INTRODUCTION:

“Humans like to know about the good, the bad, and the ugly side of people, places and situation as well as to share this information with others, often as quickly as possible.”

Human beings are social, who feel an inherent need to connect and expand their connections. There is a deep-rooted need among humans to share. In the past, due to geographical distances and economic concerns, interaction among the people was limited. Today as technology developed the barrier between people’s communication is also limited.¹

Social media can be defined as interactive platforms through which individuals and communities create and share user-generated content. People can share the content and the personal opinion with the others such as friends, family or stranger. Social media is an easier way to socialize with other people as it connects to them to each other no matter how far apart they are. Communication takes place through instant messages and on can check their friend’s status.²

According to Angus, Thelwall and Stuart, social media furnishes individuals with information in any sector of life. Through media, there has been a lot of development and growth that occurred due to the availability of platforms that allows them to get linked to the entire universe and contribute to global development. As the use of media increases, many people including youths use it to find out about the historical development of society, concepts, religion, etc.³

Social media, regardless of distance, facilitates people to communicate, and convey information in the form of images, videos, and audio. Social media has been used increasingly in many cultures so that the number of users also has increased geometrically over the years. Today, people use SM daily for its numerous advantages side effects.⁴

There are many advantages of social media, such as using technologies through the web to adapt and convey information on social platforms, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc., in order to teach others and to learn from others. This research sought to investigate the use of social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Google. This research focused on students as they are, in their developmental stage, vulnerable to imitating what they see. In addition, based on PEW Internet and American Life Project, children and adolescents become the most social media users with a percentage of 75%.⁵

As far as the impact of SNS is concerned, though they have contributed in diminishing the distance between friends and families, their negative effects, such as exposure to unwanted contacts, abusive messages, harassment, stalking, bullying, easy access to personal info, and their time-consuming nature should not be neglected.⁶

Often, they participate in virtual conversations, answer messages even in inappropriate circumstances, and get pathologically engaged in these activities, resulting in poor academic performance, insomnia, distress, anxiety, lack of focus, disrupted eating habits, excessive fatigue, and diminished real-life social interactions.⁷

A recent review by Mcafee Media Release states, 70% of online youth in India spend more than 5hours on the internet in a normal week. Internet access is still predominantly desktop based (41%), however, 36% use laptops and 27% use smartphones India’s youth are constantly connected. In terms of social networking platforms, Facebook is by far the most popular site used (93%), followed by YouTube (87%) and WhatsApp (79%). 10–12-year-old social account users report higher daily access to Snapchat, Pinterest, Tinder, Tumblr, and Vine than their teen counterparts, even though the minimum age to register to these social networking sites is 13 years. An eye-opening trend is that half (52%) of India’s youth even access their social media accounts while at school; 57% being 8-12 years old v/s 47% 13–17-year-old.⁸

The World Health Organization reported that 10–20% of children and adolescents worldwide experience mental health problems. It is estimated that 50% of all mental disorders are established by the age of 14 and 75% by 18. The most common disorders in children and adolescents are generalized anxiety disorder and depression.⁹

Incidentally, parents are quite busy fending for the family; they do not have enough time to sit and discuss with their children. Many questions that are meant for parents to answer are asked and answered online. Youths do not have the privilege of communicating and learning social behaviour from parents, thus, youths mostly learn social behaviour through chat on social media, such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Therefore, they respect for elders and peers.¹⁰

According to D. Shashikumar, general secretary, associated management of primary and secondary schools in Karnataka, the government should introduce a strong cyber policy for the safe of the children.¹¹

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Video games and social media have in a way replaced outdoor activities for millions of children around the world. It has become a common sight to spot a tween glued to the screens of their smartphones. However, the reality is grim. A recent report published by Local circles, a community social media platform, as many as 40 percent of Indian parents have admitted that their children between 9 and 17 years are addicted to videos, gaming and social media.¹²

According to the report, 55 percent of urban Indian parents have revealed that their children between 9 and 13 years old have access to smartphones throughout the day. As many as 71 per cent parents admitted that their children between 13 and 17 years have access to smartphones for all or most of the day.¹³

