E-Counselling as an Intervention Strategy for Managing Social Media Bullying Among Public Senior Secondary School Two Students in Jos North, Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

Social media bullying has become a growing psychological and social problem among adolescents, particularly secondary school students who frequently interact on digital platforms. The persistence of online harassment has been associated with emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and reduced academic engagement. This study investigated the effectiveness of e-counselling as an intervention strategy for managing social media bullying among public Senior Secondary School II (SS II) students in Jos North Metropolis, Plateau State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design involving a pre-test and post-test control group. The population consisted of SS II students in public secondary schools within Jos North, from which 120 students identified as victims of social media bullying were selected using purposive sampling. The participants were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received an eight-week e-counselling intervention delivered through structured online counselling sessions, while the control group received conventional counselling guidance. Data were collected using the Social Media Bullying Experience Questionnaire (SMBEQ). Mean, standard deviation, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used for data analysis. Findings revealed that e-counselling significantly reduced experiences of social media bullying among students in the experimental group compared with those in the control group. The study concluded that e-counselling is an effective strategy for managing social media bullying among secondary school students. It was recommended that schools integrate digital counselling services into guidance programmes to address online harassment and support students’ psychological well-being.