THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNET ADDICTION ON PSYCHO SOCIAL BEHAVIOURS DISTRACTING THE ACADEMIC PURSUES AND ATTAINMENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTION UNDERGRADUATES IN ONDO STATE NIGERIA

Internet being the most easily accessible media to adolescents nowadays in the name of academic and other purposes has compelled to use it more and more. This media has not only become a good source of information for knowledge but also for other purposes like social interactions, gaming, entertainments and etc. Internet addiction could be harmful on students, changing their social behavior, habits and abilities in a negative way. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of internet addiction on psyco social behaviors distracting the academic pursues and attainments of tertiary institution undergraduates in Ondo state Nigeria. The objective of the study is to identify the attraction of students to the internet, examine the prevalent rate of internet addiction among undergraduates' students, examine the influence of internet addiction on academic attainment of secondary school students, investigate the influence of internet addiction on psycho social behaviour of undergraduates' students and examine the difference in the gender,course of study, level on the attraction of students to the internet, prevalent rate of internet addiction among undergraduates' students, influence of internet addiction on students' academic attainment and influence of internet addiction on psycho social behaviour of secondary school students. The study adopted descriptive research design of the survey type. The population of this study comprises of all undergraduate students in tertiary institution in Ondo State. Sampleof 180 (One hundred and eighty)undergraduate students were randomly selected for the study. Structured questionnaire duly validated were used for data collection. The data collected through the research instrument were analyzed using frequency counts,percentage scores,mean and standard deviation while the research hypotheses were analyzed using inferential statistics of t-test. The reliability coefficient (r) of 0.802 was obtained this imply that the instrument was reliable. The findings revealed that students are highly attracted to the internet for information and entertainment(x =3.13). It was showed that there is a prevalent rate of internet addiction among undergraduates' students (x =3.13). it was further revealed that internet addiction has a negative influence on students' academic attainmentand finally, it was revealed that there is a negative influence of internet addiction on psycho social behaviour of secondary school students.The research hypotheses revealed that there is significant difference in the male and female students view on the prevalent rate of internet addiction among undergraduates' students [t(180) = 1.792; P>0.05], there is significant difference in the male and female students view on the prevalent rate of internet addiction among undergraduates' students [t(180)=1,072; P>0.05], there is significant difference in the male and female students view on the influence of internet addiction on students' academic attainment [t(180) = 0.729; P>0.05], and there is significant difference in the male and female students view on the influence of internet addiction on psycho social behaviour of secondary school students [t(180)=1.532;P>0.05]. It was concluded that internet addiction influence psyco social behaviour of students which distract the academic pursues and attainments of tertiary institution undergraduates in Ondo state. It was therefore recommended amongst others that introducing and enforcing policies promoting responsible internet use,students should be encouraged to engage in offline activities like sports, social clubs, and physical gatherings to foster real-life social connections, which help reduce overreliance on digital platforms for entertainment and communication and organizing seminars to inform and counsel the students on the negative consequences of internet addictions on worthless sites in their overall life endeavours