A survey conducted by NIMHANS, Bangalore states that 19.5% of children aged 12-18 years are addicted to gaming, 18% children are addicted to internet and 15.5% are addicted to cell phones. A survey conducted by a cartoon channel says that 73% of Indian children who are cell phone users in India.¹⁴

56.8% of the world’s total population is active on social media. This equates to about 4.48 billion people that use social media worldwide. Both of these statistics are looking at eligible audience aged 13 years and above. It is estimated that more than half of the children aged 11 and 12 have personal social media profiles even though most social media platforms have a minimum age requirement of 13+ years old.¹⁵

The social media use among children in the city, at 90%, was found to be higher than the national average of 81%. Among these city children, more than 53% were under 12 years old and 40% were between 10 and 13 years old.¹⁶

While the children are logging on to social media at an early age, they are also indulging in risky online behaviour, the study found. Of the children using social media, 54% said that they did not mind meeting an online acquaintance in person. While 77% have published photos, 56% have posted their email address, 47% have posted the name of their school and 50% have posted their full birth date or phone number (42%). Intel Security’s Teens, Tweens and Technology 2020 report had surveyed 2,370 children and parents from metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad.¹⁷

This indiscriminate revelation of personal information has led to a high occurrence of cyber-bullying, found the study. Around 24% of children in the city stated that they had been bullied online, while 57% admitted to bullying others on social media. Interestingly, India had more bullies than the United States (35%) and Singapore (29%). Also, 69% children said that they have witnessed bullying but only 33% reported it. Cyber bullying means use of technology to harass, embarrass or target a person. The report highlighted that cases of cyber bullying were high in the city owing to children’s risky online social behavior.¹⁸

A Survey conducted in 2022 revealed that a majority of children aged between 9 and 13 years old in urban India spent more than three hours per day on social media, videos, and games on the Internet, as reported by about 49 percent of parents. Contrariwise, parents who were unsure of how long their children spent on online media accounted for about 11 percent of respondents during the survey period.¹⁹

Social media is a vast platform, and one cannot control the amount of information available here. Therefore, children may bump into inappropriate or harmful content that may affect their thinking. Cyberbullying is a growing trend prevalent on social media and messaging platforms. It spreads fear and shame among people and may have undesirable effects on children.²⁰

Excessive social media use may also affect your child’s ability to develop interpersonal relationships and it makes children less productive because much of their time is spent without doing anything important, and they become addicted. These addictions may adversely affect their physical health.²¹

Based on the above-mentioned research reviews to and facts, the investigator felt the need to assess the impact of social media on behavioural aspect of school children to find the solution.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding impact of Social media among school children (10-12 years) in selected school, at Bangalore.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To assess the knowledge regarding the impact of social media among school children

2. To evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching program regarding the impact of social media among school children.

3. To find the association between knowledge regarding the impact of social media among school children with selected demographic variables.

HYPOTHESIS:

H₁: There will be a significant difference between the pretest and posttest knowledge of school children regarding impact of social media.

H₂: There is a significant association between knowledge score regarding the impact of social media among school children with selected demographic variables.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS:

Assess:

To judge or decide the amount, the value, the quality or importance of something.

Effectiveness:

Effectiveness refers to determining the extent to which the structured teaching program has achieved the desired effect, as expressed by gaining the knowledge and attitude score.

Structured teaching programme:

It refers to systematic teaching method which help to impart knowledge regarding consanguineous marriage.

Knowledge:

In this study, knowledge is the form of awareness or familiarity it is often understood as awareness of factor as a practical skill and may also mean familiarity with objects or situations.

Impact:

It refers to positive and negative, primary and secondary, long-term effects produced by development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended and unintended.

Social media:

social media refers to the means of interaction among people in which they create and share and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Research approach:

Evaluative research approach.

Research design:

Quasi experimental, one group pre-test, post-test design.

Population:

The population of the study included children who are studying at Spurthy Global School, Marasur gate, Bangalore.

Sampling technique and sample size:

The investigator selected 60 children through simple random sampling technique.

