Internet and Children: How Does the Internet Affect Our Children - Essay Example

How does internet effect children? Internet is part of everyone’s life and it is an intricate part of our society. However, children are the most effected by internet as they are intrigued and inspired by this technological innovation. It is estimated that 90% of American teenagers use internet. Most of the children visit internet for educational purpose, chatting and sending e-mails. Nevertheless, children have been in to danger because of internet because they get trapped with pedophiles and other vulgarity which may be inappropriate for their age. According to (Curtis, ) “ Millions of children are being exposed to a range of online threats at an increasingly young age, according to new figures, with less than half of parents using parental controls to block unsuitable material”. Internet has a significant influence on children and can damage their life if used inappropriately on a social, physical and mental basis. Children engage on internet for longer hours and they are physically affected by it. The children are sitting and interaction on internet which make them sedentary and dull. In young age children need lot of physical movement and internet spoils their health. The food habit of children are poor nowadays and added with internet it makes children obese. Moreover, internet can spoil their eyes as computer is bad for eyesight if used for long time. Children are also becoming more of technological obsessed and participating less in social activities which make them lethargic and redundant. Today children are more interactive on internet rather than elders. Children being curious and inspiring are more attracted to internet than other age groups. They get more facilities on internet like music, movies, games, social network sites and graphics. So they are glued to internet for long hours to get entertained and informed. Today people are using internet for various reasons like to educate themselves, communication purpose and for entertainment. However, the crime and vulgarity on internet is high and children are consistently exposed to such things through internet. Children often freely interact on internet and have no control or guidance from elders. It may not be ideal to suggest that children should no work on internet but they need to on restriction to avoid any mishaps in future. Internet is highly informative and children can construct their life with it but the danger hidden in it can spoil children in many ways. The internet use has become ubiquitous and children have also become keener on using it. The internet does have a positive effect on children but its negative effects are also noticeable. It has social, psychological effect on children. On a positive note, internet can educate and entertain children while it also make them isolated, make anti – social and addicted. It affects their school performance, health and relationships. According to ( Jackson) “Numerous surveys have attempted to measure how frequently children use the Internet at home. Estimates vary from as high as several hours a day to as low as 3 hours a week, depending on how Internet use is measured, age of children sampled, and the year data were collected”. The effect on internet on social lives of children is worth expressing. In earlier times, the children used to play with their parents, grandparents and friends to recreate themselves. Then the television took over they lives but lately internet has monopolized them. They are often seen to be sitting in front of computer or playing with laptop. The internet has become their companion and this is reducing the social skills and values of children. The children’s level of social connection has reduced immensely due to internet. Children are making new friends through chat services and have lost the natural feeling of friendship, sharing and connections. They have no time to spend with family as the time at home is taken away by internet. A child h who is not communicating or socializing well with their parents of family members can have problems later in life. They can also befriend people from criminal or abusive background and can influence them to take up crime or drugs thus polluting the children in a society. The children can also become deranged because of vulgar and obscene websites .The social values and beliefs of such children can proceed to become devaluated. Internet can give them more friends and entertainment but the quality of these cannot be completely advantageous. Internet not only affects them socially but has a huge impact on their health status. Children are in a tender age and need a lot of physical activity for growth and development. Children are interacting with internet and refuse to be active and play around with neighbor hood children. They are also consuming fast food which are oily and rich which adds to their sedentary lifestyle. They sit for long hours which make them obese and lethargic. The American children are the most obese in the world and they have difficulty in fighting it. According to (Gaskell ) “ Despite its convenience and usefulness, sitting in front of a computer for long periods cuts into other free-time activities, not the least of which is physical exercise”. The internet is consuming the whole time of children. They have no time to play, enjoy nature, talk or walk. They get engrossed in internet so much that their body becomes unproductive and lethargic. Body is like a machine if not active it can get unproductive and children can have weak muscle and motor growth. Also it is seen that computer can affect the eyesight and vision ability of children. Computer is not ideal for long duration use as it can impair their vision and also can give way to headache. They can also feel aches in back and leg and can have long term physical problems which take time to surface. Apart from social and physical problems, internet also affects children on psychological basis. Internet does not make children involve in thinking functions. Children are more often just browsing internet and is not performing in any cognitive functioning. Internet has reduced the analytical and reasoning skill among children. The children in earlier times indulged in more of calculations and thinking for their home works and other project. But now everything is available on internet and they just need to read and write it. The internet is also making children extremely lazy and interactive. Children need to use their intelligence and analytical skill to improve the efficiency of brain power. It is well known that generation of today is way back in intelligence and hard work than older generation. Internet has given many information to children regarding their education but such information is become overloaded and they are becoming technology depended on an extreme level. Also the vulgarity and obscene sites on internet can psychologically stimulate children in irrational behavior. They can end up in wrong doings, unethical behavior and sexually unhealthy actions. Some children are addicted to internet and may have friendship with wrong people of pedophile who might be trapping them. They can be psychologically influenced by these people and end up in infatuation which can lead to troubles. Also over indulgence in music, movies and games can make children lazy, unproductive and spoiled. Internet has many ways to negatively influence and children need to be advised to make best use of it to improve their life. Conclusion Internet is the most productive technological innovation in the recent times. It has changed the way we communicate trade and socialize. However, children being more exposed to internet often get entrapped in its negative side. Internet is beneficial if it we used in a limited way and in a protective manner. If the internet is used for education or entertainment then it is good. But nowadays children are using it more for chatting and viewing obscene things which can divert them to damaging aspects of internet. Moreover, internet has also given rise to many social, physical and psychological problems. And nowadays parents or guardians are nor keen on controlling children while they use internet. The America is a country which has most obese children and the blame can be on the fast food and internet use. Today children are not playing enough at outdoors and much of their time is dedicated to internet use. Children in their growing and development stage cannot indulge too much in internet and damage their life. The socializing pattern of children has significantly changed in recent times and they are communicating through internet and cell phone rather than face to face the internet is may also hamper their cognitive functioning as it is decreasing their use of analytical and logical reasoning. Internet is advantageous to children, but they being in a tender and immature condition need much control on its use. It can conclude that internet has a significant effect on children that it can damage them on a social, physical and psychological basis. Reference Curtis, Sophie. "Safer Internet Day: parents failing to protect children from online threats." http://www.telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph, 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. . Jackson, Linda A. "Children and Internet Use: Social, Psychological and Academic Consequences for Low-income Children." http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association, 2003. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. . Gaskell, Karen H. "How Do Computers Affect the Social Behavior of Children?." http://e verydaylife.globalpost.com. Global Post, 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. . Read More