The Consequences of Using TikTok in Terms of the Academic Achievement of the Junior

High School Students in Angelicum Learning Centre

S.Y. 2022-2023

A Junior High School Research Proposal

Submitted to

The Faculty of Angelicum Learning Centre

Ms. Julianne S. Esin, LPT

Research Proposal Adviser

In Partial Requirement for

the Compilation of English Subject Research

Angelicum Learning Centre, Cagayan de Oro City

By:

Dadang, Aliah Queen G.

Lee, Micaela Isabel B.

Grade 9 Shakespeare

February 2023
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researchers would like to acknowledge the following person who helped them complete this

research study.

To Ms. Julianne S. Esin, thank you for your patience, time, guidance, and for sharing

your knowledge to make our research paper possible and complete.

To Ms. Annie C. Manla, thank you for giving this opportunity. It will surely help us in

our journey as a student in the future.

To our Parents, I thank my parents today for their blessings and the constant support that

they have been for me. There are not enough words to express how grateful I am to them for

everything they have done for me.

And to our Almighty Father, thank you for giving us strength. You have showered us

with your glory all throughout our research.

DEDICATION

This undergraduate Research entitled “The Effect of Repulsive Social Media Content from

TikTok socially on Junior Highschool Students” is dedicated to all students. This research is

designed to prove a fact that using too much social media can affect the academic performances

of the students.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I: The Problem

Introduction ………………………………………………………………. p. 1-2

Rationale…………………………………………………………………... p. 2

Statement of the Problem …………………………………………………. p. 2

Significance of the Study …………………………………………………. p. 3

Definitions of Terms ……………………………………………………… p. 3-4

Scope and Limitations ……………………………………………………. p. 4

Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………………p. 4

Conceptual Framework …………………………………………………… p. 5

Chapter II: Review of Related Literature

Related Literature ………………………………………………………………. p. 6-11

Chapter III: Methodology

Research design …………………………………………………………………… p. 12

Research Setting …………………………………………………………………... p. 12

Respondents of the Study …………………………………………………………. p. 13

Data Gathering Instruments ………………………………………………………...p. 13

Data Gathering Procedure ………………………………………………………… p. 13

Scoring Procedure ………………………………………………………………… p. 14

 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM
Introduction

TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing, and discovering short videos. The app

was released on September 16, 2016 by the Chinese Technology company ByteDance. It quickly

became popular for its “For you page” which caters to individuals’ interest, it is widely known

by young people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and

dubbing and allows users to create videos and share them across several communities. TikTok

has become one of the most famous applications for entertainment, it also acts as a career

opportunity for many youngsters boosting them with fame. However, TikTok’s relentless growth

is impacting the youth and other generations too. There are appropriate times and places for

mindless scrolling, but when it interferes with your work or other critical activities it becomes a

problem. The enormous amount of time individuals spend using TikTok is a significant

drawback. For TikTok, this is fantastic but not so much for the users. To put it another way,

TikTok is a diversion. The truth is that TikTok has some improper content, although TikTok

does provide parental restrictions they are not frequently used. The youth are now left with an

app that advertises and displays films that includes sexual gestures, suggestive themes, and

explicit language that are inappropriate for them. This reflects the largely negative impact of

TikTok and social media in general, especially as many young teens are exposed to a new

standard which may not be healthy for their physical and mental health. Not only is the level of

eating disorders, depression and anxiety in teenagers increasing as a result of these videos., but

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many teens, especially young girls have turned to making hypersexualized videos to gain

followers and praise.

Rationale

The researchers conducted this study to the Junior High School Student grade 7, 8, 9 and 10 of

Angelicum Learning Centre to determine the effects of repulsive social media content from

TikTok. This demonstrates how TikTok might affect Junior High School’s abilities to pay

attention in class and complete their schoolwork. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to let

the Junior High School Student know that watching TikTok videos has a negative impact as

students might get influenced by different behaviors that appear. The results of this study clearly

shows that the longer students stay on TikTok, the worse their performance in school. Therefore,

a student should be very careful about the time he/she spends on TikTok.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to know the effects of using TikTok among students and to know if it’s

beneficial of disadvantageous. To be able to accomplish the goal of this study, the following

questions must be addressed:

1. What is the Demographic Profile of the respondents in terms of:

A. Age

B. Year Level

C. Gender

2. What are the consequences of TikTok in terms of the academic performance of students?

3. How much time do students spend on TikTok?

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Significance of the Study

Students should be aware of this study since it is intended to draw attention and raise issues for

the students who use TikTok. The attitude of students can imitate what is seen on TikTok.