RESULT:

· Among 60 samples 37(61.7%) belongs to the age group of 11 – 12 years, 38(63.33%) subjects were male. Based on religion 29(48.33%) were Christians and the aspect of residence 39(65.0) were from urban area. On the basis of type of family 33(55.0%) were from joint family. In case of parents educational status 32(53.33%) educated till higher secondary. Regarding patient occupation shows the majority 24(40.0%) on daily wages and family monthly income 31(51.67%) had monthly income of 7500-10000. Regarding type of social media used majority of subject 45(75.0%) used Facebook. On the aspect of time of spending on social sites daily 21(35.05%) uses 31-60 minutes. On the basis of leisure activities 18(30.0%) used to play outdoor games and 18(30.0%) were on media.

· In pre-test level of knowledge which comprises 36 (60.00%) are having Inadequate knowledge, 24 (40.00%) are having Moderate level of knowledge and 0 (0.00%) are having Adequate knowledge.

· In the post-test level of knowledge which comprises 37 (61.67%) are having adequate knowledge, 23 (38.33%) are having moderate knowledge and 0 (0.00%) are having inadequate knowledge.

· The paired ‘t’ test value shows that the Pre-test mean is 12.38, SD is 6.3 and mean% is 41.27% after structured teaching programme in the post-test the mean is 23.15, SD is 4.5 and mean% is 77.17%. It is evident tha t there is an enhancement of mean is 10.77, SD is 6.3 and the mean percentage is 77.17%. Paired t value 2.39 is significant at P<0.01 level indicating that structured teaching programme was effective in improving the knowledge regarding consanguineous marriage. Hence H₁ was retained.

· There was a significant association found between post-test level of knowledge regarding impact of social media addiction among school children and selected demographic variables like age (x²= 6.2), religion (x²= 9.8), monthly income (x²= 11.5), Time of spending on social sites daily (x²= 10.7) with the level of knowledge score at the level of p<0.05. Hence H₂ was accepted.

a. Assessment of pre-existing knowledge regarding impact of social media addiction among school children.

Table 1: Pre-test and Post-test level of knowledge among school children n=60

Level of knowledge	Score	Pre test		Post test
Level of knowledge	Score	No	%	No	%
Inadequate	Less than 50%	36	60	0	0
Moderate	50 – 75%	24	40	23	38.33
Adequate	Greater than 75%	0	0	37	61.67
Total		60	100	60	100

The data presented in Table shows that in the pre-test majority of the pre-adults 60% had inadequate knowledge and 40% had moderate knowledge regarding impact of social media, but in post-test 61.67% pre-adults had adequate knowledge and 38.33% had moderate knowledge regarding impact of social media.

Figure 1: Pre-test and Post-test Level of Knowledge.

b. Evaluation of effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding impact of social media among school children with statistical significance.

Table 2: Effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding impact of social media addiction among school children. n= 60

Domain	Mean	SD	Mean%	Paired ‘t’ test
Pre-test	12.38	6.3	41.27
Post-test	23.15	4.5	77.17	13.1**S
Enhancement	10.77	6.4	35.90

*S- Significant at P<0.01, df 59, t- value 2.39

The above table reveals that the effectiveness of structured teaching programme was assessed by using paired ‘t’ test, t=13.1. There was 10.77 points enhancement in knowledge. It indicates that the structured teaching programme was effective in improving the knowledge regarding impact of social media addiction among the school children.

c. Association between post-test knowledge score and selected demographic variables among school children.

Table 3: Association between the post test level of knowledge regarding impact of social media addiction among school children with their selected demographic variables. n=60

