The Effects Of Social Media On The Learning Outcomes Of Young Schoolchildren

Abstract

The present study aims to highlight a series of aspects referring to the influence of excessive use of the personal computer, electronic tablets and telephone video games on students of young age school results level. Also, this study aims to “anticipate” the possible apparition, in some students who frequently access the social media platforms or other sites on the Internet, excessively view the television programs, spend a lot of time with the computer or telephone games, of some attention, learning, conduct, behaviour, language and sleeping disorders, showing a high level of anxiety, a lack of motivation and willingness in school, as disruptive factors in children adaptability at the learning process. When children spend a lot of time in front of the tablet, phone or PC, sleep disorders can occur, also visual disturbances, a high level of anxiety or a higher risk of depression, obesity, learning disorders and low level of socialization, and deformity of posture. The child tends to take refuge in having fun or dreaming, easily letting go of any activity that needs focus of motivated effort.

Keywords: Adaptability, disorders, effects, excess, learning

Introduction

Learning is the main activity during the school age, and the success or unsuccessful of the student is evaluated based on the level at which he/she carries out the activity. More and more often, during the past years, specialists in the education field are drawing the attention on the issues that children are facing regarding the learning process, such as continuous decline in results of performances in school, the understanding and reasoning levels, speaking, reading, writing, logical-mathematical thinking and, last but not least, the general culture level lowering. An explanation of the changes that have occurred during the past years in children’s behavior, in the learning capacity lowering and in the mental abilities weakening in more and more cases, can be attributed to influences that the television and mass media messages generally have on the mental abilities development, mentalities and behaviors manifested by students. Research shows that the environment experience in which the child grows has an essential role in the brain’s structural development. But the way children are having fun evolves from one generation to another, and the preferred ways of spending their free time in today’s generation, considered by specialists unfavorable for the normal brain development, are: accessing of social platforms on the internet, personal computers (electronic tablets), video games on the telephone and other electronic devices, to the detriment of physical, social, communication, environment exploring activities, etc.

Problem Statement

Research Questions

Can watching Internet and TV use have effects on the language development and cortical activities in children?

This study aims to highlight the “accessorizing” level of the families where the students come from, with modern audio-video technology, TV, personal computers (laptop), telephones with Internet and information access (through TV and Internet), to establish the correlation between the time spent in front of the screen and the results at school, highlighting the differences between boys and girls regarding the number of hours spent in front of the TV and the personal computer on a daily basis

Research Methods

The present micro-research took place in the period of 20.02.2022 – 20.04.2022, on a group of 60 subjects, with ages between 9 and 10 years (the age average being of 9.5 years), students from the third grade, in general schools within the counties Argeș and Vâlcea, a homogenous group in terms of age and education level. School documentation analysis–with the purpose of determining the school preparation level, allowing at the same time to make a classification of their school results in four categories: “”, “”, “”, and “” depending on gender and origin environment. Therefore, the school catalogs containing the school grades. In order to apply the first questionnaire, called “”, each child received a set of 22 questions, written on paper, having their answer options numbered using the letters “a”, “b”, “c” and “d”. During the making of the questionnaire, the students particularities were taken into account, as well as their understanding level, therefore using easy words, that will not put them in any difficulty. The items aimed to highlight the level of “accessorizing” in the families from where the student come, with modern audio-video technology, and access to information (through TV and Internet), the time spend in front of the screen on a daily basis with or without parent’s approval, children’s choices regarding the use of these devices or other recreational activities, the time of the day when they when they want to use them.

Findings

After obtained in the first semester of the 2021-2022 school year and the ones obtained by them in the first part of the second semester, as well as after the discussions had with their teachers, he following result:

• girls in the urban environment obtained a high level of “very good” learning results (52%), in comparation with girls from the rural environment, who obtained a score of only 29%, fact that proves that girls who live in cities are more preoccupied in getting good learning results, in comparation with the girls from rural environment, but also with boys from urban environment (26%), less preoccupied in school performances.
• 71% of the boys from the rural environment have obtained “good” learning results, in contrast to the ones from the urban environment, who have scored 48%.
• a balance can be seen regarding the “weak” learning results obtained by boys, both, from urban (26%) and rural (29%) environments

At the end of the application of this questionnaire, the results have been presented in the following way:

: “” – following the analysis of the responses, it results that most of the students, both, from the rural and urban environments have at home, while a very low percentage of them have more than two TVs, and none of them is in the situation of not having a TV in their house.

