Social Media Addiction and Aggressive Behavior among Secondary School Students in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State

This study investigates social media addiction and aggressive behaviour among secondary school students in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State. Correlational research design was adopted in the study. Three research questions and three corresponding null hypotheses were formulated to guide the conduct of this study. The population of the study consisted all the 2,418 public senior secondary schools’ students in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State. The sample for the study will make up of 322 public senior secondary school students in the area. This sample size is gotten through the use of the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table of sample size specification. The instruments for the study include self-designed questionnaires titled “Social Media Addiction Inventory (SMAI)” and “Aggressive Behaviour Inventory (ABI)”. A test-retest technique was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. A reliability coefficient r = 0.89 was established for Social Media Addiction Inventory, while a reliability coefficient r= 0.79 was established for Aggressive Behaviour Inventory using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to answer the research questions and test the null hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that there is a relationship between Facebook, Instagram and TikTok addictions and aggressive behaviour among secondary school students in Etche Local Government Area. Based on the findings of the study the researcher recommends among others that the issue of Facebook addiction among public senior secondary school students in should be addressed to help reduce aggressive behavior among students in the area. Educators should encourage schools, parents, and community organizations to implement digital literacy programs and workshops that educate students about the responsible use of social media platforms.