Hence, the students should be very cautious about the time spent on TikTok. Students spend a lot

of time following, liking, and commenting on posts on TikTok because the videos are never-

ending and may keep them entertained for hours when homework and other academic

obligations are not finished.

Definition of Terms

TikTok – is a video-sharing social media platform where you can create, edit, share, discover

and watch short, vertical videos from just a few seconds long, all the way up to 10 minutes.

Drawback – a disadvantage or problem; the negative part of a situation.

Diversion – attracts your attention away from what you are doing.

Physical Health – a state of one’s body that allows them to participate in activities.

Mental Health – it influences our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Additionally, it influences

how we respond to stress, interact with others, and make good decisions.

Hypersexual – the inability to regulate one’s sexual activity, cravings or behavior to the point

where it interferes with one’s personal, professional, or academic life.

Hinders – create difficulties (someone or something), resulting in delay or obstruction.

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Scope and Limitations

This study is limited for all Junior high school of Angelicum Learning Centre. The main purpose

of this study is to point out the effects of TikTok to students and aims are determining whether

using TikTok hinders their accomplishments of their Homework or other academic obligations.

Theoretical Framework

The study is supported by the theory of Albert Bandura, states that individuals learn from one

another, by observation, imitation, and modeling. Because it factors in attention, memory, and

motivation, the theory has frequently been referred to as a link between behaviorist and cognitive

learning theories. There are several things that can influence how much attention is paid.

Comprises distinctiveness, affective intensity, prevalence, complexity, functional worth.

Attention is influenced by a person’s traits, such as sensory abilities, level of arousal, perceptual

set, and past reinforcement. Retention, or remembering what you focused on, involves cognitive

organization, physical practice, symbolic rehearsal, and mental pictures.

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Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable

TIKTOK

Attention Schoolwork

Time Cooperation

Dependent Variable

We analyze the independent and dependent variables of the researcher’s study. TikTok is a social

media platform, making it an independent variable. The dependent variable is the student’s use

of TikTok to cooperate academically, it’s independent and dependent variables, as well as their

effects and contributing factors, are addressed by the study framework.

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 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presented the studies and publications that are relevant to the current investigation.

One of the many social networking platforms available today is TikTok. Since its launch in

2016, the social media platform TikTok has accumulated 800 million active users worldwide.

Student now have a platform to entertain viewers thanks to TikTok’s influence. According to

Dilon’s study (2021), TikTok has its fair number of influencers, just like other social media

platforms, and the 15-second video format draws what are referred to as meme machines. It is

stated when a user of the app is delighted with how viewers respond by commenting on or

enjoying the published TikTok.

Yang (2020) asserts that viewers who “like” a video on TikTok are expressing their enthusiasm

for the content, and those who “comment” are showing their desire to engage with and improve

one another’s videos. Iodice and papapicco’s study from 2021, on the other hand, shows that

they are theorizing a certain kind of social influence, or “fun”, which is traits of the social

network and the era. Jia (2017), cited by Liqian (2018), claims that TikTok’s contents come from

many walks of life and that this diversity offers users a variety of experiences. For instance,

humorous materials can amuse viewers and inspire users to create more of the same to make

others happy. The “TikTok” content is highly dynamic, according to Xu (2019), with a lot of

online and offline activities targeted at young people with imagination and curiosity. Because of

the comments and responses, the TikTok video uploader is pleased.

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While TikTok may amuse children, it also has additional advantages and disadvantages. Fund

(2021) contends that TikTok can represent a variety of viewpoints in the real world, much like it

had an impact on the boycott of the trump rally in Oklahoma. Fund also noted that TikTok is

very addictive, and many users, particularly teenagers, spend hours on it every day. As a result, it

has become a significant distraction for pupils. Simrin (2020) acknowledge that TikTok serves as

a platform for publicity, educational possibilities, and new volunteer and internship chances for

students, as well as a source of moral amusement for young people. However, she also

acknowledges that TikTok is intended to be addictive, stating that “it’s incredibly easy to fall

down the TikTok hole and suddenly reemerge hours later having lost an entire day,” said Simrin

(2020). According to Simrin, TikTok has turned into a platform for bullying and public shaming,

endangering the mental health of viewers and users alike. Since there are no restrictions on who

can use the app, there is a serious risk of children being exposed to harmful situations.

