This study investigated the causes, consequences and counselling strategies for curbing social media addiction among secondary school students in Oyi Local Government Area. Three research questions guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey design, and the population comprised of forty-seven (47) counsellors in all the public secondary schools in Oyi LGA. The entire population was used in the study without sampling because it was manageable by the researcher. The instrument used in collecting data was a structured questionnaire titled Causes, Consequences and Counselling Strategies for Curbing Social Media Addiction Questionnaire (CCCSSMAQ). The instrument was validated by experts in Department of Guidance and Counselling and Measurements and Evaluation. Arithmetic mean was used for analysis of data. The findings from the study showed that the causes of social media addiction among secondary school students in Oyi LGA are low self-esteem, fear of missing out, peer influence, poor parental supervision, loneliness, instant gratification from social media and impulsivity. However, the findings showed that gender is not the causes of social media addiction among secondary school students in the area. The findings of the study equally showed that the consequences of social media addiction among students in Oyi LGA are poor academic achievement, social isolation, depression, drug abuse, health problems such as eye strain, headache and fatigue, Interpersonal relationship problems, cyber fraud and sleeping disturbance, while low self-esteem, suicidal ideation and expose to cyberbullying are not part of the consequences of social media addiction among students in Oyi local government area. Finally, the results of the study revealed that the counselling strategies for curbing social media addiction among secondary school students in Oyi LGA are assertiveness training technique, self-management technique, social skill training, use of stimulus satiation on addicted students, cognitive behaviour therapy, bibliotherapic materials, cognitive restructuring and modelling techniques, while use of positive reinforcement and systematic desensitization techniques are not part of the techniques used for curbing social media addiction in the area. It was recommended among others, that School Counsellors should ensure kin and objective observation on students’ behaviours and guard against such behaviour that could engender social media addiction among secondary school students.
Oguzie et al. (Thu,) studied this question.