Negative impact of social networking sites on academic life of high school students

Social networks are like an epidemics that spread the disease and capture all outdoors. Every

year there is a trend of growth of students sitting in social sites. They are like an epidemics penetrating

into academic life and transfix the mind of high school students. Many teenagers have become

dependent, as their only care about the virtual world as well as they destroy their real school life,

because they lose motivation to study and communicate with classmates and teachers. No doubt, social

communities have negative influence on academic life of above mentioned students, because of

extreme amount of time they dedicate to social networks, their pre-occupation with virtual friends and

decrease academic performance.

Firstly, negative impact of social communities on academic life of teenagers due to the fact that

they waste a great deal time to sit on social media. This is significant, because young adults use online

sites to communicate with family, friends and even with other entire day, losing their precious and

irrevocable times. Furthermore, they spend their time for worthless things such as watching some

obscene videos, conversing with unknowns and seeing photos of others. According to statistics, a

significant amount of Facebook users (35%) spent an average of 47 minutes a day on Facebook and

they update their statuses more than 5 times per day (Griffith & Liyanage, 2008). Similarly, a study of

the data showed most participants spent nearly 30 minutes a day socializing, usually upon the evening

hours between 9 p.m. to 12 a.m (Sheldon, 2008). Common sense dictates that above mentioned

students expend all along to be informed of all events and read messages that come from the others.

However, some teenagers believe that it is not a waste of time and social networks help them to

spend their leisure time interesting. In addition, online communities help to socialize with relatives and

classmates at a distance, as some learn very far from home. With such problems encountered Susan

and her schoolfellow in land of the Rose (Danzer & Adamson, 2013). Nevertheless, Professors, Boyd

and Ellison (2007), in their dissertation, “Impact of social media on academic life of students”, assert

that online communities make students dependent since attract them to their capabilities and this leads
to the fact that they are losing their precious time intended for more important things like studies and

family. They support this claim by first teenagers during lunch with family converse with kith on chat

despite the requests and prohibitions of parents, they continue to do it, then above mentioned students

prefer to stay at home and lying to commune with non-existent than a walk or play games with

schoolmates, it ends up that they do to a fault little physical actions, and therefore cannot resist the

dangerous to health diseases, and finally they do not create and follow time-management, that’s why

students do not finish the homework. Boyd and Ellison’s purposes are to explain why approaches to

the social networking sites just take all time of students, in order to assure dependent students and their

parents that their statement is right and that online communities only harm to destitute young adults.

Secondly, students’ solicitude with virtual friends is one of the weighty reasons for the negative

effect of social networking sites on school lives of high school students. Pre-occupation with virtual

friends causes that they lose touch with real people, who they spend more time in school, namely with

classmates. Therefore, high school students like living in this virtual world and chat with unreal

people, because classroom does not provide same opportunities for them, as well as they can

communicate with virtual friends without any restrictions and bans by teachers. In obedience to the

study, to the question: “Why students prefer to communicate through social networks rather than in

reality?” all respondents indicated by their answers that (90%) young adults’ opinion is that a virtual

life is preferably (Sheldon, 2008). Judging by this, social networking sites could only create discord,

misunderstanding and shyness.

However, several teenagers think that online communication relationships are more satisfying

with classmates and family, because they can establish a link (Baker and Oswald, 2010). The same

way, Ullah and his companions (2012), in their article, “The impact of social media and social

networks on education and students of Pakistan” affirmed that social communities can help to the

students, who not even speak in the presence of human, could sense liberty in their virtual life.

Though, I cannot agree that its help to keep the relationships between classmates, as sitting on online

sites young adults are spreading gossips about each other. My opinion is confirmed by many people as
this situation meets a lot in daily life of students. Psychologist Gilbert (2009), in her article, “New

generation of students: psychological characteristics, learning motivation and learning difficulties”,

approved that social websites construct dissension and bad attitude between schoolfellows. She

supports this claim by first above mentioned age group students discuss and humiliate unpopular

classmates by distributing their unsuccessful pictures thereby making them ridiculed, and by second

high school students anxious about merely unreal friends, by that they do not understand that they

create a great gulf between them and the real world, that is, between them and classmates. With these

problems met Anna who studied in Edinburg’s Royal High School in 2010. Her friends sent her

spoiled pictures through Facebook, after seeing all the disciples began to tease and taunt her. She could

not stop and fight it, and therefore Anna transferred to another school. Such events even end up very

badly (Adamson, 2013).

Finally, we must have a discussion about decreasing the academic performance of students, who

for a long time sitting on social communities. Online sites during class does not only negative

influence students’ concentrations, also diverts students’ brief memories and listening skills. Students

do not fulfill their responsibilities, home tasks and study lessons. In addition, teenagers do not want to

follow lessons as lessons are boring them. Sure enough, they want to be online on social networks

instead of being in class. In addition, they prefer utilized the social networking sites for entertainment,

comradeship and listen to music from the pages of other users, when they felt bored. According to

study of Oswald (2011), rating education of Waltham High School students has deteriorated in the

interval 2009-2011 to 20%. It substantiates to us that social networks have negative effects on

academic performance of students.

However, some people think differently. According to Khan (2010), “The students are socially

connected with each other for sharing their daily learning experiences and do conversation on several

topics”. This means that he believe that young adults can simultaneously combine study with online

sites. Nevertheless, Sponcil & Gitimu (2010), in their thesis work, “The impact of social networking

sites on academic performances of high school students”, challenges that teenagers do not use social
networks for academically related purposes because they think of these sites as entertainment networks

and suitable places to release stress and forget about studying through chatting with friends and

sharing photos, that’s why students deteriorating academic performance destroy their academic life,

plans for the future and the chances of career success. This opinion proved by Addington, who studied

in Fairfield High School in Bristol, but he was excluded from school, his academic performance

sharply deteriorated, because Addington did not pay attention to their estimated and he spent most of

his time in the social networks in order to commune with virtual friends every day (Adamson,2013).

To sum up, I want to say with confidence that social networks have a lot of negative impacts on

academic life of high school students, because of excessive amount of time they spend to online

communities, their concernment with unreal friends and reduction academic performance. As seen,

there are various different effects of usage of social networking sites. However, positive aspects of

usage of online sites cannot be supported by scientific findings. They are just positive thought about

the topic. According to, scientific findings, online websites usage damages students’ academic lives.

We can list these effects as killing time, living in a virtual life (runaway from reality). My essay

indicates that the harms of usage of social communities are more important than the benefits of it.

According to Rosen (2009), “Communication is the crux of parenting. You need to talk to your kids, or

rather, listen to them”. By using this quote, I want to say that parents should not only talk to their

children, but also more listen to them. In addition, I think that if they tried to communicate and spend

most of their time with their children, the students would not be sitting on social networks and not be

dependent on them. To summarize, I came to the decision to rescue teenagers’ school lives, parents,

teachers and authorities should cooperate skillfully, patiently and quickly. It seems that the only way to

decrease harms and damages of it is this partnership. In addition, parents and teachers should pay more

attention and help to them to stop living a life, which solely hurt them and will not give anything good

for their future.

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