Lee (2021) asserts that happiness with TikTok was viewed as a mediator between various

reasons for using TikTok and for continuing to use TikTok. He added that there is no evidence to

support either a positive or negative relationship between TikTok use and wellbeing. In order to

explain TikTok use, Lee (quoting wang et al., 2020) also emphasized the overall relevance of

uses and pleasure theory and provided necessary variables in the cognitive and emotional

domains as related to personal/social integration and stress reduction. Additionally, he held the

view that “young people utilize TikTok for positioning themselves in their peer group and to

understand where he/she stands in the peer group. Hence, TikTok is also relevant for identity

development of young people,” which is confirmed by Shao’s (2018) opinion.

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According to research by Herath and Hearth (2020), watching TikTok videos has a negative

impact on kids since they become addicted to them. Additionally, the researchers said that

students who spend more time using TikTok perform poorly academically; as a result, students

should take factor into consideration when using the application. In their 2017 study, Badri,

Nuaimi, Guang, and Al Rashedi looked at how students’ use of social media sites including

facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok affected their academic achievement. The results

demonstrated that students’ use of social media apps has both advantageous and disadvantageous

effects. But a lot of this depends on when you use social media. Those who use these apps more

frequently do poorly in academic settings.

However, TikTok’s influence on numerous people worldwide cannot be denied, as evidenced by

internet testimonials and analysis conducted by academics and social media enthusiasts. There is

no denying that TikTok has changed the social media landscape as we know it today, even while

it is accurate and has been objectively demonstrated that it has both beneficial and negative

effects on pupils. But in order to keep a healthy balance in children’s and teenager’s

psychological and social lives, there is a need for some form of restriction on its use.

There is little doubt that TikTok has changed the social media landscape as we know it, even

though its impacts on youth are debatable. In light of this, it’s also crucial for users to control

their TikTok usage and have a healthy balance with the outside world.

The most prevalent issue affecting students’ mental health as a result of poor academic

achievement is depression (Showalter, 2010). Depression is caused by using social networking

apps excessively (Zaffar, Mahmood, Saleem, & Zakaria, 2015). In 1995, the researchers Chen,

Rubin, and Li carried out a long-term investigation in Shanghai. And the findings showed that

sadness could be brought on by poor academic achievement. According to a study done in rural

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China, students’ sadness and anxiety levels rise when they perform poorly academically (Feng,

et, al, 2022). According to Kumar and Jejukar (2005), higher stress levels among undergraduates

were caused by academic achievement. An analysis of App Store data showed that Chinese

mobile application TikTok has retained its popularity in various countries despite national

security concerns raised by the United States and India. The ongoing controversies facing

Chinese mobile application TikTok seem to have little effect in its meteoric rise in different parts

of the world, with a recent study showing it to be among the most popular in its category in

various countries including the Philippines. Despite an ongoing legal battle over a possible ban, a

new report released by meta-search website iPrice group noted that most of TikTok’s downloads

this year were from users based in the United States. The report did not provide specific data on

the number of downloads, which it said was based on download index recorded by China-based

App Store data analysis platform Deepaso.com. Latest data showed that there were about 100

million Americans using TikTok. According to iPrice, Deepaso looked into the data from iOS’ App

Store from January to September 2020. Following the US in the ranking of countries with the

greatest number of TikTok downloads this year were Thailand, Vietnam, Germany, Canada and

Indonesia. Nevertheless, the report stated that TikTok is still the most downloaded application in the

entertainment category in the country this year, followed by streaming applications Netflix and Viu.

According to iPrice, the high number of downloads in the US and other Western countries such

as Germany, Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom reveals that TikTok is successfully

penetrating the market this year. Despite the apparent surge in global popularity, TikTok continues to

face controversies, most notably in the US. Last August, US President Donald Trump signed two

executive orders that banned transactions with TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, as

well as another Chinese-owned mobile application, messaging service WeChat. The US

government cited national security concerns in its decision to impose the ban, with Trump
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pushing for the sale of the platform to an American owner. Originally set to take effect last

September, both TikTok and WeChat were able to obtain court orders that prevented the US

government ban from being implemented.

Discussions are underway over the potential sale of the platform’s operations in the US, with the

latest discussion revolving around the creation of a new company that will be part-owned by US

companies Oracle and Walmart. Microsoft previously confirmed that it had discussions with

TikTok for the purchase of its operations in the US, while the Wall Street Journal reported a

potential deal between TikTok and US-owned social media platform Twitter. It is unclear if the

ban will still push through if Trump loses his reelection bid. Meanwhile, in India, TikTok

remains banned following an allegation of the government against several Chinese-owned

applications of secretly collecting information and illegally using data.

