CHAPTER I

Introduction

Covid-19, an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. the reason why a

globalism happened and why hundreds of millions of people were affected, and where social

media were substantially used by everyone. The immediate response of every leader in the world

decided to declare a massive lockdown. This gave every one the ability to do work and school at

home, and made them be hooked and dependent on social media. And made their movements

limited to only stay inside their house.

The impacts of social media to the high school students were either good or bad. The bad

side was that it made people be more active in social media and made them do cyberbullying.

But on the good side it made people communicate with other people around the world, and

created a relationship that caused them to think differently than the people who just accuse and

hurt someone on the internet. Which gave the researcher the reason why to discover what did the

social media did to ourselves during the peak of the pandemic. Was it beneficial to us, or did it

just give us the reason to hurt every human out of nowhere without any good reason?

If all those things did happen to everyone did the Rosarian high school students also experienced

or adapted those behaviors. If so, this led the researcher to desire the experience of junior high

school students regarding this topic. In addition, the researcher observed that there are barely

students who are on the negative side of our study. And the researcher wants this study to be
meaningful and be of help to the people around us. This leads the researcher to amplify our

knowledge about this research study.

Background of the study

Due to the lockdown on December 8, 2019, there were people who were wildly

influenced by the trends of social media. And the researcher observed that majority of the high

school students in Rosary School INC. are following this trend. Some are abusing the internet

and being dependent to social media to answer their exams that made the students be There are

pros and cons according to this study, And the researcher came up with the study to determine

the effects behind this phenomenon.

Statement of the problem

These studies aimed to determine the readiness of the teachers, especially the principal at

Rosary School Incorporated, and what the effects of social media have been on high school

students at Rosary School Incorporated during the pandemic. More specifically, it sought

answers to the following question.

1. What are the profiles of the students in terms of:

a. Age

b. Genders

c. Grade level
 d. The effects

2. What are the effects of social media on high school students of Rosary School

Incorporated?

a. Bad effects of social media during the pandemic:

b. Good effects of social media during the pandemic:

3. Is there a difference between the effects of social media on high school students in this

school before the pandemic and when there was a pandemic?

Purpose of the study

This research aims to investigate, evaluate and understand the effects and experiences of

the high school students at the Rosary School Incorporated to know the advantages and

disadvantages of our topic.

Objectives:

To find out the effects of social media to high school students of Rosary School Inc.

during the pandemic.

The researchers aim to attain the following objectives:

1. To determine how social media affected the high school students.

2. To determine the negative and positive effects of social media, especially for high school

students.

3. To determine how high school students will respond to the fact that social media has

multiple consequences, especially during the pandemic.

Hypotheses

The following null hypothesis was tested in this study:

1. There is a difference between using social media by high school students at Rosary

School, Inc. when there was no pandemic and when there’s already a pandemic.

2. In the past few years studies we have found out that some of the students at Rosary

School Inc, who spend more time on social media sites are more likely to demonstrate

poor academic performance. This is because they spend time chatting online and making

friends on social media sites instead of reading books during the pandemic.

Scopes and Delimitation

The scope of this study ere the high school students at Rosary School Incorporated from

grade 7 to 10 who were affected by the influence of social media during the peak of pandemic on

2019.
Significance of the study

Students - our study will be great benefit to the high school students at Rosary School

Inc. this study will provide the students information of what made them change because of the

social media during the pandemic, and if they are still doing what are and necessary for their own

growth.

Parents - this will also be of great significance to parents. Providing them information

and will be aware of how they will guide their children when utilizing social media.

Definitions of terms

COVID 19-Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-

2 virus.

SARS-an infectious disease with symptoms

including fever and cough and in the same cases progressing to pneumonia and respiratory

failure. It is caused by an coronavirus.

Evaluate – the systematic assessment of the worth or merit of time, money, effort and resources

spent in order to achieve a goal.

Globalism – the operation or planning the economic and foreign policy and global basis.

Cyberbullying – the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending

messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.

Pandemic – a pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large

region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of

individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of affected individuals is not

pandemic.

Pros and Cons – the pros and cons of something are its advantages and disadvantages, which you

consider carefully so that you can make a sensible decision.

 CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature

In the early months during the lock down many people were forced to stay at home because of

the coronavirus disease, according to Ahmad AR, Murad HR et al (2020); stated that during

lockdown, people used social media platforms to obtain information about COVID-19. Through

social media the people were in panic and varied depending on their gender, age, and level of

education. Social media has played a key role on spreading anxiety about the COVID-19

outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan. They also stated that the COVID-19 pandemic is the first social

media infodemic. Although there such little evidence about whether and how the social media

infodemic has spread panic but it also affected the mental health of social media users. Infodemic

is rapid and far-reaching spread both accurate and inaccurate information about something, such

as a disease. They said that social media made a significant impact, by spreading the news

related to COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan they spread fear and panic to the people with a

potential negative influence on people’s mental health and psychological well-being. Facebook

was the social media platform which were more used and spread the news related to COVID-19

and there is report that the majority of youths aged 18-35 years are faced psychological anxiety.
 VERNER VENEGAS-VERA ET AL (2020);

Stated that social media is essential and is significant because the way how we share information

medically about this pandemic. Thanks to the mechanics and ways of social media platforms it’s

been possible to find important and relevant information and made us to take action to make an

impact in every medical way. Thanks to social media data are being sent and received more

faster than 30 years ago. They say although this side of social media benefits us it also comes

with a negative impact, because the misinformation travels faster, which is why it is crucial to

improve our ability to protect our own people by knowing what are the exact knowledge related

to pandemic. It is also their responsibility for every health care worker to correct and eliminate

the ones who are spreading misinformation because even with artificial intelligence the fact

checkers are being overwhelmed by the amount of information they are working with. They

stated that there is an opportunity to grow as scientific community, challenging our knowledge in

a social medical interaction, harnessing technology that our battle with COVID-19 is providing.

We must take advantages of our virtual congresses (ESC Congress) associated with twitter

conversations using a hashtag for information exchange.

TIMON ELMER ET AL (JULY 23, 2020);

Stated that students, social networks and mental health trajectories, we cannot understand them

by ourselves alone, therefore it is important to learn how the COVID-19 crisis and related

measures affect the social networks and mental health of the students. They say that the

university lockdown and social distancing negative affected the social integration of some
individuals, yes, they are isolated but they still need social support to deal with the additional

stress factors. They say that some students might be at a higher risk of social isolation and the

development of mental health problems during the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, when they live by

themselves, they will have less direct physical contact to their close families and friends, which

they also be receiving less social support and eventually loss integration social network of

students. Female students (who were the minor group in the student population) showed out that

they are at high risk of facing negative mental health consequences. These observations as well

as those similar studies are crucial to help develop interventions to support students who are at

potential risk. These includes any form of digital study groups like peer group sessions,

mentoring, psychological counseling and others. They said that their findings may further inform

studies of universities around the world to help develop new hybrid teaching strategies to the

schools for incoming years. Where they will have to rely online learning mechanics as a

complement to traditional classroom teaching. And it appears that every student should have

some opportunities to interact and socialize in an informal setting also. This will surely have

effects to newly enrolled students who didn’t have that chance to create ties with other students

yet. If even this is not possible due to COVID-19, universities managers, teachers, and principals

should consider having events or competitions with the use of online platforms to support the

development of ties between students. They say that friendship, interaction, social support and

studying with others has been argued that its impact for their well-being and academic success.

AkpInar Ezgin et al (2021);

Stated that despite proving to be the most effective alternative to traditional learning during this

lockdown, online learning has been acknowledge to be a major mental of mental health issues

among tertiary level students. As shown in the analysis, the lack of interaction with peers, for
instance, is a significant aspect that has affected the ability of students to experience the optimal

benefits of online learning. It is undeniable that the ability to interact with peers and instructor in

the traditional classroom environment cannot be replicated in an online environment despite the

offerings of interactive platforms like zoom, skype and google meet.

Kalenzi et al. (2020)

In their article World Economic Forum hit the nail on the head when they state that “it’s clear

that some aspects of college education, including learning with peers and interactions with

professors, the campus dormitory life and college games cannot be “Zoomed” (para. 5). While

these may be satisfactory platforms for adults, younger adult like tertiary level students, who are

still in their developmental stage, are still largely psychologically, emotionally and socially

dependent on face-to-face interpersonal relationships with their peers and instructors to perform

their learning experience into a productive and happy one. Learning, after all, it not only about

the acquisition of hard skills. Soft skills, developed through the campus experience of working

together in co-curricular activities, class project or just chatting with classmates, also contribute

immensely to the development of the students at any stage of learning.

In this case, the abrupt and “forcible” removal form such an environment would have resulted in

increased stress and anxiety among the students. In addition to that, as stated earlier, the high

levels of distractions associated with learning platforms have been shown to impact the ability of

the students to concentrate and retain the learning content. Online learning is by default an

isolated and isolating experience. One is, for all intents and purposes, alone, looking at the

screen, listening to the instructor or attempting some exercise. It is so easy to lose focus, start

checking the social media or even play games because unlike the traditional classroom, no one is

there to check on you. This kind of learning environment may suit introverts or unsociable
young people. If adults have reported becoming depressed by working from home, what more

young people?

