Today's society is based around technology & is slowly taking over people's lives & begining to affect our personal relationships . Everything we do revolves around the Internet. New social networking sites are popping up everyday & people are taking advantage of them as result getting addicted! Let me emphasise there are definate benefits of the internet,yet the risks identified will inflame existing fears of a cyber-domain containing horrors undreamed of !
Children have always been seen as prey, at the mercy of any demon invented by adults. Are you aware as a parent,the internet is the lonely,threatening habitat of bullies & predators? At a time when adults have little or no knowledge of what their children do in cyberspace. Todays child is being empowered & has access to a world more perplexing than the universe. Resourceful & resilent children have sought a private world free from adult scrutiny.It is the modern version story of a pre-teenager lost in a fantasy realm of Cyberspace; in which gap between adults & children has,supposedly,been wiped out by the"KIDULT". Just as the wolf did not kill Little Red Riding Hood,the big bad internet will not swallow up our babies,but its risks are unavoidable & unacceptable.
This new technology is killing off books. Youngsters & adults spend more than 20 hours a week in a virtual life,chiefly on social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Orkut & Bebo. Everything that happens in your life, you feel like sharing with your contacts on your status line. You post your thoughts & you expect the comment & when the comment comes, you smile if you like it,or you frown if it's not what you expected. All of a sudden, completely strangers are important to you & their comments leverage your value as a person. And unconsciously you classify people into ‘good’ & ‘bad’ without even knowing them.
So,what's the deal between you & social sites like Facebook?
It is damaging your real relationships,it is chocking your real life. Social networking websites cannot replace your real relationships!
Take into account this true incident:a friends daughter was stalked for 3 months. She met someone on Facebook,someone who was a common friend of a friend of hers. They started chatting on MSN. At first it was in the morning, then it became at night,until she told him where she lives at &one night,there he is outside her home. He had been watching her for 2 months until he attacked her. She was lucky enough not to be raped. When you hear this incident,dont you think ‘she should never have told him where she lives'.
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If your son’s grades have been deteriorating since he joined Facebook. He's probably spending too much time on it,more than what he used to spend on video games & there is not much you can do. He sees you doing the same on Saturday mornings. While you could be doing more important tasks, you surf & browse on Facebook.
A new study - Kids Addicted to the Internet are more likely to Injure themselves:
Teenagers with Internet addiction said they experienced depression & anxiety when they were not online & were more likely to harm themselves than non-addicted teens.
The questions raised are indeed interesting! Which came first,the depression or the Internet addiction? Does excessive Internet use cause kids to become depressed,anxious & prone to self-injury?Or are depressed & anxious kids more likely to turn to the Internet to soothe & distract themselves? It’s probably a little bit of both.
Parents,child psychologists & childrens welfare organisations must launch a campaign that hi - lights the risks of the internet & video games. If governments globally are reaping what it sowed, then parents are also in line for blame. What is urgently needed is a "national strategy for child internet safety", in which the Government issues tough rules to the industry."Web 2.0"or social networking sites must,be compelled to apply rigorous security measures,such as privacy standards & be tightly regulated. The classification of computer games must be overhauled.
As parents,we cannot make this world wholly safe. Maybe the best we can offer,for all the talk of education & crackdowns,is to equip children better to deal with hazards & evils of the internet. And explain to them,the Internet — like so many things including reading, TV, outdoor play & food – is good or bad depending on how we use it.
Internet Addiction: The Definition
- Excessive use (especially when the user seems to lose their sense of the passage of time)
withdrawal symptoms when they can’t get online - Increasing tolerance (meaning they need more & more to get the same enjoyment, as with any addiction)
- Negative effects (including social isolation, or neglect of other basic life functions)
- Tendency toward depression, anxiety, or other mental health disorders
Set Internet Rules & Teach Kids to Monitor Their Own Use
- Make it public. Pull the computers out of the bedrooms & keep them in the family public space. That way you’ll all be accountable to each other for what you do online & how long you spend doing it.
- Set Internet use rules that are continent on other responsibilities. A rule like “You can only go online after you’ve finished your homework, done your chores, practiced piano, and spent 30 minutes outside,” will teach your child about priorities …& keep them busy enough keeping online time will be short.
- Set time-based Internet use rules (1 hour a day) & STICK TO THE RULES.
- Discover what activities captivate your kids online & introduce them to a real-world equivalent (if appropriate)
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