Arab Educational Information Network

This study aims to investigate the school characteristics (academic achievement, school social behaviour, and motivation to learn) related to students who are addicted to social networking sites in secondary educational phase. The sample study consisted of 220 students to which was applied an addiction scale for the social networking sites. Concerning academic achievement, the current study relied on the school test scores while concerning the social school behaviour and the motivation to learn, two scales were developed. The study concluded that 62.3% of the members of the sample among the male and female participants were highly addicted to the social networking sites. The study also found that the addicted students are less achievable than others. The more addiction to these sites, the weaker their academic results in term of achievement. Furthermore, the student’ social behaviour in the school environment is not characterized only by disorder and lack of interaction, but also by a decrease in their motivation towards learning. Finally, the study demonstrated a negative correlation between the excessive use of social networking sites, students’ academic achievement, social behaviour, and motivation to learn respectively. (Published abstract)