Relationship Between Social Media, Child Abuse and Academic Achievement Among Secondary School Students in Kaduna State: Implications for Guidance

This study explored the relationship between social media, child abuse and academic achievement among secondary school students in Kaduna State: Implications for Guidance. The design employed for this study was a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all the students attending public secondary schools in Kaduna State. A sample size of 256 students was selected for this study. The study revealed Facebook, WhatsApp’s, TikTok, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube, Zoom, and Skype are some of the various forms of social media platform used by students in Kaduna State. Findings of the also revealed that child sexual abuse, child neglect and maltreatment, child trafficking, female genital mutilation, child physical abuse and child bullying and cyberbullying and child emotional abuse are some of the various forms of child abuse in Kaduna State. The findings of the study further revealed that there is a significant relationship between social media and child abuse among secondary school students in Kaduna State and the findings of the study equally revealed that there is a significant relationship between social media and academic achievement among secondary school students in Kaduna State. The study recommended that parents who are the first agent of socialisation should do more to monitor what the youths are watching on the social media especially, Facebook, YouTube and Telegram and try to regulate it in order to bring its negative influence on students to the barest minimum if not fully eradicated. The study also recommended that effort should be made by the counsellors to create awareness on the various forms of child abuse among secondary school students in order to bring it negative effects on students under control.