Abstract:
Social media has been a major stay in the minds of students and the world at large,
thereby causing a lot of damage to students, teachers, and even educational
administrators at large. This study sought to assess the impact of social media on
junior high school final-year pupils’ academic performance in the Bawku
Municipality, Upper East, and the role of guidance and counseling. The study adopted
a descriptive survey research design. Simple random sampling was used to select 100
respondents for the study. The data collection tool employed was questionnaire. The
study revealed that the social media used by the final year pupils in this study were
mostly WhatsApp and Facebook; which influences their academic performance.
However, this effect could be turned into positive by providing the learning platforms,
encouraging online learning, and providing accessibility to academic information. The
study further indicated that overuse of social media by pupils brings about distraction
and cyberbullying. The study revealed that the predominant coping strategies used by
pupils were seeking counseling, switching off their phones, and deleting social media
apps from their phones. The study recommended that the school administration, in
collaboration with the school’s counseling center and school counselor, organize
workshops, lectures, and seminars occasionally for pupils’ so that they can be
equipped with the positive and negative aspects of social media in their academic
lives.
Description:
A dissertation in the Department of Educational Foundations,
Faculty of Educational Studies, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Post Graduate Diploma
(Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba.