Factors and Effects of Internet Usage among Secondary School Students in Malaysia

Abstract

The use of the internet in this digital age is seen to be a basic necessity in the life of a universal human being. This is due to its need in performing various activities and meeting the psychological and physiological needs of its users. The convenience of the internet network service provided allows anyone to use it for various purposes. Teenagers are seen to be the most users of the internet nowadays. This is because almost every teenager is already able to have a smartphone to access the internet anywhere. The internet networking services provided allow teenagers to interact, entertain, and get information. However, the uncontrolled use of the internet can have a detrimental effect on adolescents. Therefore, this study aims to look at the factors of internet use and the impact of internet use on secondary school students in Malaysia. The method of this study is a survey study which involved 1376 form four secondary school students in seven states in Malaysia. Data were collected using a set of questionnaires. Descriptive data analysis was performed using SPSS software. The results show that the main factor of internet use by students is to find entertainment, add knowledge and eliminate loneliness. Meanwhile, the most felt effects by students are that they feel bored of not having internet, sleep late, fail to control time, feel lonely when not online and are late in completing schoolwork. Thus, this research paper also discusses the steps that need to be done by all parties to control the use of the internet among secondary school students.