The impact of social media on school aged children in male’

Abstract

In Maldives, the younger generation is now very much involved in the social world. Hence, there was a growing need to gain insight into the role that social media played in the life of young children in the country. Hence, through a cross-sectional descriptive study using mixed methods of sampling the integration and usage of social media and the impacts of media on school children was identified. The study results showed that there were a high number (93.7%) of social media users among school children and a surprisingly large proportion of students in the schools of Male‟ owned their own electronics. Looking at the different types of social media most often used, Viber (62.0%) and YouTube (58.9%) were the most used social media among students. Finally, the study was able to determine that using social media had more negative impact on lives of school aged children than positive impacts. Through this study the current social media usage among school aged children of 11-13 years of age in Male‟ was identified. In addition the study was also able to establish the different types of social media students have been using. As social media is here to stay and it being a prominent part of our life, it is vital to know how it will affect us in the future, especially for the younger generations to come.