TikTok denied the allegation and maintained that it complies with the country’s data privacy and

security requirements. Last October, Pakistan also banned the platform for 11 days after

receiving complaints over “immoral and indecent content” on the platform.

According to TikTok: “The system recommends content by ranking videos based on a

combination of factors — starting from interests you express as a new user, and adjusting for

things you indicate you’re not interested in.” The algorithm considers videos you’ve interacted

with in the past, accounts and hashtags you follow, your location and language preferences, and

even the type of content you create. So instead of being populated entirely with videos from the

people you follow, your FYP is filled with videos TikTok’s algorithm thinks you’ll enjoy —

mostly from creators you don’t already know.

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The major advantage of TikTok is that it serves as a great source of entertainment. With TikTok,

users can dance, act, and expand their social circle. TikTok is interactive, with creative

challenges and dances people make for others to recreate and have fun with. And it provides

steady enjoyable content. Overall, TikTok is a great app to help stay entertained, especially

during the stress of the pandemic. TikTok is a great app for people that want to get famous off of

unique talents and daring. Good at art? Want to knock over a mountain of plastic cups with a

ping pong ball? With TikTok, anyone can create short videos doing anything they choose to

do that’s appropriate and legal to ensnare the public interest and become viral in society. On top

of the funny videos and the dancing videos, there are some people that make videos with great

opportunities and life tips that can help many people. Also, there are other people like doctors or

teachers on TikTok utilizing the platform to teach new things every day.

Despite the many benefits of TikTok however, there are negative effects to take into

consideration as well. While the application can be used to spread positivity, it can also be used

as a platform for bullying. Some people use the app to criticize other people’s videos, while

some users create videos deriding others. This leads to a negative impact on the mental health of

everyone involved which can lead to life-threatening situations and decisions. On TikTok, there

are no restrictions as to who can join the app, so strangers can easily message children and

create harmful situations.

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 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methods and procedures the researchers used to conduct this study are discussed in this

chapter. It is organized into the following subheadings: Research Design, Research Setting,

Respondent of the study, Data Gathering Instrument, Data Gathering Procedure, and Scoring

Procedure.

Research Design

The researchers used a descriptive design, in order to explain the experiences of the students in

terms of their academic performance at the Angelicum Learning Centre. Descriptive research is a

type of study that focuses on characterizing the study participants in order to accurately represent

them. Students who use social media at this institution and the profile of the respondents, which

includes age, year level, and gender, are the variables for the study. Through a survey, the

researcher aims to describe these variables.

Research Setting

This study was conducted at the Angelicum Learning Centre in Cagayan de Oro City’s Mango

St. Carmen. The Angelicum Learning Centre is a high school that aids undergrads in continuing

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their education, training, and future planning. Many students receive scholarships in academics

and primarily for athletics.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents to this study are level 7-10 students at the Angelicum Learning Centre. The

respondents are those who have enrolled for SY: 2023-2024

Data Gathering Procedure

Sampling Technique Purposive Technique was used by the researcher to estimate the sampling

size. Purposive Sampling is a “non-probability sample that is selected based on characteristics of

population and the objective of the study.” Purposive sampling is also known as judgmental,

selective/subjective sampling. Participants in the study will respond in questionnaires made by

the researchers. The questionnaires will be used and done easily by the researchers. The goal of

the study is to evaluate and learn more about the student’s physical and mental well-being.

Questions were created with consideration as to how TikTok affects students.

Table 1. Participants of the Study

Participants Frequency Percentage population

Students 41 80% 51

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in this diagram it shows the selection of a subset of the population on interest in a research study.

The participation of an entire population of interest is not possible, so a smaller group is relied

upon for data collection.

Data Gathering Instrument

The Angelicum Learning Centre students who uses TikTok were asked to fill out a self-made

questionnaire by the researchers in order to collect data. The data collected through a survey

questionnaire was input into MS word by the researchers. The data is gathered into a format that

can be preferred after being extracted and compiled. Each student will receive the same

questionnaires om every survey form as they have been pre-arranged.

Scoring Procedure

To interpret the level of knowledge for the statistical research analysis, the following were

presented:

Description Level

 Always – (5) High

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  Sometimes – (3) Moderate

 Never – (1) Low

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