ADOLESCENTS’ USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND THEIR EXPOSURE TO SEXUAL BEHAVIOURS AND CRIMES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The prime focus of this study was to investigate adolescents’ use of social media and their exposure to sexual behaviours and crimes in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two hypotheses were generated to guide the study. Survey design was adopted for the study. The population covered all adolescents in Rivers State. A sample of 600 respondents was randomly selected for the study. The selection was done through the use of simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. The questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was face-validated by professionals in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Choba. The reliability value of 0.76 Correlation Coefficient was established for the study. Biographical data of the respondents were analysed using percentage and frequency tables. The hypotheses for the study were tested at .05 level of significance using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The results of the analysis revealed that there are significant relationships between adolescents’ use of social media and their exposure to sexual behaviours and crimes in Rivers State. Based on the findings, the study recommended, among others that the State Government should, through its traditional and social media outlets inform, educate and communicate with the adolescents on the dangers of using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, MySpace and so on negatively, and why they should explore them for positive interactions in Rivers State.