IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON MATHEMATICS STUDENTS’ INVOLVEMENT IN CYBERCRIME IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN UDI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of social media and gender on Mathematics students’ involvement in cybercrime in secondary schools in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study, and four hull hypotheses were formulated for the study and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study employed ex-post facto research design. The respondents used for the study consisted of 173 SS 2 students (73 males and 100 females) from the four schools sampled for the study using simple random sampling technique (balloting). Data was collected using the Social Media and Cybercrime Questionnaire (SMACQ) which was properly validated by experts. An estimate of the stability of the instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.85 using Cronbach’s Alpha statistic. Mean and Standard Deviation were used as descriptive statistics to answer the research questions while independent samples t-test was adopted as inferential statistic. The findings indicated that: male mathematics students are more involved in cybercrime as a result of social media influence than their female counterparts; female mathematics students are more involved in cybercrime in secondary schools than their male counterparts; there is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female mathematics students on the influence of social media on their involvement in cybercrime in secondary schools. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that: teachers should teach students to understand the law of the land against cybercrime; and the school authorities should monitor both the male and female students on the usage of social media in schools as its usage has positive relationship with their involvement in cybercrime.