Exploring the influence of social media bullying on learners’ Social Emotional Learning and academic performance at secondary schools in the Oshana Region, Namibia

Abstract

This study explores how social media bullying can influence high school learners’ Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and academic performance at secondary schools in the Oshana Region, Namibia. It employed a qualitative research approach using a phenomenological design, in which focus group interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of each participant’s life experience. Forty-four key informants, comprising four Life Skills teachers and forty learners in grade 9, were selected, supplemented by secondary data from desktop research. The findings revealed that a significant number of learners were bullied through different social media platforms, and it had negative implications on their SEL, mental health, and academic performance. Furthermore, the study showed that the effects of social media bullying had far-reaching consequences on most of the learners’ social and emotional well-being, because bullied learners were more likely to lose their self-identity, drop out of school, and harbor suicidal thoughts. Life skills teachers emphasized that the current state of social media bullying activities in schools demands robust interventions that include creating technology-enabled awareness about social media bullying, developing resilient skills among bullied learners, and finding prevention and management strategies to fight cyberbullying. The findings show that there was no evidence that schools had effective prevention or interventions programmes to minimize the social media bullying phenomenon. The study concluded that the well-being of learners in schools continues to be at risk because cyber-bullying goes on unabated, and it is negatively affecting the psychological and academic progression of learners. Therefore, this study recommends robust awareness programmes, such as using online platforms to educate and create awareness about social media bullying. Indeed, technology should not only be used for bullying but should be the primary way of anti-bullying campaigns.