: “” – following the analysis of this table we can see that the most part of boys from the urban environment (94%) have at home a (laptop, tablet, telephone with Internet), meanwhile a very low percent (6%) do not have one. Regarding the girls in the rural environment we can see that a very high percent (86%) have a PC at home, in comparison with the ones who do not have one (14%).

: “” – it is considered that the presence of the TV and also of a computer (laptop, tablet, telephone with Internet) in the children’s room represents an exciting factor for children, manifesting the tendency of following more often the programs on them. The obtained answers to the question above have evidenced that a high percentage of both, boys and girls, from the rural environment (86%), have a TV in their bedroom, compared to the ones who do not have (14%), and a high percentage as well of boys and girls from the urban environment (61%, respectively 70%), who have a TV in their bedroom, in contrast to the ones who do not have a TV received installed in their bedroom (39%, respectively 30%).

: “ (laptop, tablet, telephone with Internet)” – this item has evidenced that there is a very high percentage (between 78% and 86%) of boys and girls from both environments, urban and rural, who have a PC in their bedroom (laptop, tablet, telephone with Internet).

: “ (laptop, tablet, telephone with Internet)” – this item has aimed the reevaluation of concomitant existence of the TV receiver and the computer in children’s room, and the results have shown that a very high percentage of children of both genders, from both environments (78% - urban and 72% - rural), have simultaneous a computer (laptop, tablet, telephone with Internet) and a TV.

: “” – this question has a high percentage of favoring the children who watch TV on a daily basis, both, boys and girls, from both environments, the boys from the urban environment having the highest percent (100%), while only 14% of the boys and 29% of the girls form the rural environment do not watch TV on a daily basis.

: “” – the majority of the girls (74% from the urban environment and 57% from the rural environment) spend an average of 3 hours in front of the TV and PC, and the majority of boys (78% from the urban environment and 43% from the rural environment) are preoccupied of the TV and PC more than 3 hours. This accessing time of the computer had a very high average during the pandemic state established because of the COVID-19, but had a slow decrease after the on-site format classes were resumed, in contrast with the pre-pandemic period.

: “” – this item has evidenced the fact that there is a balance between boys, from both of the environments, regarding their preferences of watching predominantly during the week or during the weekend, almost half of them preferring to watch series during the week, and the other half during the weekend. More than a half of the girls from the urban environment (52%) prefer the TV shows at the end of the week. There is a percentage, balanced as well, of the girls and boys from the urban environment (22% for each of the genders), who constantly watch TV and PC in the same manned, on a daily basis.

: “” – even though the number of children who do not hide from their parents when they feel the need to watch TV or PC is somehow high, it has been proved that there is a higher percentage of boys from both of the environments (18% - urban, 22% - rural), who intended numerous times to share their intentions to their parents, compared to the percentage of the girls who did the same (14% - urban, 16% - rural).

: “” – a very low percentage of the families in the rural environment do not have access to the Internet (14% girls, 6% boys), in spite of the fact that in all the origin environments of the children taking part into this micro-research, both rural and urban, this facility exists, not existing any case of isolated homes or of parents who haven’t signed a contract with a cable TV operator.

: “” – Most of the responses that were provided by the boys from the urban environment who own Internet access were positive (98%), while the boys from rural environment, who have Internet access, only sometimes access the Internet. The percentage of girls from the rural environment who are preoccupied on the Internet stays at a low grade, proving the existence of other activities during their daily routine.

: “” – the computer (telephone) games are preferred more by the boys from the urban environment (98%), while 22% of the girls from the urban environment, as well as 16% of the boys and 32% of the girls from the rural environment do not manifest attraction for these games.

: ““– the responses to this question showed their interest on the Internet (90% of the boys in the urban environment), to the detriment of games, making of drawings and writing, which proves that they are interested in the characters action, the dynamics of the images, competitive spirit and not in the monotony of writing or drawing.

