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CHAPTER I

The Problem and It’s Background

Introduction

Study habit is essential in every learner’s progress.

Some are mostly influence by their family and environmental

nature on how they take things towards studying but most of it

is develop through maturity, practice and discipline. Good

and bad study habits are formed by how an individual takes

responsibility in learning. The good ones are definitely the

most useful tool for both the teacher and learner in order to

achieve the lesson objectives.

The development of poor study habit is due to a lot of

factors on the learners’ end. Primarily, it could be

physiological and intellectual. Some people are naturally

born with sharp memory while some are not. Genetically

proven, intellectuality is inherited so as the underlying

deficiencies towards it. Any average learners could be

challenged by how they will take things seriously with regards

to studying inside or outside the school. On the biggest side

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of the influence towards study habits, society and culture

plays a vital role. Learners are all influenced by how they

perceive studying based on which cultural and social practices

they are used to.

Any child who becomes part of the society the moment they

come out of their homes will automatically gain something

regardless if it’s desirable or undesirable. This is where

study habits are being affected. They are mostly influenced

by how, when and where a learner embraces and accepts social

life so as the growing population of the so called “netizens.”

Society has now conquered the World Wide Web. It is

undeniable that social media is doing a lot of help and social

impact to any individuals. My social observation makes me

feel that the social lifestyle of this generation is totally

different from what was the norm in the past generations. It

is a given fact that computer technology as well as the World

Wide Web will keep on brining something new in the society.

What’s alarming about it is that, this innovative change will

surely affect society first before education. It is going to

be a lot challenging for any teachers to deal with the social

media if the role that it is playing has something to do as

one of the learner’s greatest influences; influence that may

interfere the parents’ and educators’ roles. The formation of

a child’s perception on technology and World Wide Web is now

becoming an impact to his or her study habits.

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Social networks are accessible, informative, entertaining

and socially friendly. However, numerous disadvantages are

obviously occurring such as cyber bullying, social engineering

and uncontrollable restricted contents that is why it may be a

threat to any learners especially to those who uses it as a

tool in education. Since the World Wide Web is an accessible

form of entertainment and leisure, most kids and teenagers

would spend even more time in playing games and socializing

over the social network website without noticing its potential

interference to study habits.

Background of the Study

Batasan Hills National High School has been progressing

on its occupation for more than a decade since 1998.

Considering tenure, it is still young ahead of its time

comparing to some other competitive public high schools of

Quezon City. It is currently the biggest school in the city

in terms of population and area. It is located 30 meters away

from the House of Representatives along IBP road, within the

vicinity of Batasan Hills. According to census, the socio-

economic profile of its location is considered as the class

D’s or families with an average monthly income of minimum or

below minimum wage. The area is declared as one of the largest

local government unit of Quezon City. Such dynamic will help

us determine the potential expected behaviour of the learners

differently from what was being exhibited when at home.

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This national high school has established its name for

its special programs such as Technical Vocation, Special

Science and Engineering programs. Consistent and average

numbers of UPCAT passers are one of its many competitive

achievements. It has won regional and national competitions

and granted tertiary scholarships to students by sponsorship.

Because of its fast increasing academic development,

pioneering K to 12 curriculums is somehow applicable but

mostly challenging for a student dominating school

environment. Socially speaking, Batasan National High School

is a lot more susceptible to diversity. Due to a numerous

student population, stakeholders and faculty members, I am

expecting a variety of cultural backgrounds within the campus.

In my 10 months of stay, I notice that the difficulty in

teaching and learning situation has all rooted from the poor

study habits of students. With the use of the social network

“Facebook,” I was able to greatly understand the shortcomings

and teenage nature of my students who are in Grade 8. It

shows in their profile, posts, status and comments how they

take studying as their least priority during their spare time,

weekends and holidays. The social media user within a

section/class dominates and according to them, they enjoy

surfing the social networks mostly than doing something else.

