Many Children And Youths Access The Internet Without Supervision; This Will Expose

EDE3
Them To Risky Situations. Discuss.

The early years of the 21st century have witnessed an explosion in the Internet
usage. The popularity of this global system of interconnected network keeps growing
nonstop from the day it appeared in human life. Internet is defined as a network that
virtually connects computers around the world. It is an open phone line and an open
television channel to millions of people around the world who can communicate
anonymously .
E- Commerce, E- Business and E- Marketing are phenomena that appear as the
result of the Internet invasion. There is no doubt that internet has made our life become
easier and more convenient. We can use internet to communicate with people around
the world, doing business by using internet, make new friend and know different
cultures, searching information, studying and etc.Obviously, with the universal access to
information and an interactive mechanism to communicate that Internet offers, it is no
hard to understand why people all around the world get addicted to it. However, internet
has many risks in contrast to its benefits and it should not be used by children and youth
without adult supervision and parental control.
Many parents worry about how exposure to technology might affect toddlers
developmentally. We know our preschoolers are picking up new social and cognitive
skills at a stunning pace, and we dont want hours spent glued to an iPad to impede
that. Social media and text messages that have become so integral to teenage life are
promoting anxiety and lowering self-esteem.This is because many children are seeking
community through the Internet. In today's modern world, it is extremely common for
teenagers, between the ages of 13 to 17, to have some sort of online profile with
popular websites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. Many of them update their
status at twice once a day, sharing life events with friends, and family abroad, and have
on average, 150 friends linked to their online profile. Teens are masters at keeping
themselves occupied in the hours after school until way past bedtime. For one thing,
modern teens are learning to do most of their communication while looking at a screen,
not another person. In a way, texting and online communicating not only creates a
nonverbal learning disability, but it also puts everybody in a nonverbal disabled context,
where body language, facial expression, and even the smallest kinds of vocal reactions
are rendered invisible. Certainly speaking indirectly creates a barrier to clear
communication.
Learning how to make friends is a major part of growing up, and friendship
requires a certain amount of risk-taking. This is true for making a new friend, but its also
true for maintaining friendships. When there are problems that need to be faced either
big ones or small ones ; it takes courage to be honest about your feelings and then
hear what the other person has to say.. But when friendship is conducted online and
through texts, kids arent getting enough practice relating to people and getting their
needs met in person and in real time, many of them will grow up to be adults who are
anxious about our species primary means of communication which is talking. And of
course social negotiations only get riskier as people get older and begin navigating
romantic relationships and employment. Many teens never knew a world where social
media didnt exist, and for them the things that happen online such as slights, break-
ups, likes, or negative comments are very real. Therefore , parents should not
underestimate the role social media plays in the lives of teenagers .Keeping teens from
falling into the social media trap is more complicated than it sounds. Parents should
help kids build a safe and reasonable relationship with social media before theyre out
on their own.
The other big danger that comes from kids communicating more indirectly is that
it has gotten easier to be cruel. Kids text all sorts of things that we would never in a
million years contemplate saying to anyones face. In simple language, this kind of
threat is known as cyberbullying. Cyber bullying is basically a term to describe the
bullying using the Internet.
This disadvantage can be considered as one of the evilest negative effects of
Internet . It is never easier for haters to give ugly words toward a person. Famous
youths or some kind of people in protected class are often the victims of cyber bullying.
This type of harassment is safer and easier than physical bullying because there is
hardly any regulation or law to control the problems.
Victims of cyber bullying may feel insulted or embarrassed because of the wicked
comments or opinions. The negative effects will be worse on teenagers, especially on
those who are in puberty with all the vulnerability and sensitiveness. There is a positive
relationship proved between cyber bullying and suicidal attempts by victims.
Students are considered to be most bullied on the Internet. A couple of criticism
from teachers or cheating from groups of friends can drive a student insane and finally
to suicide. Therefore, it is important for the parents to be aware of these negative effects
of Internet in advance because most of the children dont really share their depression
with them.
It will be a mistake to forget the waste of time when it comes to the negative
effects of Internet. A Washington Post revealed that 9% attempted to hide
nonessential Internet use. In addition, Stanford University also conducted a study
showing that 12.4 percent of participants stayed online for a longer time than they
intended very often . It is obvious that if we spend too much time on the Internet, we will
have to cut down on time for other activities. As an infinite storage of entertainment, the
Internet is somehow similar to the black hole that leaves no way to get out. A lot of
students and teenagers spend most of their time just on watching films, surfing
Facebook and playing games instead of learning or doing other meaningful activities. If
the original purpose of Internet was to help students and teenagers work more
efficiently, it now makes them do no work at all.
Especially for students, the explorations and advancement of Internet turn it into
a promising distraction. As the result, their academic result goes down gradually while
the electronic bill payment keeps increasing. Apart from that , when students and
teenagers use of Internet is too much, the abandonment of family also will occur .
Obviously, the original purpose of parents when they equip their children with the
Internet is to open a door to the new world, not to close themselves in a fiction planet
without family. For many students, the Internet is the only friend they have. The time for
family, for parents is replaced by hours of Internet browsing. They ignore the family and
hesitate to talk or interact with other member.
When it comes to excessive usage of Internet without supervision, we cannot
ignore about the physical inactivity. As we all learn it in school, a full education includes
mental and physical development. It is the reason why there is break- time between
classes so that students can relax and work out their body. The Internet only supports
for the mental side. There is no exercise for teenagers and students in this global
system. When people use the Internet a lot, they will lack time for physical activities
The more convenient the Internet is, the fewer physical activities for students and
teenagers. This tendency will affect a lot on the development of these young people.
The emphasis on the Internet use should be reduced or, sooner or later, these negative
effects of Internet will lead to mental health problems in students and teenagers.
Another health condition is called as narcissism, which is also affecting youths
lifestyle. The term narcissism is when one is self indulgent in one self and though they
may seem nice and charming at first but they end up taking advantage of people. A
person who is a narcissist is also known to be self centered and egotistic; their
personality trait can be influenced by social, cultural, and relationship problems.
For anyone does not know what insomnia is, it is a sleeping disorder that
happens when people are not able to rest or sleep. And the powerful global system, the
Internet, somehow is one of the reasons for insomnia. They take advantages of any
time possible to browsing the Internet, even the sleeping time. Moreover, the green light
from the computer screen or other types of electronic items can keep you away from
your sleep. We all know that staying up late is not good for our health. When the body
cannot have enough time to rest, many health problems will appear. For the students
and teenagers, who are at the age of development, insomnia will not only affect
their mental health but also their physical growth. The eye strain will happen after a long
time looking at the screen.

