CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background to the Study

Since the advent of social media sites in the 1990s, it is assumed in some quarters that the academic performance of students is facing a lot of neglect and challenges. There is a deviation, distraction and divided attention between social networking activities and their academic work. It is observed that students devote more attention to social media than they do to their studies.

Secondary school students particularly in Lagos State are becoming very busy with their handset and laptops. Social media gives most students access to the Internet and this has resulted or affected the students’ academics. Through the use of Facebook, chatting, checking their email, pinging, whatsapp, youtube, and MySpace students spend lots of time away from studying.

It is speculated that an average Nigerian youth spends about six to seven hours on the internet daily, some even do all night browsing. When do they have the time to read/study their books or undertake research? Literature reviewed shows that students who use facebook had grade point averages (GPA) between 3.0 and 3.5, while non-users had grade point averages (GPA) between 3.5 and 4.0. Users of social media spend one to five hours a week studying, while non-users study 11 to 15 hours per week (Kapinski & Kirschner, 2011).

It is believed that the use of technology such as internet is one of the most important factors that can influence educational performance of students positively or adversely. Many parents and guardians are worried that students are spending too much time on facebook and other social media sites and have not enough time to study. Though parents are worried about students’ constant use of the social media sites, many students continue to utilize these sites on a daily basis.

Preliminary investigation and interviews with some teachers and students revealed a number of challenges in relation to student’s participation on social media networks. These included a high addiction rate among students which affects their time of study, the wrong usage of grammar and spelling in social media discourse as well as distracting students from their studies. Therefore, this research seeks to explore the impact of social media on students’ academic performance among senior secondary school students in education district I of Lagos State.

1.3      Purpose of the Study

This study was conducted with the following objectives:

        i.            To examine the impact of social media on academic performance among secondary school students in Lagos State.

     ii.            To find out the amount of time students invest into social networking.

   iii.            To ascertain how the use of social media is affecting the study habits of students.

   iv.            To identify the benefits obtained from using the social media.

1.4      Research Questions