Influence of Cyber-bullying on academic achievement of In-School adolescents in Anambra State, Nigeria

Digital technologies have given youth an unprecedented opportunity to communicate with their peers inside and outside of their face-to-face social networks. In their online exploration, students are often caught in the web of cyber-bullying. A blind eye must not be cast on the fact that the emotional injuries arising from cyber-bullying could lead to school related problems like poor school engagement and skipping of classes. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the influence of cyber-bullying on academic achievement of in-school adolescents in Anambra State. Two research questions were raised for the study while one hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 11, 023 Senior Secondary School II (SS2) students in the 257 public secondary schools in Anambra State. The sample for the study comprised 600 Senior Secondary School II (SSS2) students obtained through multi-stage sampling procedure.A researcher constructed identification questionnaire titled ‘IQCACB’ and students’ academic achievement were the instrument used for the study.IQCACBwas validated by three experts in the Department of Educational Foundations, NnamdiAzikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using Cronbach alpha method and reliability indices obtained was 0.84. Statistical measure that was used to analyze the data collected was mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean academic achievement scores of adolescents who have been cyber-bullied and those who are cyber-bullies. The study further revealed thatindulging in cyber-bulling did not greatly affect the academic achievement of in-school adolescents. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others thatFederal Government should provide support to secondary school administration to obtain the desired educational facilities necessary for effective school running such as employment of qualified teachers and the provision of adequate classrooms. Such steps could improve students’ academic performance albeit the distraction of cyber-bullying