: ““ – the responses evidenced the majority preoccupation of the girls in games that challenges their imagination (84%), boys from the rural environment prefer the car racing games that challenge their skills (70%), competitive spirit, while the boys in the urban environment are attracted to violence, aggressively, will of power, domination (82%).

: “” –the presence of the open TV brings along a weak focusing on the learning tasks, this being the reason for which the majority of children use to do their homework with the TV closed. The interesting fact is that during the discussions with the children, the wish of while doing their homework came from themselves, not necessarily due to their parents, grandparents or other people from their entourage imposing. However, a small part of the boys and girls from the urban environment keep the TV on, while the majority of boys from the rural environment (86% of both genders) do not do their homework with the TV on.

: “” – obviously, as an addition to the above, the interdictions came from the parents have to be included, only a certain percentage of the boys from the urban environment (22%), benefiting from the parents “indulgence” regarding the TV watching while doing their homework.

: “” – most of the parents are interested in the harmful effects of watching TV, video games and internet on their children, with a higher percentage of the ones from the urban environment (61% for the boys and 65% for the girls) who often “argue” their offspring when surprised preoccupied on movies, games, Internet surfing.

: ““– most of the boys (74%) and girls (61%) from the urban environment go to sleep at later hours (between 10PM and 11PM) than the ones from the rural environment (26% boys and 39% girls). In the meantime, the children from the rural environment, especially during the school time, a part of them need to commute to school, via minibus, bus or even their parents.

: ““ – for most of the children, both, from the rural and urban environments, the wake up hour is between 6AM and 7AM, with the specification that some of the students who commute wake up in the most cases at 6AM, and the ones who do not commute wake up at around 7AM.

: “” – the number of the ones who responded who “often turn on the TV for a little time” before bed in the week time is easily lower than the one of the children who only do this during the weekend, resulting that at the end of the week there is a tendency of program “relaxation”, characterized by a permissiveness in the utilization of the TV or PC by the children.

: “” – to this question, 57% of the boys from the urban environment prefer watching the TV programs before doing their homework, while a high percentage of the boys from the rural environment (71%) and of the girls from both of the environments (70% and 86%) prefer to do their homework before turning on their TVs or PCs.

: “” – the time allocate by children on doing their homework is assigned depending on the difficulty and understanding levels and on their interest in fulfilling their daily tasks. As an average, for most of the children this interval falls between 1 and 2 hours.

Applying this questionnaire has evidenced the existence of a high level of “accessorizing” in the families where the students come from, with modern audio-video technology and an easy access to information (through the TV and the Internet), no matter the environment from which they come from (urban or rural), resulting in a numeric superiority of the ones who live in the city and own TV receivers and PCs, in front of the ones from the rural environment, who also own TV receivers and PCs.

It was also possible to quantify the time spent on a daily manner by children in front of the TV or PC, the existence of parent’s approval on this matter, children’s preference for the computer, TV or other recreational activities, the time of the day when they prefer to watch the TV programs or to stay in front of the computer.

The introduction of the data in the SPSS (version 10) did not have as a result of establishing correlations between the time spent by the girls and the boys in front of the TV and the learning results obtained by them, while it has allowed the highlighting of. Because the two variables, « the time spent in front of the TV and the PC » and « gender of the subjects », are measured on nominal scales, there has been calculated a nonparametric Chi square or χ2 (chi-square) correlation coefficient. Finding the significance threshold value was aimed (found in the table in the column), which is of 4,800 and which, rounded to two decimals becomes. Its liberty degree (found in the table in the column) is 1, and the exact two-tailed probability (found in the table in the Asymp. Sig. (2-sided), is of 0,028. Therefore, the correlation table (table 1), highlights the existence of a significant correlation (p = 0,028) between« the time spent in front of the TV and the PC » and « gender of the subjects », being able to describe the result in the following way: “There is a significant association between the gender and the time spent on TV+PC, in the way that boys tend to spend more time using the TV+PC (more than 2 hours) than girls” (χ2 = 4,80, DF = 1, and p = 0,028). Therefore, the hypothesis stating has been confirmed.

