The Influence of the Indian Soap Opera; Kumkum Bhagya on the Academic Performance of Second and Third Year Students of Santa Maria Senior High School

Abstract

The ilnpact of heavy television viewing and the effects it has on young viewers has been the dominant topic since the 1960s. This study analysed the influence of Telenovela on the academic performance of second and Third year students of Santa Maria Senior High School. The study revealed that majority of the respondents watched Telenovela and that as many as 60 % of the 80 respondents were compelled sometimes to ignore their studies in order to watch their favourite Telenovela. Watching Telenovela poses some challenges on students' academic performance as these respondents are likely had their eyes on the clock while in class praying for the bell to ring for close of lessons for the day. In the study, the findings reveal that majority of the respondents (56%)· prefer watching Telenovela than other types of movies. The respondents mention that they preferred Telenovela to Ghanaian movies. According to them, Ghanaian films were full of insults, poor pictures or camera shots and angles and bad editing whereas Telenovela had good plots, and good camera shots. A number of the respondents claimed that they spend more than four hours of their time watching Telenovela. It is identified that most of these students perform badly in school.