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As a teacher, it will be of a great challenge to catch

the student’s interest if their learning motivation isn’t

strengthened by a consistent study habit due to social media

attention. I myself have experienced a great difficulty in

avoiding social media as it is really interfering in terms of

time management. People who value time like me can even be

manipulated by these forms of media not just for entertainment

but also for reference purposes. Anyone whose lifestyle isn’t

into socializing will get to transform into a different person

because the virtual self will dominate for unrecognizable

reasons.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the degree of influence of

social media to the study habits of Grade 8 Students of

Batasan Hills National High School in Quezon City during the

academic year 2013-2014.

Specifically, the study intended to answer the following

questions.

1. What is the profile of student-respondent in terms of:

1.1Sex,

1.2Age,

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1.3Average family income,

1.4Academic Performance

2. What is the degree of exposure of students to social

media?

3. What degree of influence do social media have on

students?

4. Is there a significant relationship between students’

exposure to social media; and sex, age and academic

performance?

5. Is there a significant relationship between the degree of

influence of social media on students’ behaviour and

academic performance?

Scope and Delimitation

This study is limited to Batasan National High School

Grade 8 Students. The Effect of social media to the study

habits of the students will be tested.

Significance of the Study

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This study was conducted to determine the influence of

Social Networking to study habits. This study may help the

following:

Educational Stakeholders may use the background of this study

to take considerations in appropriate integration of

Information and Computer Technology to learning instructions

Parents or Guardians may benefit from this research as it will

serve as an “eye-opener” for taking responsibility in using

social networking websites.

Special and Regular Teachers may use this as a guide in proper

education of responsible social media use so as to censor

parent contents all over social media.

Regular Students will earn awareness of how influential social

media is towards study habits. This study will can help

students realize the effects of social media towards their

study habits with an open mind.

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Theoretical Framework

This study is supported by the theories which aim to aid

the researcher in providing knowledge on the influence of

social media to the study habits of grade 8 students. The

researcher used theories to give foundation to the analysis

being conducted.

This study is attached on the idea that social media

have huge impact and influences on the attitudes, behaviour

and scholastic achievement of teenagers. A theory that

supports the study is the “Behaviour Modification Theory”1. It

states that changes in the behaviour of an individual occur as

a result of certain conditions, behaviour or control

techniques. The chief exponent of this theory is Burrhus F.

Skinner who proposed his theory by describing rules or

principles that govern the relationship between stimuli,

responses and reinforcements. Individual behaviour determines

future possible action that is greatly influence the

environment. The place where an individual initially learn

from is the house. This is where the determinants of

influence falls under such as social-environment and economic

condition. Another major factor is the school where influence

can be faculty, academic or individual related. These factors

1 A.S. Bustos, Ed.D. Psychological, Anthropological and Social Foundations of Education P.34

PROFILE

-Sex

-Age

-Average Family Income

-Academic Performance

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are considered as underlying variables that stimulate or even

reinforce an individual’s reaction towards a social group.

Conceptual Framework

A paradigm illustrated in Figure 1 shows the relationships

among variables of this study by underlying theoretical

concepts.

Figure

Independent Variables Dependent

Variables

INFLUENCES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

-Individual-related

-Academic-related

-Socio-environmental condition-related

-Economic condition-related

-Faculty/Curriculum-related

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Based on the models presented, the independent and

dependent variables were identified. The Independent

variables are the degree of exposure and the degree of

influence of social media on students. The dependent

variables are the degree of influence of social media to study

habits which is exhibited by the behavior and academic

performance as a whole.

Definition of Terms

Social Media

Are forms of electronic communication(as Web sites for social

networking and microblogging) through which users create

online communities to share information, ideas, personal

messages, and other content as videos.

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-Merriam-Webster

Social Networking

Social networking is the practice of expanding the number of

one's business and/or social contacts by making connections

through individuals. While social networking has gone on

almost as long as societies themselves have existed, the

unparalleled potential of the Internet to promote such

connections is only now being fully recognized and exploited,

through Web-based groups established for that purpose.

Margaret Rouse January

2006

World Wide Web

The term WWW refers to the World Wide Web or simply the Web.

The World Wide Web consists of all the public Web sites

connected to the Internet worldwide, including the client

devices (such as computers and cell phones) that access Web

content. The WWW is just one of many applications of the

Internet and computer networks.

