Influence of New Media Practices on Asian Teenagers in Community Schools in Nairobi

Abstract

The growth of new media platforms around the world has created avenues through which teenagers can enhance their media literacy levels and a new platform to interact, learn and communicate. The new media give the teenagers a chance and platform to collaborate with others; acquire a new identity while exposed to other communities and gain new information or knowledge. Studies conducted in Kenya on the new media indicate that there is very minimal study into the uses and gratifications of internet technology among Kenyan teenagers and how it affects their interactions, especially among teenagers of Asian descent. This study sought to examine the new media practices among teenagers of Asian descent in community schools in Nairobi. It adopted the descriptive research design since it attempted to obtain an in-depth understanding of effects of new media practices among teenagers of Asian extraction in Nairobi, Kenya. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 24) was adopted to analyse data and represent it in form of graphs and tables. The findings indicated that media use by the teenage students was associated with both positive and negative effects on their behaviour. The study, however, established that positive effects outweighed negative effects. The study concluded that availability of media influences behaviour among teen students. The study further observed that with the current trend in modern technology, teenage new media consumers need to be informed of the risks and benefits associated with media usage. The study recommends that parents and guardians should be at the forefront in monitoring their children in the new media usage. The study further recommends that management of schools should empower guidance and counselling departments and teachers in general to handle topics that are related to influence of new media on student behaviour in a bid to inculcate media literacy.