Internet Addiction Among Adolescents: A Growing Concern
Though the employ of tech-gadgets and services has numerous positive impacts,they are short-lived. In long run,it has harmful impacts on the individuals. Technology is everywhere and it is not going anyway. Teenagers and youth of today just look intently at their iphones or maintain their eyes glued to a tablet or laptop, instead of observing the world around them. It is not unsual to see two teenagers or youth seated in car texting energetically on their mobiles rather than talking to one another. The truth that teens or youth are so reliant on technology seems to make sense in our world, nevertheless it may also lead to negative cost. This is internet addiction essay in which this topic will be considered.
Technology is a device that when used correctly, can have several benefits. Technology can be a huge resource for communication, productivity, social connectivity, education, cognitive enhancement, creativity and expression, digital literacy and many more. These are all beneficial when used in a fair way. Problems crop up when teens and youth use wrongly or misuse these tools to replace real- world activities and face-to-face interactions with practical experiences.
Definition of Internet Addiction
Internet addiction can be defined as regular and obsessive technology-related behavior gradually more practiced despite negative consequence to the user of the technology. This type of addiction among teens and youth is extremely often destructive and one that could have a major impact on the computer addict but on his or her family or friends as well. An over-independence on technology can significantly impact students in college or high school lives. We need technology to carry on in a modern social world, a stern overreliance on technology or an addiction to certain facets of its use can also be socially devasting.T echnology reliance can lead to teen consequences that extent from mild annoyance when absent from technology to feelings of loneliness,intense anxiety,and gloominess. Teenagers or youth are the most common group of society who can get artificial by the internet. As a matter of fact,i nternet addiction is a common habit for teenagers which will affects their future,also can have an effect on their education.
Causes of Internet Addiction Among Teenagers
As with any other type of addiction there are positive certain causes of internet addiction.These causes have to do with how the internet affects a individual and how he or she uses the internet as a way to escape from every problem he or she is into. Data collected from ABC News survey shows that at least six percent of the American population has internet addiction,while other research studies incline more towards 10 percent. The causes of addiction are not that greatly diverse from the causes that drive other type of addictions.Most particularly,the effects from an internet addiction on a person’s life can be just as damaging as that of an alcohol or drug addiction.
One reason for this cause of internet addiction is to escape means.A person’s thoughts patterns and emotions participate crucial roles driving addiction behaviours. This is principally the case with an impulse-control disorder like internet addiction. As an escape mechanism,someone suffering from a depression or anxiety disorder can easily get loss in a faceless online world.When that same someone experiences feelings of excitement and liberation while online,the starting point for addiction are there. Causes of internet addiction can also stem from relationship conflicts as the internet becomes a means to run away from complex situations. Causes of internet addictions,have a lot to do with a person’s capability to cope with life’s challenges that he or she may face in present or future.
Another cause of internet addiction is physical causes of internet addiction. Someone with internet addiction experiences physiological changes when online as well as when offline The ‘rush from being online results from a discharge of endorphins in the brain.In effect,the doings taps straight into the brain’s reward system,which plays a part in all addictions. The reverse effect happens in the form of drawing out symptoms,when a person spends time away from the internet. This also involves chemical changes in the brain’s reward system. Causes for internet addiction involves both the physical and behavioral aspects of a person. Internet addiction have more to do with controlling one’s behaviours than controlling a craving for an actual drug,the physical causes of internet addiction also drive the urge to “use”.
Effect of Internet Addiction on Teenagers
Nowadays, due to the social networking site such as instagram, snapchat, whatsapp taking over, internet is producing undesirable effects on the teens, particularly those student studying in college. As it is rightly said something that has positive also has some negative. We have some negative effects of internet addiction on teens.
Inactivity is one of the effect, physical exercise has become limited. They fancy bikes as an alternative of cycles or walking. This could cause obesity. And ,to insert to this problem, internet is there,students spend mainly of their time sitting at one place in front of their computers and extremely less movement is made by their body. Still at night,instead of sleeping they spend time on the internet.
Another is sexual exploitation, according to the study conducted by university of Florida; the students who make use of internet three to fours on a daily basis are likely to fall prey to sexual exploitation. Nowadays, exploiting little children and teenagers sexually has become extremely simple. There are predators lying there on the internet, this could produce unpleasant effect on the mental health of the teenagers and he or she is sexually exploited online.
Another is cyberbullying, when teens use the internet to bully others teens of the same age group, this is known as cyber bullying and this is a negative effect of internet on the students. Student feel hurt and embarrassed when someone bullies them,which may lead to depression or mental harassment for the later and some commit suicide as result of cyberbullying. There are many effect and such as pornography,inappropriate relationship,privacy is distributed and loss of human touch.
Conclusion
A way a teen can control internet addiction is self control, try possible to block out distracting websites for certain amount of time. Also go out to an interesting places or event, which will distract you from the internet and have fun with friend and family. Furthermore you need to think by limiting your attention to a single application at a time. Concentration by focus on what you actually want to do on the internet.And lastly reduce time spent on social media and internet to the barest minimum.