-Bradley Mitchell

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Information Computer Technology

ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information

through telecommunications. It is similar to Information

Technology (IT), but focuses primarily on communication

technologies. This includes the Internet, wireless networks,

cell phones, and other communication mediums.

-http://

www.techterms.com/

INTERNET

Internet is defined as a connected group of computer networks

allowing for electronic communication. The networks:

a. Are comprised of educational, commercial and government

sites

b. Can be made up of any number of computers from two to

infinity

-yourdictionary.com

LAN GAMES

A local area network (LAN) supplies networking capability to a

group of computers in close proximity to each other such as in

an office building, a school, or a home. A LAN is useful for

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sharing resources like files, printers, games or other

applications.

-Merriam-Webster

Internet Chat

Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over

the Internet that offers a real-time transmission

of text messages from sender to receiver. Chat messages are

generally short in order to enable other participants to

respond quickly.

-wikipedia.com

Video Chat

Communicating visually with another person via computer. The

term came from chat systems that evolved from typing only text

to incorporating two-way video. Although the terms video chat,

"video calling" and "videoconferencing" are used synonymously,

the term video chat tends be used when video calling is

integrated into an existing service.

-pcmag.com

Netizen

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a person who actively uses the Internet especially in a proper

and responsible way

-Merriam-Webster

CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter shall briefly review a few studies conducted

by other researchers, and written literature which are

relevant or related to a certain degree of this study.

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Foreign Literature

Recent studies by American psychologist Dr. Jim Taylor

emphasized how social media controls most students’ lifestyle

not just socially but also in terms of their study habits,

individual outlooks and perceptual behaviour towards leisure

and entertainment. He is somehow neutral between the good and

the bad effects of social media towards the teenage society.

He recently focused on the effects of technology as a whole to

the ever changing and diverse society.

Taylor psychologically described Facebook as a social

phenomenon as it forcefully elevates communication today.

People all over the globe get to share photos, messages, and

thoughts and update families and friends instantly. Though,

this wonderful innovation has a dark side according to him.

This includes anxiety, psychiatric disorders and a series of

unhealthy behaviours. Taylor’s write up discussed how

Facebook causes depression among tends and sometimes would be

associated with Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality

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Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder,

Sadistic, Passive-Aggressive, Borderline, Paranoid, and

Somatoform Personality Disorders. This is well explained by

how a physical world of a person turns into a virtual form.

For instance, when someone who is shy and inferior, tends to

become outspoken and liberally superior the moment they create

their virtual self over the internet. Social media is now

becoming a transformative agent in the society so as to the

teenagers since they are the ones who are more susceptible to

the popular culture and peer pressure. An analysis of 15

studies found that increased media exposure, including

television, movies, video games, and the internet, was

associated with violent behaviour and isolation. It is said

that children who watched violent shows were more likely to be

aggressive as well as secluded one from socializing.

Researchers concluded that children who are aggressive who has

the tendency to have fewer friends are more likely to be

bullies or victims of bullying since they are isolated.

Another study that he mentioned is regarding adolescent girls

who are vulnerable to sharing their romantic difficulties thru

texting, instant messaging and social media posts that leads

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often to dwelling on their problems without providing any

solutions.

The Ugly side of Social media is described through

addiction. It is commonly characterized as excessive use of

the internet that interferes with daily functioning and that

can lead to distress or harm. It is said that recent research

found that adolescents who demonstrated internet addiction

results into a high risk of acquiring obsessive-compulsive

behaviour, depression, generalized and social anxiety,

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, introversion and

some more other maladaptive behaviours. And then, those

teenagers who were labelled to have an internet addiction

rated their parents as lacking of love and nurturance,

unresponsive, angry and over-protectors.

There will always be a positive side for every adverse

effect with the use of social network. Shy children can use

social media to overcome what is their most difficult

challenge in terms of initiating new relationships in a low-

risk environment. Introverted people can utilize the use of

social media in developing their social lives and it enable

families to have quality time and pursue activities of shared

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interest. Social media can have educational benefits for

children as well. They are learning practical skills that are

necessary for their progress towards today’s electronic world.

Children therefore are learning how to use and become

proficient with technology, developing their creative

abilities, appreciating new and different perspectives, and

enhancing their communication skills.

