The Relationship between Hours of Television Watching and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students: The Case of Some Selected Secondary Schools in Harer City

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between hours of television watching and student academic achievement. The major objectives of study were examining the status of students’ television watching and the relationship between hours of television watching and academic achievement. There has been a great debate among researchers regarding this area of concern. Some support the contribution of television to academic achievement and others argue that television watching negatively influences academic achievement. Two hundred students were randomly selected for the study. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire. The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Students’ background information and their hours of television watching were analyzed using descriptive statistics. On the other hand, the relationship between hours of television watching and academic achievement was analyzed by Pearson moment correlation. The results show there is no statistically significant relationship between hours of television watching and academic achievement of students. Based on this, it can be concluded that television may not have a significant effect on students’ academic achievement by itself.