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The impact of the internet on society
The dangers of internet addiction
The impact of the internet on society
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Internet Addiction
Internet addiction has been proven to be unhealthy for many reasons, including mental illness, sleep deprivation, and aggression. Internet addiction can not only cause mental illness, but the government is also trying to diagnose internet addiction as a mental illness. Sleep deprivation is also a problem. If the internet can cause sleep deprivation, then it can also indirectly cause the effects of sleep deprivation. The last unhealthy side effect of internet addiction is aggression (Illnness, Page 1).Children with an addiction to the internet have been proven through research to have different social outcomes. Not only is internet addiction immoral in the eyes of some people, but the internet can cause effects that the people could never guess.
Internet addiction is a big cause of sleep deprivation, which can also lead to unhealthy and treacherous consequences. Sixty percent of parents do not supervise their children’s technology use, and seventy five percent of children are allowed to use the internet in their rooms. Seventy five percent of children with internet in their rooms also have trouble sleeping at night. If children spend more time playing video games than sleeping, then fatal accidents and illnesses can affect not only those children, but the people around them too. Sleep deprivation is a proven cause of multiple heart conditions, diabetes, and even obesity. If people are not careful about how much they sleep, then death could even occur. A British study showed that people that slept two hours less than the others had a doubled death risk. Other side effects of sleep deprivation include forgetfulness and even a decrease in growth hormones. Scientists show that a lack of sleep stimulates a response ...
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...ng into multiple parked cars. After being questioned by the police, the student said he wanted to play “Grand Theft Auto” in real life (Aggression part 2, page 1). If the internet can cause acts of aggression like this, than internet addiction might be worse than anybody realizes.
Internet addiction can be very unhealthy for many reasons. The internet can cause sleep deprivation, which can lead to more serious problems, such as memory loss or even lack of awareness. Another unhealthy outcome of the internet is mental illness, such as depression and insanity. The last main outcome of internet addiction is aggression. The internet can cause people to be aggressive and angry for no apparent reason (illness, page 1). All three of these outcomes are reasons that the internet can be unhealthy. The internet has more power and control than most people will ever know of.
According to Li, O’Brien, Snyder, and Howard (2016), problematic internet use may lead to serious psychosocial dysfunction and has resulted in a proposed diagnostic criterion for the DSM-5 in order to assess the disorder. In the United States, 6% to 11% of internet users are problematic internet users. Researchers, in fact, compare problematic internet use to the assessed criteria for gambling and internet gaming disorder. They have also concluded that college-aged teens and young adults are at most risk due to the availability of internet access around them and the direct relationship between the internet and education. Symptoms include impaired physical health such as obesity or sleep disorders, psychological distress, and behavioral problems. Students may also experience more interpersonal problems and worse school and work performance.
In her article “Friends Indeed?” Joel Garreau explains that for two decades, online social networks have been touted as one of the finest flowerings of our new era. But what is the strength of ties so weak as to barely exist? Who will lend you lunch money? Who’s got your back?” Technology has overtaken individuals by social media, allowing many people to communicate online rather than having face-to-face communication. Many “relationships” begin online, and end online. Although, true relationships are rarely created fast, it gradually grows and becomes stronger and stronger over the years. However, in our immediate society this is not the case. But the questions still remains, as Joel Garreau points out “Who would lend you lunch money?” in other words, who will help you physically not online. In our impatient society, technologies influenced the way individual communicate, and that often times leads to depression, loneliness and addictions.
The change in the social life of children and young generation causes research upon technology’s usage of young people. A recent survey shows that adolescents aged between 10-18 waste an average of six to seven hours with electronic devices like computers and smart phones, which cause negative outcomes such as depression, social isolation, anxiety, insomnia, and obesity (“Technology gadgets steal kids' sleep, shows survey”). The good feeling brought on by the chemicals like adrenaline, dopamine as in the gambling addiction and the joy of social networking sites, smartphones, online video games and also not-feeling alone and freedom in virtual world are the factors of technology dependence. This 24/7 online, connected community is actually a place to escape from stress and bad emotions. The countless facilities and alternatives of the virtual world attract the attention of many teens.
Pornography is becoming the most popular secret in all of America. Only 13.9% of young men don’t view pornography, and of those who do, 51% of male students and 32% of female students first viewed pornography before age 13 (Gilkerson). 21.3% of college males watch it daily or multiple times a day (Gilkerson).
In Greg Beato’s article “Internet Addiction” originally published in august, september 2010 in to Reason magazine he argues that internet addiction is a problem in our society today. Internet addiction should be reported in the Diagnostic and statistic manual of mental disorder (DSM). It is a huge problem, he also says that internet is like narcotic drugs and very addicting. He states that if ones use Google for few minutes only it leads us to spend more than a few minutes on the internet and it turns in to spending hours. Beato refers that University of Maryland did a group study for 24 hour and all the students went crazy without their phones and iPods, one girl admitted that she is an addict. The students were anxious and miserable. He also says that one kid killed his parents because they took away his Xbox. Internet also leads to death of people, therefore it is a problem and we should put it on to the DSM.
