body of a
secondary school
student, alters his or her normal body function.
Drug
and Substance abuse: For this study drug and
substance abuse refers to the misuseof alcohol and other illicit drugs among
secondary school students.
Generation
Y: This
is a slang largely associated with young teenagers who are in
secondary schools.
Internet:
The internet is the publicly accessible network of
interconnected computernetworks that transmit data by packet switching using
standard international procedure. Forthis study internet means interconnected
computer technology networks transmitted andshared among secondary school students
through the use of computers tablets and smartphones.
Poor Academic Performance: This
denotes the failure to attain a set standard performancein a given academic
evaluation such as a test or a continuous assessment by a secondaryschool student.
Social Media: Interaction
among people, in which they create, share, and/or exchangeinformation and ideas
in virtual communities and networks through social media sites.This study focuses
on negative aspects of social media among secondary school studentsfrom the
following sites: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp.
Sexual
Behaviour: This refers to all responses or any
suggestive behaviour aimed atattracting members of the opposite sex among
secondary school students.
Violent
Behaviour: For this study, deviant behaviour is the
behavior that threatens orcauses physical or emotional harm to others. It
ranges from verbal abuse to thedestruction of personal property among secondary
school students.
Youth:
For the purpose of this study youths are youngsters between ages of 13-19
whoare in secondary schools.