The second questionnaire regarding “” (Gheorghe, 2007) has been completed by the parents, who were given a copy. Another example of this questionnaire was destined to identifying children’s behavior. The number of answers given by the parents for each of the children has been totaled, also aiming the existence of the corresponding response in the teacher’s responses, fact that brings an objective note in children appreciation. Eventual “conditions” from which children may suffer from due to excessive TV programs, video games and Internet use could be seen.

The answers given by the parents and teachers, along with the data obtained through observation, have led to the identification of the following predominant tendencies:

• for girls – cannot stay still on the chair, frequent hands movements (67% of the subjects), easily distracted (67% of the subjects), interrupt, bother or interferes in others activities (60 of subjects), have poor writing skills and are messy (87% of subjects).
• for boys – are emotional, sensitive and anxious (73% of the girls), have poor writing skills and are messy (40%) and manifest a fear of darkness or being alone, monsters, accidents, earthquakes, death (40% of the girls).

Conclusions

If it is true that television opens the taste for culture, can satisfy a passion such as sport or cinephilia, we can blame the passivity through which it does it, though. The opinions from the parents and teachers regarding the TV are mostly negative, while the ones from the children appear to be positive, and the shows being watched fuel the conversations between children, while the interdiction to watch a program is seen as frustrating. Television and Internet use can have a series of negative effects on a child, such as nocturnal sleeping diminishing, fatigue appearance (especially the visual one), attention disorders, hunger and physical performances diminishing.

Some of the tendencies identified in children behaviors part of this research can also be found in the attention disorders and hyperactivity symptomatology table: helplessness in finishing an activity, incapacity in listening or following, difficulty in staying focused or connected to an activity, difficulty in actioning before thinking, rapidly alternating activities, difficulty in organizing or planning actions, difficulty in waiting their turn. Some of these disorders may be milder, while others more severe. In order to avoid these disorders and ensure a harmonious development of the children, they need to be shaped, optimally and suitably influenced by a series of factors. If the heredity offers the genetic premises of intellectual development, the environment offers the existential framework for the child, the shape after which the mind and soul develop. Out of the environment factors that contribute to the harmonious development of the child, the following can be mentioned: temperature, food, shelter, comfort, physical and mental hygiene, fulfilling the parent roles by the adults (parent, teacher, doctor) and their level of training, family climate, possibility of taking action, experiencing the game, student’s entourage and activities, such as reading, watching TV, computer, music etc.

When the child presents sleeping disorders, being used to stay in front of the screen at a late time, during the night, having difficulties waking up in the morning, when the school results decreases, and the child doesn’t hand over the homework in time and has issued when focusing, when the child has lost interest in activities that he/she used to like, when insists to be left alone while using the computer, closing the site when the parents approach, when he/she easily gets tired and often has a bad mood, a series of action needs to be taken, in order to help the child to retake control.

In this regard, a series of actions are recommended to the parents, such as: initiation of a parent-child discussion, during which the parent shows affection, expressing in the same time the concern for the observed changes (ex. Lower grades in school, bad mood, etc.); asking for a schedule of the hours spent by the child in front of the screen (TV and computer); setting clear boundaries, rules referring to the number of hours that children can spend in front of the screen; placing the TV and computer in a common area, in the living room, that would make the child supervision possible; encouraging the children in finding new activities, or in resuming contact with the groups of children or activities that he/she used to like; collaboration of the parents with the child’s teachers, school psychologists, who are able to help highlighting any behavior changes in the child, supervising the child’s use of the school computer, observing his/her entourage, etc.

The practical-applicative purpose of this study is considering the “sensitization”, the awareness on the involved factors in the raising and educating of children (parents, teachers), regarding the harmful effects that the use of TV, video games and Internet can have on the psycho-behavioral development and their health, identifying those types of behaviors that can be provoked by excessive television, allowing in this way the anticipation of the apparition of some disorders in some students (attention, learning, conduct, behavior disorders), avoiding the risk factors (TV watching in excess, video games and Internet) and school performances improvement. Currently, giving up on the use of the computer, tablet or personal telephone is not easy to do, therefore the effort to free oneself from media influence must me correlated with a good knowledge of the phenomenon and of adopting a way of life which can ensure a minimum immunity.

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