I can see how such write up and descriptions were

intended to be neutral to avoid negative impressions.

However, evidences were superior enough to declare how the

negative effects are even more to the positive effects. So

practically speaking on the a side of an educator, care and

responsible management of children’s access to the internet

should be practiced wherever and whenever they use it

specially the access to social media.

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Another recent ABC News report by Russel Goldman

headlines a suicide of a 15 year old school girl from South

Hadley High School, Massachusetts due to social media

bullying. Trevor Mayes of negativesocialnetwork.blogspot.com

was able to set this as an example on how far beyond extreme

can a teenage situation be, by dealing with campus issues and

gossips throughout Facebook. The investigation of the suicide

exposed an offensive amount of insults, threats and verbal

humiliation aimed at the victim.

Social Media is not becoming a major cause of cyber

bullying. Trevor Mayes’ blog focuses to prove that social

media has negative effects on today’s teens. He stresses how

social networking sites have become places where young people

can harm each other publicly and privately.

What’s worse about the current situation is that,

schools’ and educational institutions’ control over this is

limited. According to a Business Insider study conducted by

Nicholas Carlson, there are over 845 million people with

Facebook accounts and roughly 175 million of those users are

on line on a day to day basis. Ever since 2003 when Myspace

was created, millions of teenagers have been drawn into the

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world of social networking. From then, the user of social

media became prevalent until such time that most teenagers are

uncontrolled and irresponsible in using it as a form of

communication.

Larry D. Rosen, PhD, professor of psychology at California State University suggests

that social networking has had mostly negative effect on kids. Daily overuse of

media and technology has a negative effect on the health of all children, preteens

and teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression and other

psychological disorders, as well as by making them more susceptible to future health

problems. Teens who use Facebook more often who more narcissistic tendencies

while young adults who have a strong Facebook presence who more signs of other

psychological disorders, including antisocial behaviours, and aggressive tendencies.

Facebook can also be distracting and can negatively impact learning. Studies have

found that middle school, high school and college students who checked Facebook

at least once during 15-minute study period achieved lower grades.

Rosen clearly suggests that parents should limit the

amount of time that children and teens have access to social

network sites and to consistently monitor with their kids to

discuss with them about their actions and posts on social

networking sites. In my opinion, the social life of children

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and teens should be closely monitored since it is now part of

responsible parenthood specially towards the virtual society.

Psychologically speaking, the use of Facebook where people

gets to post their experiences, achievements, encounters and

lifestyle results to becoming superficial. People obsess too

much while comparing themselves to others as studies have

shown that they will have increased anxiety, which can leave

many depressed feelings. When people become intimated and

socially inferior or even compare themselves to others, often

a life of a friend rival can look much better than their own.

Consequently, children and teens can both acquire insecurities

and possibly lose self-esteem through the influence of their

friends’ posts in social networking sites.

In the 1930’s, German-American psychologist Kurt Lewin

introduced his views on psychological space which is a natural

factor in any adolescents’ environment. The psychological

space or life space includes physical environments, social and

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psychological factors such as needs, motives and goals.

Within life space, objects or goals can have a positive or

negative valence. According to Lewin, adolescents will always

come across the fast moving society on a certain range of age

where goals are no longer clear and the paths to them are

uncertain. Teenagers may show shyness and sensitivity but at

the same time aggressiveness, mainly because of the

unclearness of the situation and the disequilibrium in their

life span. Socially speaking, the tendency for any teenagers

is to conform and adjust to the norms and standards where he

or she can acquire immediate security and acceptance.

Similarly, Kurt Lewin has agreed with the idea that the

adolescence is really in a “no-man island” situation. He is

neither a child nor an adult but is caught in a field of

overlapping forces and expectations. This theory would bring

about a greater impact on the social life of an individual

same as the desire to exposure in a strange crowd of social

media. The physical society may be limited for any teenagers

who are having trust issues and identify crisis but not the

virtual society. Repressed feelings are more vulnerable to

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welcoming liberation and freedom through the world of internet

since there are no physical interactions.

Local Literature

Current events are what teenagers would normally explore

with due to the rising awareness and social consciousness.