Therefore,parents should save their children by turning off the Internet early
every night and build up a good habit of sleeping early to stay away of many health
problems.There is no way to truly verify age on the internet, this is a big concern
because there is a wealth of content that should not be accessed by children.
Pornographic material is the most prominent, and children can very easily stumble upon
these types of websites and be exposed to things that they should not be. Pornography
may be defined as the depiction of erotic behavior (sexual display in pictures or writing)
that is intended to cause sexual excitement in the viewer.
Along with finding inappropriate materials online, children are also at a great risk
because of how easy it is to communicate with people. Children every day are
persuaded by online friends to meet them or do things for them that put them at great
risk.
The availability and use of pornography has become almost ubiquitous among
adults and adolescents. Consumption of pornography is associated with many negative
emotional, psychological, and physical health outcomes. These include increased rates
of depression, anxiety, acting out and violent behavior, younger age of sexual debut,
sexual promiscuity, increased risk of teen pregnancy, and a distorted view of
relationships between men and women.
This phenomenon has also caused another problem, and that is the increase in
prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in children. According to reports, one
out of every four teenagers gets infected with a STD every year. The adult content that
is present on the internet promotes irresponsible sex and creates false notions in the
minds of students.
Internet is the primary medium for pornography exposure,therefore, home
computers should be located in public spaces (not in a childs bedroom), and equipped
with Internet filtering and monitoring software to reduce exposure
Lately , children have been lured by paedophiles posing as good Samaritans and
have been physically abused and molested. Internet has also made it easy for
unscrupulous elements to get in touch with children and this has led to an increase in
the cases of kidnapping and identity thefts. About 60% young teens in the United States
have admitted to responding to messages from strangers. This kind of behaviour is
extremely risky and has made children extremely vulnerable to become victims of
cyber-crime.
In conclusion, nothing comes with only benefits. Everything has got its negative
points as well, and so the Internet has.Parents often worry that, compared to their tech-
savvy teens and pre-teens, they have little hope of keeping up with their use of
technology. The truth is parents dont have to be a computer or technical expert to
prevent their young ones from accessing content that we deem inappropriate.
There are a variety of parental controls and filtering systems available to parents,
and some current software vendors offer filtering and monitoring of smart phones which
are now the primary technology used by adolescents to access the Internet. Also, there
are software services which offer the ability to create accountability partnerships so as
to increase the success of breaking free from pornography addiction. Pediatricians and
pediatric healthcare providers should understand the negative impact that widespread
use of pornography is having on todays children and their parents and how they can
help stop this destructive influence on the family.
In the end, every parent want their child to be happy and successful.Therefore ,
parents should remind their child that they love him or her and that they care about his
or her happiness and well-being. Children often interpret questions about their behavior
as blame and criticism. Parents need to reassure child that they are not condemning
him or her. Rather,parents should tell their child that they are concerned about some of
the changes they have seen in his or her behavior and refer to those changes in specific
terms: fatigue, declining grades, giving up hobbies, social withdrawal, etc. Assign an
Internet time log and should tell their child that they would like to see an accounting of
just how much time he or she spends online each day and which internet activities they
engage in.
Parents should also remind them that with television you can monitor their
viewing habits more easily, but with the Internet you need their help and cooperation to
become appropriately involved. Put them on the honor system to keep the log
themselves for a week or two to build trust between you. If kids balk at this idea or
clearly lie in their log, parents are likely dealing with their denial of addiction.
Many parents get angry when they see the signs of Internet addiction in their
child and take the computer away as a form of punishment. Others become frightened
and force their child to quit cold turkey, believing that is the only way to get rid of the
problem. Both approaches invite trouble because the child will internalize the message
that they are bad; they will look at their parents as the enemy instead of an ally; and
they will suffer real withdrawal symptoms of nervousness, anger, and irritability. Instead,
work with your child to establish clear boundaries for limited Internet usage. Parents
should allow perhaps an hour per night after homework, with a few extra weekend
hours. Parents need to be diligent about making sure kids are getting a dose of reality
and need to model healthy behaviors.
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