The Effects of the Internet on Children - Research Paper Example

?I. Introduction Recent researches have shown an increase in the number of children who access the internet II. Statistics show that in China, many children come to be exposed to the internet and gadgets related to it from an extremely early age Parents buy iPads for their toddlers, something which was not common only a few years ago III. The amount of time that children spend on the internet is detrimental to their mental Children who spend too much time online tend to have low scores in the test they are given in school IV. There are sexual predators that use the internet (Pemberton, 2011) There are cases of children accessing inappropriate material while browsing V. A danger that constantly faces children today is their activity in social networks These networks are relatively easy to use and it is for this reason that many children are attached to them VI. The parent must set up the computer in places where they can easily observe what is being browsed Parents can regularly allow their child to use the internet at certain times of the day VII. Conclusion Close parental supervision of their children’s internet activity The internet is one of the most influential developments of the modern world mainly because it affects the lives of almost everybody in the world. It is fast becoming a major source of information with many people relying on it to get news from all over the world, for research, to do market research and make purchases and to keep in touch with one another over great distances. The internet provides a powerful tool for online resources and is an information dissemination tool for many people in the world. Recent researches have shown an increase in the number of children who access the internet everyday in the United States. These children are exposed to many databases, which may sometimes hold explicit, violent, prohibited and at times illegal content. Statistics show that in China, many children come to be exposed to the internet and gadgets related to it from an extremely early age. Parents in this country have been known, in recent times, to buy iPads for their toddlers, something which was not common only a few years ago (Hairong, 2012, Para 7). Surveys in China have also shown that the number of families, which have acquired iPads for their children, is about forty percent, which is a unique fact indeed. While many children have come to access the internet from an early age, they have also come to be exposed to things within it, which are harmful to their mental development (Hairong 2012 Para 12). In order to help parents curb the children’s access to the internet, internet service providers and major search engines have created tools to enable parents to input parental control measures on the child’s computer at home. Recent research shows that majorities of parents use parental control, and this helps to filter and control the sites that children can access and set safe zones for them. The major setback for this has been that children have been seen to adapt very fast to these software and tools. In addition, they have been known to find ways of penetrating passwords or firewalls set by parents and access restricted sites (Siegel, 2012 Para 16). The amount of time that children spend on the internet has been found to be detrimental to their mental development because it has made them become too lazy to be creative. Studies conducted at Duke University show that children who spend too much time online tend to have low scores in the test they are given in school (Scholastic News, 2010 Para 3). Furthermore, it has been found that many children who spend most of their time online are not able to concentrate one matter at a time and because of this, they tend to shift swiftly from one subject to another. Without focus, these children risk not being able to develop the social skills necessary to thrive in the world. Instead, they will end up becoming too involved in a confused world of their own making (Scholastic News, 2010, para.3). There are sexual predators that use the internet to lure children to give them information about themselves or make them send pictures of themselves, whether in the nude or otherwise, with sinister intent (Pemberton, 2011 Para 2). In addition, there are also the cases of children accessing inappropriate material while browsing and these vary from explicit material from pornographic sites, violent content including videos, pictures and writings. These are very harmful to a child because they may not only lead to a child being molested by predators, but may also lead to him display inappropriate behavior due to the watching of pornography. In addition, children tend to come to harm in cases where the child becomes a victim of cyber bullying from their friends and other internet users. For example, this is where children may circulate images or videos of their friends or peers to others in school or online; thus, the child becomes victimized by others (Siegel, 2012 Para 5). A danger that constantly faces children today is their activity in social networks such as Facebook, which have become extremely popular and can be accessed through any mobile device available to them (Siegel, 2012 Para 3). Social networking sites have the main purpose of getting people to interact and share experiences online. These networks have revolutionized the way people interact online, making access to any of their users easily available to those who wish to interact with them. Facebook, for example, has become a useful tool through which people not only interact, but also conduct business. These networks are relatively easy to use and navigate through, and it is for this reason that many children have recently come to be extraordinarily attached to them. The danger from these networks arises from the fact that they are notorious for not being able to maintain the privacy of their users (Siegel, 2012 Para 12). This creates a situation where when children sign up for accounts within these networks, there is a high possibility that their personal information is going to be accessible to anyone on the internet. It is therefore imperative that parents keep a close watch over the activities of their children on social networks (Scholastic News, 2010 Para 5). A way of protecting the child from internet danger is the parent setting up the computer in places where they can easily observe what is being browsed and in this way they will be able to put a check on what the child is browsing hence reducing the risk of visiting harmful sites (Nursing Standard, 2012 Para 2). This can be in the living room where everyone in the household is present, and limits the child on what they are accessing. In addition, parents also play a role in controlling the amount of time, which the child spends, on the internet every day. Parents can regularly allow their child to use the internet at certain times of the day when they are around, or set the amount of bandwidth and internet sessions to be allowed everyday for the child. Another measure, which a parent can take, is to connect to the internet with the child and build the level of trust between them. The parent can route all emails and messages that the child receives to their own email, and monitor them from there. Since households have different members of different ages, restrictions of different sites to each member of the house may be seen as essential. Parent can also limit internet searches by each member of the family and they can specify the sites that can be accessed at one time (Nursing Standard, 2012 Para 1). Close parental supervision of their children’s internet activity ensures that they not only get to live a healthy life by not spending all their time online, but also not being able to access sites and games whose content might harmful to them. Despite all the measures, that have been discussed, being set up by parents, the main idea here is the communication process being upheld between the parent and child. Therefore, all these interventions can seem meaningless unless the parent takes an active role and teaches the child as they grow on internet use. Setting up these guidelines when they are still young makes the child aware of the ill effects of the internet and refrain from coming into contact with them. In addition, it will enable the child to develop personal responsibility over the time they can spend online and encourage this child to participate in activities that are not related to the internet. This will ensure that the child’s development remains well balanced, knowing the limits to everyone of the activities in which he or she indulges. In this way, the child will be able to use the internet without any fear of any harm coming to him. References Hairong, Wang. (2012). “Digital Childhood.” Beijing Review. Retrieved from http://www.bjreview.com.cn/nation/txt/2012-06/18/content_461210.htm “Internet Overload?” (2010). Scholastic News. Retrieved from http://mydigimag.rrd.com/display_article.php?id=518885 Pemberton, C. (2011). "Protecting Children In Care From The Internet's Wild Side." Community Care 1880: 20-21. "Raise Parents' Awareness About Content Of Video Games." Nursing Standard 26.38 (2012): 11. Siegel, Lee. "The Kids Aren't Alright." Newsweek 160.16 (2012): 18. Read More