Impact of Social Media on AL Students’ Academic Performance in International Schools

Abstract

Social media has been a powerful source among students as an agent of socialization. It is hypothesized that there is a direct relationship between social media usage and the academic performance of students in schools. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate the impact of social media on AL students’ academic performance in international schools. A quantitative research approach was used. The study involved a hundred year 12 students selected from five leading international schools from Colombo using the systematic sampling technique. A survey research design was executed, and a questionnaire was administered to collect the data. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentage and mean were used to analyze data. The findings of the study showed that apart from the benefits of using social media, most of the AL students spend more time on these sites for chatting, watching movies, and playing video games instead of focusing on their studies which have negatively affected their academic performance. The study also revealed that cyberbullying and privacy issues were the main problems caused by using social network sites for these individuals, which has not only affected their academic life but also their mental and physical health. Hence, it is necessary to approach adolescents to the use of social networks with ultimate responsibility.