S. No.	Demographic variables	No	%	Level of knowledge				Chi square value
				≤ Median (27)		> Median (33)
				No	%	No	%
1	Age in years
	a) 10-11 years	23	38.33	15	65.2	8	34.8	6.2
	b) 11-12 years	37	61.67	12	32.4	25	67.6	df 1 S
2	Gender
	a) Male	38	63.33	16	42.1	22	57.9	0.35
	b) Female	22	36.67	11	50.0	11	50.0	df 1 N.S
3	Religion
	a) Hindu	20	33.33	10	50.0	10	50.0	9.8
	b) Muslim	11	18.34	9	81.8	2	18.2	df 2
	c) Christian	29	48.33	8	27.6	21	72.4	S
4	Residence
	a) Urban	39	65.00	15	38.5	24	61.5	1.9
	b) Rural	21	35.00	12	57.1	9	42.9	df 1 N.S
5	Type of the family
	a) Nuclear	27	45.00	11	40.7	16	59.3	0.4
	b) Joint	33	55.00	16	48.5	17	51.5	df 1 N.S
6	Education status of the parent
	a) Illiterate	4	6.67	4	100.0	0	0.0
	b) Primary school	8	13.33	5	62.5	3	37.5	10.66
	c) Middle school	3	5.00	2	66.7	1	33.3	df 6
	d) High school	5	8.33	2	40.0	3	60.0	N.S
	e) Higher secondary	32	53.33	13	40.6	19	59.4
	f) Under graduation	4	6.67	1	25.0	3	75.0
	g) Post graduation	4	6.67	0	0.0	4	100
7	Parent’s occupation
	a) Daily wages	24	40.00	15	62.5	9	37.5	6.8
	b) Self employment	7	11.67	3	42.9	4	57.1	df 4
	c) Government employee	2	3.33	0	0.0	2	100.0	N.S
	d) Private employee	18	30.00	5	27.8	13	72.2
	e) Agriculture	9	15.00	4	44.4	5	55.6
8	Family monthly income
	a) Rs 2500-5000	4	6.67	4	100.0	0	0.0	11.5
	b) Rs 5000-7500	18	30.00	10	55.6	8	44.4	df 3
	c) Rs 7500-10000	31	51.67	13	41.9	18	58.1	S
	d) Above Rs10000	7	11.66	0	0.0	7	100.0
9	Type of social media used
	a) Facebook	45	75.00	21	46.7	24	53.3	0.4
	b) Twitter	11	18.33	4	36.4	7	63.6	df 2
	c) Instagram	4	6.67	2	50.0	2	50.0	N.S
	d) Other	0	0.00	0	0.0	0	0.0
10	Time of spending on social sites daily
	a) Less than 30 minutes	19	31.67	8	42.1	11	57.9	10.7
	b) 31-60 minutes	21	35.00	14	66.7	7	33.3	df 3
	c) 61-90 minutes	12	20.00	5	41.7	7	58.3	S
	d) 90 minutes and above.	8	13.33	0	0.0	8	100.0
11	Leisure activities
	a) Reading books	8	13.33	2	25.0	6	75.0	3.5
	b) Listening to music	16	26.67	10	62.5	6	37.5	df 2
	c) Playing outdoor games	18	30.00	7	38.9	11	61.1	N.S
	d) Use of medias	18	30.00	8	44.4	10	55.6

N.S-Not Significant; S- Significant at P<0.05 level

The above reveals that there is significant association between post-test level of knowledge regarding impact of social media addiction among school children and selected demographic variables like age, religion, monthly income, Time of spending on social sites daily. There is no significant association between post-test level of knowledge regarding impact of social media addiction among school children and selected demographic variables like Gender, residence, type of the family, education status of the parents, occupation of the parents, Type of social media used and leisure activities.

CONCLUSION:

The study was taken to evaluate the efficacy of structured teaching programme on knowledge and attitude regarding impact of social media addiction among school children in a selected school at Bangalore. When the pre test scores and the post test scores are compared, the result of the study showed that the structured teaching programme was effective in improving the knowledge and attitude of children regarding impact of social media.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. The study can be a replicated on a large sample with a control group.

2. A comparative study may be conducted between urban and rural students to find out the effectiveness of STP regarding same topic.

3. Similar study can be undertaken using other teaching strategies.

4. Similar study may be replicated with increased period of time provided for a training programme and with still elaborative and in-depth content like a work shop.

5. A similar study can be conducted on different sample, different settings with different demographic variables.

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Received on 12.04.2025 Revised on 30.04.2025

Accepted on 15.05.2025 Published on 22.05.2025

Available online from May 24, 2025

A and V Pub J. of Nursing and Medical Res. 2025;4(2):43-48.

DOI: 10.52711/jnmr.2025.11

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