Prevalence of internet addiction and its effects on academic performance among college students in semi-urban settlement of Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria.

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of internet addiction and its effects on academic performances among college students of health sciences and technology, Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria. Descriptive research survey type was employed for the study. The population of the study comprised of all the students of college of health sciences and technology in Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria. A sample population of 150 students was used for the study through structured questionnaire. A descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentage was used to analyze the personal data and prevalence of internet addiction while inferential statistics of pearson correlation study at 0.01 level  of significance was used to analyze the effects of internet addiction on academic performances among college students in Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti state Nigeria. Findings reveal that majority of the students are minimal user of the internet while significant percentages of the respondents were moderate users of the internet and few respondents were excessive user. Also internet addiction significantly influences academic performances among the students of college of health sciences and technology in Ijero-Ekiti.  It was concluded that poor knowledge about the effects of internet addiction among the respondents account for the level of internet addiction most especially as recorded among the excessive users. Based on the result of this study, recommendations were made to drastically reduce the trends of internet addiction among college students through concerted efforts which include pubic campaign, creation of awareness about the negative effects of internet addiction, heath education and promotion.