Subsequently, the loss of focus has been linked to increased stress due to the inability to

effectively grasp the course content. The use of the online platform is also devoid of normal

stress handling mechanism such as counselling and/or guidance provided by the instructors

which could be immediate in a traditional classroom based on perceiving the body language cues

of the students. In the asynchronous online environment, there is no way to lectures to know if

their students are focusing on the content or slacking or if they understand the content through

body language cues, unless it is very small class. The correspondent author of the paper is a

lecturer in a tertiary institution who has been teaching online since the start of lockdown in

March this year, has much anecdotal evidence to offer on the issue of interacting using online

platforms. Question like “Do you understand the content so far?” or “Does anyone have any

question?” are usually met with two responses: complete silence or a few “yes” appearing in the

chat box. Calling out students on a individual basis may elicit some form of response but, on the

whole, there is “something” missing in the interaction. Even when offered personal consultation

time, every few students take advantage of it. In this case, the “distance” in the term distance

learning seems to be the operative word.

Finally, the inability to acquire the necessary learning tools and resources has been determined to

directly attributed to the variations in income and ability to afford computer and internet

connections necessary for fully embracing online learning. It is highly likely that any one or a

combination of all these factors would lead students to experience heightened levels of stress and

anxiety which would affect their mental health and ultimately their learning progress and

professional development.
In general, while online learning can be considered a lifesaver in terms of sustaining educational

continuity during the lockdown, it has nevertheless, its fair share to deterrents that have proved

to be a major source of mental health issues among tertiary level students. The imlications of this

are both wide and deep as we are looking at a group of people who are just starting out in life but

who are already mentally fractured brought on by the very system that should be affirming their

mental capacities to be productive human capital and citizens, and happy, fulfilled human beings.

The COVID-19 lockdown has taught us many valuable lessons and for those education, one

lesson is that it is high time for government and concerned stakeholders to acknowledge that

online learning is not without its drawbacks. A concerted effort must be made to ensure that this

valuable learning alternative is equally accessible for all learners and that it is implemented in

such a way as to optimize learning.

Abhay B Kadam, MSc et al (April 2020 ) Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 27,

Issue 3;

Over the last decade, social media has played a crucial role in spreading awareness and

knowledge about public health; however, it has also been misused for spreading fake news,

hatred and creating racism during epidemics and civil unrest.1–4 Even before the detection of

first case of COVID-19 in India, the epidemic of social media panic hit India, which led to stock

out of masks and sanitizers from the market. Further, fake claims about transmission of virus

through air and its survival on different surfaces5 created a panic. Though people started wearing

different types of masks such as N95, surgical and simple cloth masks, many had lack of

knowledge about their appropriate use and disposal which was evident from actions such as

frequent touching to mask, use of same mask for more than a day, reuse of disposable masks and

throwing the masks on the roads or in regular dust bins. Besides, an unwarranted use of N95
masks by common people during travelling and daily activities resulted in the shortage for

frontline healthcare workers who actually needed those. Such behaviors continue to pose

challenges for COVID-19 control efforts. Due to existing medicopleuralism in India, messages

containing fake claims about use of herbal and immunity-booster medicines, religious and

spiritual ways for prevention and treatment were widely circulated which added to the

confusion.5 The confusion was also due to lack of knowledge about non-pharmaceutical

interventions like social distancing, quarantine and isolation because of which travelers from

abroad and their contacts faced social stigma in the localities they stayed. The panic was

escalated by fake news such as mass killing of patients in China and possibility of extending the

lockdown,5 which resulted in individuals fleeing from quarantine or isolation facilities and

unnecessary travel prior to lockdown or even during lockdown for returning hometown.

Unfortunately, logos and website links of national and international health agencies, news

channels and leading newspapers are being misused in such fake news.5 There were a few

incidences where health care providers involved in providing care to COVID-19 cases also faced

discrimination. Individuals from North-Eastern part of India who may resemble Chinese natives

experienced racism. The above observations underscore an urgent need for India’s Government

to effectively control the social media seeking a careful balance of its use and misuse. Policies

such as complete banning of social media or suppressing messages related to COVID-19 can

have serious implications as it may suppress life-saving information related to COVID-19 or

may cause distrust in the motives of governing power.4 Researchers who successfully mitigated

the negative impact of social media and effectively used social media for Ebola control, Ebola

vaccine acceptance and other vaccines acceptance suggested measures such as, creating real-time

information sharing system, creating a multidisciplinary team of experts to draw data and analyse
from range of social media platforms across the global diaspora to understand peoples’

perceptions and attitudes as well as to detect early signals of misinformation to address them

before they snowball. They also suggested to emphasize the importance of addressing existing

perceptions of people in messages aimed toward creating awareness and education so as that the

social media can be harnessed in a positive way to build public trust, cooperation and better

adherence to epidemic control measures.1,3 Apart from these measures legal provisions are also

essential but experts who criticized the limitations and demanded amendments in 123-years old

