Influence of Social Media on Sexual Behaviour of Youth in Kwara State, Nigeria: Implications for Counselling Practice

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of social media on the sexual behaviour of youth in Kwara State. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. A total of 395 youth participated in the study. One research question was raised while three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The instrument used for data collection for this study was a researcher-designed questionnaire entitled “Influence of Social Media Questionnaire” (ISMQ). The findings revealed that social media has considerable influence on the sexual behaviour of youth in Kwara State. Social media leads students to the act of sending erotic messages, watching pornographic films and movies, and also increases risky sexual behaviour such as masturbation. There were no significant differences in the influence of social media on sexual behaviour of youth in Kwara State based on gender, age and university attended. It was therefore recommended that counsellors should expose students to the danger inherent in negative uses of social media and analyze the possible result of proper usage of social media. Counsellors should also provide information specifically on the safe and respectful use of technology, as well as consequences of the negative use of social media to students of different genders, ages and universities attended.