One of the remarkable issues that lead to stimulating

student’s attention towards social media is the calamities

that Typhoon Yolanda brought to some islands in the

Philippines. Current events like this would elevate the

netizen’s access to either informative news or misleading

facts. In December 2013, Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Tatin

Young shared her notions on how social media ruled in times of

recent tragedies.

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In the late 90’s the Philippines was known as the “texting capital” of the world. Our

status has been updated recently as the “Social networking capital” of the world, as

more and more Filipinos populate networks like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Providing immediate relief to the devastated was everyone’s priority, and people

immediately took to Twitter and Facebook to gather donations, goods and

volunteers.

Relief and operations were all over the social media

during that time. Photos of destructed establishments,

houses, corpse and evacuees are shared by the concerned

netizens. High Schools students far from the destructed

cities whose classes are suspended, gets to witness more

updates from the social media than the television. Because of

social media, relief and assistance was expedited and

transparency is widespread. These kinds of instances were

educating for the social networking site users who are

teenagers. This is evident by the number of volunteers who

happens to be teenagers. Social media isn’t just informative

and educating but also convincing in a manner of acquiring

social responsibility. However, certain posts from Facebook

are still deceptive during that time as some photos aren’t

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real and some would just abuse the situation by bashing some

politicians, religious groups and agencies who are

misunderstood due to uncontrolled posts. Because of this,

some teenagers are greatly influenced by either taking things

seriously or not seriously.

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Synthesis

Reviews from studies and literary works in this research

emphasize the analysis of negative effects of social media.

The roles of the different factors such as environment,

society, economy and culture in an individual’s self-

evaluation were also discussed and described in many aspects

and enumerative ways. Dr. Jim Taylor’s notion from a

psychologists perspective stands on the high risk of an

adolescent’s social behaviour if the use of social media won’t

be regulated.

Certain crimes are committed such as suicides and extreme

bullying due to unprotected social media use.

Kurt Lewin explains the human nature of every adolescent

who is more vulnerable to social attractions, norms and

standards where in social media is now becoming a part of.

Majority of the social perspectives cannot avoid to be

biased on the negative side since the use of social networking

sites are starting to become widespread and influential and

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often times shadow the blooming minds of students in their

teenage years.

Chapter III

Methods of Study

This chapter contains the methods and procedures used bythe researcher in this study. This chapter also tackles thatstatistical treatment of data, techniques, tools andinstruments used.

Research Design

Research method used in this study is the descriptivetype. Descriptive method of research is a fact-finding studywith adequate and accurate interpretation of the findings. Itdescribes with emphasis what actually exist such asconditions, current issues, practices and situations.(Calderon 1993) Since the study focuses on finding thenegative effects, it is therefore necessary to seek the on-going difficulties of students due to their affected studyhabits as described by those who are facilitating theireveryday learning which are the teachers.

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The descriptive type of research is the most applicablein this research because it will require obtaining ofinformation, describing, analysing and interpreting currentexisting conditions.

Respondent of the Study

The respondents of this study included five regularteachers of Grade 8 in Batasan Hills National High School,school year 2013-2014. Also included, are the five Grade 8Teachers in Batasan Hills National High School in Quezon City,school year 2013-2014.

Instrument/Technique

Data were gathered from various books, thesis, journals, news articles and internet which the researcher utilized as instruments in conducting the research.

QuestionnaireThe researcher utilized questionnaires in obtaining

necessary data to complete the study.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Aquino, Gaudencio V. Fundamentals of Research

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A.S. Bustos, Ed.D. Psychological, Anthropological and Social Foundations of Education

Consuelo G. Sevilla, et.al., General Psychology with Values Development Lesson (3rd ed.), (Rex Bookstore, Manila, Philippines, 1999), pp.278-399

Periodicals

Tatin Yang. #Yolanda: How social media ruled in a time of tragedy. Philippine Daily Inquirer (Sunday, December 15th, 2013)

Websites

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jim-taylor/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the_b_3346768.html

http://negativesocialnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/05/effects-of-social-media-on-high-school.html

Thamer Alkhadra BDS, MS. KURT LEWIN: Field Theory and Adolescences MSPowerpoint