‘The Epidemic Diseases Act 1897’ overlooked social media.6 We strongly argue for legal

provisions in this Act to enforce regulations for social media with a robust plan for executing

above mentioned measures during COVID-19 and similar future epidemics.

Foreign Studies

Social media is a way to help students like us and have the chance to help each other when they

are struggling in their academics, but are they using this social media during the pandemic the

way it was meant to be used? Nicole Fullerton found that COVID-19 gave us limitations in

personak social interactions like greeting someone we know, but these students are connecting

online from time to time, for example, on social media, which increased by 60% during the first

wave the pandemic. For all the high school students of Rosary School Inc, social media has

become a lifeline to the outside world, especially as students look for ways to remain connected

and entertained. while social media can play a critical role in keeping family, friends, and

teachers connected during times of forced separation, students should be aware of how longer

periods of mindless scrolling can have a detrimental impact on their mental health.
 Local Studies

The effects of social media on high school students during the pandemic at Rosary School Inc.

we all know that the pandemic led our school to transform traditional methodologies into online

distance education. Therefore, social media has become increasingly prominent as teaching and

learning resource in our school. In several studies have been conducted on the development of

social media as our or their learning tools. However, there is empirical evidence supporting this

claim. The present study bridges the gap in the literature concerning the value of the use of social

media in higher education. This research title of ours seeks to determine the effect of social

media during the pandemic in enhancing teaching, our dear friends about the things they are

struggling with, especially if it’s about their academics and learning in schools, motivating and

supporting our co-students, and developing our school community connections. Specially, in-

depth interviews were conducted to assess the effectiveness of social media on students during

the pandemic of learning in higher education. The effects of social media on high school students

at Rosary School, Inc.

Conceptual Framework
According to the outcome, students’ academic performance is affected the more they use

Facebook. Social platforms are mainly used by students for socializing activities rather than

academic purpose (Oye, 2012). In addition (Oye, 2020) said that majority of students feel social

platforms have positive impact on academic growth. In a different research conducted by Shana

(2012) is was ascertain that students use platforms mainly for chatting and making friends. “The

consequences of internet and social media platforms on students’ academic growth” a study that

by Young (2006) it was seen that internet has spread its wing to reach teenager’s school life. It

was also observed by Young that students are more dependent on internet to access info that

pertain their academic life as well as entertainment. Additionally, Young said that internet,

though take a lot of time, and have less impact on studies. It was observed by Wong (2011) that

impact of social platforms rest on the degree of usage. Jeong (2005) observed that internet

addiction significantly and negatively related to students’ academic growth, as well as emotional

attributes. Seo (2004) confirms Jeong statement when he opined that the negative influence of

internet in only on excessive users and not on all users. Rather (2013, p.69) avers that: that social

platforms which are being used today with great desire and enthusiasm have altered the way of

using internets in this modern age by defining online tools and utilities which allows users to

communication, participation and collaboration of information online. Today’s young

generation, especially teens and youth are using technology through innovative ways due to

which they are referred to as millennial and have changed the way they think work and

communicate even though they are in formative years of their life. Today’s youth because of

social platforms have become technology addicts ands quite.

Conceptual framework

Social media Students’ performance

-facebook
-watzapp
-instagram
-viber

-time appropriation
-health addictions
-nature and usage

Theoretical Framework

The theories considered most appropriate study are: Social Information Processing Theory and

Social Comparison Theory. Social Information Processing Theory explains online information.

The theory was developed in 1992 by Joseph Weither. In social information processing theory in

an interpersonal communication theory that proposes that while in online interpersonal

relationship development may take longer that face-to-face relationship development, but when

developed, it has the same influences as face-to-face communication. This indicates that more
student use social media, the more they influence their disposition to studies, given the fact that

friends from social media will begin to exert influence on one another.

Social Comparison Theory, as noted by Festinger’s (1954). The theory proposes

concerning the negative effects on social media on students’ psychology, it can argued that

individuals may fail to understand that the content presented in social media is usually changed

to only represent the attractive aspects on people’s lives, showing unrealistic image of things,

because social media sets standards that students think they should compare themselves with.