DAYES MOSES

3335 2027

WRITTEN AND ORAL COMMUNICATION

THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION SHOULD BAN SOCIAL MEDIA IN EDUCATIONAL

INSTITUTIONS

26 MARCH 2024
The way human communication has evolved is genuinely fascinating. In prehistoric times,

the early men used gestures, smoke signals, and guttural vocals to convey meaning.

Nowadays, people rely on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and

Snapchat to communicate. Thanks to this revolution, communication has overcome

geographical boundaries and brought people worldwide together in ways never imagined

before.

According to Forbes, the number of social media users worldwide has swelled to a record 4.9

billion people globally., with most of them being teenagers and children. This is about 60% of

the whole Earth's population. This is not all. The percentage of social media users keeps on

increasing daily. People have become so dependent on social media that we cannot go a day

without it. People are always on their phones, scrolling down social media pages everywhere

you walk around. The usage of social media has now become an addiction, negatively

affecting many people, especially those in the education sector. Because of this, social media

usage in schools has been raising many concerns about student academic performance and

personal growth.

Ransdell et al (2018). Users Not Watchers: Motivation and the Use of Discussion Boards in

Online Learning. Distance Learning, 15(2), 35-39. States that social media helps students

focus on their studies. In this article, they explain that through social media, mentors and

learners engage more with constant connectivity through online study groups. The writers

also mentioned that social media allows the publishing and sharing expertise and knowledge

through blogs. I'm afraid I have to disagree with Rosengard et al. (2014). Students and social

news: How college students share news through social media. Electronic news, 8(2), 120-

137. They state that social media platforms provide real-time updates and news on current
events and emerging trends. It, therefore, helps students stay informed about the latest

research findings and global issues relating to academic interest, enhancing their knowledge.

However, the writers need to state that these constant notifications and updates can be

distracting in school, especially when left unchecked.

Anya Kamenetz, director of the Media Psychology Research Centre, has discussed the

adverse effects of social media on cognitive function and academic performance in her

articles and presentations. She urges that a lot of screen time on the phone distracts learners,

causing a decrease in academic performance. I agree with her that social media causes much

distraction in class. Constant updates and notifications from social media platforms disrupt

students' attention and focus, leading to multitasking behaviours. The temptation to check

social media feeds and respond to notifications can interrupt students' concentration during

study sessions and classroom lectures, hindering their ability to absorb and keep information

effectively. Students' grades will eventually decrease due to a lack of concentration, resulting

in failure in the worst cases.

Kłonowska, M., & Radlińska, I. (2023). The use of social media and perception of body

image and sense of coherence. https://core.ac.uk/download/587246598.pdf Urges that

Excessive use of social media can lead to reduced time management and productivity.

Students addicted to social media tend to spend significant time scrolling through feeds,

watching videos, and engaging in online conversations, leaving less time for studying

homework, and other academic activities. Students may sleep fewer hours because of social.

This leads to a dangerous situation for the student where their body will be at health risk.

Lack of sleep can cause diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and cognitive
impairment. Cognitive impairment results in reduced concentration, memory, and

understanding. Learners end up needing help remembering and learning new things. These

health problems can impede students' ability to concentrate, think critically, and perform

academically. In their research, Klonowaska and team conclude that students who spend more

time on social media tend to have lower grades and perform worse on standardized tests than

their peers who spend less time on social media.

On the other hand, Rheingold, H. (2008). Using social media to teach social media. New

England Journal of Higher Education, 23(1), 25-26, emphasizes that social media is suitable

for students to remain digitally literate, especially in this digital age, giving an example of

how social media helped in schools during the COVID-19 period. I agree with him, only in

the sense that social media usage helped in the COVID-19 period, but I also point out that

social media should then only be used in times of crisis like COVID-19, never in class.

Students tend to use social media more for their self-desires unrelated to school duties. Mróz,

J., & Kaleta, K. (2022). Internet Addiction as a Moderator of the Relationship between

Cyberhate Severity and Decisional Forgiveness. International Journal of Environmental

Research and Public Health, 19(10), 5844 acknowledges that social media platforms

contribute to the prevalence and impact of cyberbullying by providing opportunities for

anonymity, reaching large audiences, and creating lasting digital footprints. Cyberbullying

prevalence rates have increased significantly over the last ten years, with social media

platforms being the primary source. Cyberbullying, in turn, leads to psychological distress,

including depression, anxiety, and a sense of low self-esteem. In some cases, thoughts of

suicide and self-harm in the victim disrupt students' growth and focus.
Moreover, using social media promotes laziness among students due to plagiarism, as it is

easy for them to share assignments and leak tests. In effect, it makes it difficult for

educational facilitators to perform their duties. It defeats the whole purpose of academic

learning and progress. Social media also exposes students to explicit press, which can be

nudity, obscene language, and graphic violence. Frequent exposure to harmful media can

result in problematic sexual behaviours and psychological distress, leading to health

challenges and academic decline. Toxic exposure can also lead to drug abuse, causing social

withdrawal of the victim and impacting their sense of connecting to peers and personal

growth.

Social media also contains vast amounts of sensitive information about users. Hackers can

use this as an advantage to steal private information. They can use that information to abuse

their victims and sometimes blackmail them into giving money. Feeling embarrassed,

students may lose their reputation and self-esteem, disrupting their personal and academic

growth. The students can also lose their school data.

In sum, in the issue of whether educational ministries should ban social media in schools or

not is a big one. My view concludes that it should, as it causes more problems than solutions.

It contributes to some of the mental distress and underdevelopment in students' personal

growth. Social media also affects a student's academic progress, distorting the functionality of

schools and the educational services they offer. If they were to ban social media in schools,

all these problems would cease to exist, fostering academic success and student growth

worldwide. The number of those going under depression, stress, anxiety, and suicidal

thoughts would decrease in significant amounts.

REFERENCES

Kowalski et al "A developmental approach to cyberbullying: Prevalence and protective

factors." Aggression and violent behaviour 45 (2019): 20-32.

Kolhar, Manjur, Raisa Nazir Ahmed Kazi, and Abdalla Alameen. "Effect of social media use

on learning, social interactions, and sleep duration among university students." Saudi journal

of biological sciences 28.4 (2021): 2216-2222.

Rosen, L. D., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2013). Facebook and texting made me do it:

Media-induced task-switching while studying. Computers in Human Behaviour, 29(3), 948–

958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.001

Roebuck et al. "Faculty usage of social media and mobile devices: Analysis of advantages

and concerns." Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects 9 (2013): 171.

Rheingold, H. (2008). Using social media to teach social media. New England Journal of

Higher Education, 23(1), 25-26.

Mróz, J., & Kaleta, K. (2022). Internet Addiction as a Moderator of the Relationship between

Cyberhate Severity and Decisional Forgiveness. International Journal of Environmental

Research and Public Health, 19(10), 5844.

Kłonowska, M., & Radlińska, I. (2023). The use of social media and perception of body

image and sense of coherence. https://core.ac.uk/download/587246598.pdf