Social media is evidently more prevalent in
society today. The ease of access to these social media platforms has resulted
in many becoming an addict to social media. This phenomenon was also found to
be detrimental to the students’ performance in school. According to Lomeli
(2011), a study conducted by Johnson & Wales University has reported that
80 percent of participants in the study who use social media networks while
working on homework will see negative implications on their efficiency and
grades. The addiction to social media also resulted in students taking up to
six-to-eight hours per day to complete their homework because of distractions
induced by online social media such as Facebook. 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. It is no surprise that
the vast usage of social media poses a growing threat to the academic success
of students. As such, educators should intervene and collaborate in order to
raise students’ awareness through implementing campaigns, which actively
involve students to find out more on the appropriate social media consumption, and
also parents to have closer and stricter watch over their children.
There are many reasons how one slowly becomes
addicted to the use of social media. For example, according to a Singaporean
psychologist, Gisela Guttman, from Alliance Professional Counselling, claims
“many of us take another picture or post another update as 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). This means that it is the need and want for attention
and recognition that motivates the user to constantly returning to the social
media platform in hope for a response. As time goes by, this urge gets stronger
and eventually results in an addiction.
The Ministry of Education, being the main
influence in the educational policies in Singapore (MOE, 2015), should
collaborate with respective schools and initiate campaigns informing students
on the right etiquette of using 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 become
more aware 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 could 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, would 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 and educate students on how the overuse of these distractions can be
detrimental to their performance and grades 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.
These campaigns might be very effective
because they would reach a broad audience, every student in Singapore’s public
schools. The method of using posters and videos would be useful because
students must learn firsthand about the topic before they can come up with
ideas. Through this process of gaining knowledge, they might better understand
the need for healthy social media usage, and this would have a greater impact
on changing their unhealthy social media habits. 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 the 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 than that of school or peer (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.
Another effective 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 school
work and 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 acting as models by not being on social media
too often themselves. 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. 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 various negative effects of social media over-usage on students in
today’s highly digitalised world. With the collaborative efforts by both MOE
and parents, this issue of social media addiction may be minimized before it
becomes an even bigger threat to students’ grades and school performance.
(985 words)
References:
Guttman, G. (2013). How does social media affect your life? Angloinfo. Retrieved from:http://singapore.angloinfo.com/information/lifestyle/articles/social-media-addiction/
Hashmeta (2014, August). Social media landscape in Singapore. Hashmeta. Retrieved from:http://www.hashmeta.com/social-media-singapore-infographic/
Lomeli, J. (2013, October 4). 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: About Us. Retrieved from:http://www.moe.gov.sg/about/
University of Leicester (2010, November 5). Parents’ effort key to child’s educational performance.ScienceDaily. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029121554.htm
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ReplyDeleteThis is an improved draft, Jovyn. However, there's still a problem with the odd wording of this thesis:
ReplyDeleteAs such, educators should intervene and collaborate in order to raise students’ awareness through implementing campaigns, which actively involve students to find out more on the appropriate social media consumption, and also parents to have closer and stricter watch over their children.
>>> for example:
As such, educators should intervene and collaborate with students in order to raise their awareness through the implementation of media campaigns and in order to find out more on the appropriate social media consumption, and they should encourage parents to develop closer ties with their children.