Essay Draft 1

According to Lomeli (2011), the study conducted by Johnson & Wales University have suggested that 80 percent of participants in the study who uses social media networks while working on homework will see negative implications on their efficiency and grades. It was observed that students could take up to six-to-eight hours per day to complete their homework because of the distraction induced by online social media such as Facebook. This distraction was also found to be detrimental to students’ performance in school.

In Singapore, it has been found that 74% of 5.4 million people in 2013 use social media regularly (Hashmeta, 2014). Based on the study conducted by Johnson & Wales University in the United States, social media addiction has the potential to negatively affect the grades of students in Singapore. Hence, it is no surprise that the vast usage of social media poses a growing threat for the state. As such, educators and parents should intervene and control the situation by creating higher awareness on appropriate social media consumption.

Singaporean psychologist, Gisela Guttman, from Alliance Professional Counselling claims that “many of us take another picture or post another update; we want that hit of dopamine only logging back in and seeing that our content is generating interaction can bring. This leads to our compulsive use and social media addiction” (Guttmann, 2013). Since more time spent on social media would mean less time available for studying, social media addiction is therefore a significant factor in terms of school performance and grades.

The Ministry of Education, being the main influence in the education policies in Singapore (MOE, 2015), should collaborate with respective schools and carry out campaigns informing students on the right habit of using these online social media platforms. One such campaign could involve the organizing of competitions such as poster designs and videos related to the healthy usage of social media. For example, to prevent social media addiction and its dire consequences on studies, students could design posters that educate others on the appropriate length of time that ought to be spent on social media, or emphasize the need to take a break from the screen after prolonged usage.

Students can then upload their posters or videos onto social media platforms to submit their entries and spread the word. The top 10 entries, chosen through public voting, will have their materials broadcasted through other media sources such as television and radio.  

In this manner, MOE can stress on the importance of healthy social media usage by informing students on how the overuse of these distractions can be detrimental to their grades and performance in school. Students might also be more influenced to exercise healthy usage of social media since other students of a similar age are themselves creating materials to highlight its importance.

To evaluate the effectiveness of these campaigns, surveys could be used to measure students’ daily social media usage before and after the campaigns, to determine if there is an overall decrease in social media usage amongst students who have been overusing social media. The pre-/post-survey could also cover questions on proper computer usage to test if students have learnt and practised good screen habits such as taking constant breaks from the screen.

A possible implication of these campaigns is that not all students possess the artistic capability or technical skills to design posters and create videos for the competition. Despite the numerous innovative ideas a student may have, they may not have the ability to execute these ideas in the form of a poster or video. As a result, these campaigns may be unfair to such students.

Besides the MOE, another party responsible for the learning journey of a student is their parents. A recent 2010 study by researchers from the University of Leicester and the University of Leeds found that parents’ efforts towards their child’s educational achievement is crucial, playing a more significant role that that of school or child (University of Leicester, 2010).

Apart from school, students may spend much of their time at home under the supervision of parents.  With proper discipline and guidance from parents, they could learn the importance of healthy social media usage and cultivate a better attitude towards learning, ultimately resulting in better school performance, better grades and more confidence.

Hence, a solution to the problem of the over-usage of social media would be for parents to work closely with respective schools and teachers, closely monitoring their children’s grades and controlling their social media consumption at home, as well as offering constant guidance and discipline where necessary. On top of monitoring and offering guidance, parents can also reinforce good practices and habits for social media usage by educating their children on the adverse effects of the overuse of online platforms.

The effectiveness of this strategy could be evaluated through students’ grades and overall school performance and attitude as reported by their teachers. Parents can monitor their children to see if controlled social media usage has indeed helped them to focus better on their studies.

However, if both parents are working full-time, it would be difficult for them to be highly involved in their child’s educational development due to time constraints. Furthermore, this is a common situation among Singaporean families because of Singapore’s highly competitive economic climate.

In conclusion, the MOE and parents must pay attention to the the various negative effects of social media over-usage on students in today’s highly digitalised world, before it becomes an even bigger threat to students’ grades and school performance.

(916 words)

References:

Guttman, G (2013). How does social media affect your life? Angloinfo. Retireved from: http://singapore.angloinfo.com/information/lifestyle/articles/social-media-addiction/

Hashmeta (2014). Social media landscape in Singapore. Hashmeta. Retrieved from: http://www.hashmeta.com/social-media-singapore-infographic/

Lomeli, J (2013). Social media affects grades. Coyote Student News. Retrieved from: http://coyotestudentnews.com/2013/10/04/social-media-affects-grades-and-communication-skills/

Ministry of Education (2015). Ministry of Education. Retrieved from: http://www.moe.gov.sg/about/

University of Leicester (2010). Parents’ effort key to child’s educational performance. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029121554.htm