Pornography on the Internet is affordable, available, and abundant. One can easily find websites for viewing this type of material. Although the reports on the actual number of these sites vary, the availability and accessibility of the sites are rarely disputed. Some critics of this form of expression or form of obscenity believe that the pornography itself can cause pornography addictions. Internet pornography does not produce addicts, but rather the propensity to be a pornography addict already exists within individuals by the time they reach adulthood and sustains itself within those individuals.
Kershaw provides an example of the negative effect of Internet addiction in the article “Hooked on the Web: Help is on the Way”. Mike is a 34 year old man who addresses his Internet addiction problem and seeks treatment. Before seeking treatment, Mike struggled with alcohol and drug abuse and depression along with Internet addiction. He often spent countless hours using the computer to search news and sports information. He never felt it was a problem because he liked it so much and used it in his everyday life. However, Internet addiction started to impact Mike’s life. He became unemployed and lived with his mother. It also affected his social interaction; he would rather be on the computer than be around other people (Kershaw). Another case where computer addiction is found to be a problem is in some Asian countries. Elizabeth Cooney, in her article “Some People Need Help To Kick Their Internet and Computer Gaming Obsessions” reports that “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in girls and hostility in boys can predispose children to later Internet addiction, which they estimate affects 4 percent of children in Korea and 15 percent in China.” Furthermore, there have been reports of death due to Internet addiction as well. In Korea, a man died because he did not perform basic survival skills such as eating and sleeping for 50 hours due to his Internet addiction (Cooney). In the article “Computer
Similarly, 1 in 33 children have been involved in an aggressive interaction, and 1 in 17 have been threatened or harassed (Bremer 420). Considering how susceptible kids are to predators, the Internet is clearly not a safe environment for kids to be on all the time. Aside from the social effects of the Internet, there are many mental health effects as a result of the overuse of the Internet. Numerous people praise the Internet and its ability to educate young people. More and more schools are switching to online learning to help children academically.
The internet is an essential tool in everyday life. The age of a person does not matter, because whether they are a teen, an adult, or an elderly person in order to stay in contact with others they will need the internet. However, the internet is dangerously addictive. Some studies say that the internet is not the addiction, but the means of getting to the addiction. The more believable of the two studies are the ones that discuss the internet being the addiction. Curtis stated in 2012 that reports on the brain are showing that people who excessively use the internet show abnormalities similar to people who suffer from substance addiction. Curtis also stated that internet addiction was becoming
In this generation, everyone, mostly young adults, are glued to technology. We see people walking around, looking at the ground as if they have a ball and chain dangling from their necks. We see people sitting on their chairs and looking at their computer screens long enough for their backs to hurt and their eyes water from the bright screen. People addicted to the Internet are those who pay attention to a virtual world more than their own lives. Internet addiction has corrupted people’s social lives, prevented their maturation, and induced negative behaviors. In “Internet Addiction,” Greg Beato expresses how the Internet has corrupted lives and should be added to the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Behaviors.” If we continue our
A lot of research has gone into understanding the real impacts of technology in people’s lives. The impact of Internet on our life becomes more and more significant and undeniable. Life without Internet is definitely very troublesome and inconvenient. However some do think that this technology is more of a nuisance than useful. Even more complaints have come forward about the Internet disrupting humanity. Over the last two decades people have seen time and again complaints from parents that their children play video games 24/7 or relationships that have been ruined because of a partners inability to use technology in moderation (i.e. Technological addictions). Technological addictions are categorized under behavioral addictions and involve human-technology interaction. They can be passive (e.g. television) or active (e.g. computer games) Internet Addiction does have the core components of any addiction and will be expounded on in this
It is also shown by studies an inverse relationship between the times spent using internet and daily physical activity. The time spent on the internet and other forms of entertainment media significantly decrease a child’s time for activities needed for the healthy growth like playing, reading, storytelling and spending time with friends and family. It also have confirmed a harmful effect of using internet more than one to two hours per day on academic
The internet is full of many things that could make us smarter. However, the internet is full of websites, games, even photos that could very likely have a negative effect on children and their behaviors. Also their education, speech could become affected and they could start doing badly in school or start cursing at a young age. Another thing is that their attitude towards life changes, instead of seeing it as their own giant happy playground they can view it as a very bitter and cold place and start looking, feeling, and talking negatively.
In the modern world internet access is a vital part of everyday life. It is important for education, and is a necessary skill for those entering the job markets of today. The internet is highly entertaining and informative. These qualities make the internet an attractive escape from the stress of everyday life. People can enter a different world and make the problems of the real world disappear. Anything is possible on the internet. Internet addiction has the same symptoms as an addition to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or caffeine. When someone becomes addicted to the internet they will have increasing tolerance to the amount of time they spend online, withdrawal, mood changes between when online and off, and there will be an interruption of social relationships and activities. People with an addiction will need more time online to be happy. When access to the internet is not available people will show signs of anxiety, depression, irritability, trembling hands, and restlessness.
This online article was useful for my research because it showed how over use of technology impact on people. This article also gives background information on internet addiction and internet dependence. The source is one of the best sources used in my research due to the fact that it had some of the basic information about the harmful effect of becoming so much dependent on technology.