SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT AND ESCAPISM TENDENCIES OF ADOLESCENT STUDENTS IN UYO EDUCATION ZONE
Abstract
The study determined the relationship between social media engagement and
escapism tendencies of adolescent students in Uyo Education Zone. Three
research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The
population of the study comprised all the 9,371 SS2 students enrolled in the 65
private secondary schools in Uyo Education Zone. The multi-stage sampling
technique was used to select 500 SS 2 students through the hat and draw
method. Two instruments, the Escapism Scale, ES and the Social Media
Engagement Scale, SMES, were used to collect data for the study. Data
generated were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC)
for answering the research questions and analysing the hypotheses, tested at
.05 probability level. Findings of the study showed that there is a strong
positive and significant relationship between Twitter engagement, Facebook
engagement, Instagram engagement and escapism tendencies of SS 2 students
in private secondary schools Uyo Education Zone. The researchers
recommended among others that learners’ use of social media as a
recreational platform during school hours should be prohibited by school
administrators and parents should regulate the social media use of their
teenage children by strictly monitoring their level of social media engagement
in order to enhance their time-management ability.
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