Technology: Internet and Its Effects on Children

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Technology: Internet and Its Effects on Children

January 1, 1983 is the official birthday of the Internet. However it existed since 1960s but the public knew it by the year 1983, as governments used it only to exchange information. Now days, children have the freedom of accessing the Internet 24 hours which can affect them in negative ways. The Internet has unlimited amount of information which children could rely on it excessively making them ignore social interaction with others. As the use of the Internet increases in this advance era of technology people should consider its harmful effects. Hence, three main negative effects of the Internet on children are: health problems, decrease in educational performances, and misbehavior.

The first impact of the Internet on children is the physical effects. Cock (2010) stated that according to Maressa Hecht, the founder of the Computer Addiction Services, overusing the Internet could cause an inactive routine that might lead to gaining eight and a problem in physical health, in addition to other symptoms such as "carpal tunnel syndrome". Eye troubles and massive headaches, back pain and lack in personal cleanliness. Now days, children are addicted to technologies such as computers and cellphones as a result, they are affected by the use of the Internet. Therefore, using the Internet excessively by children might lead to damages in their body, health and influences their lifestyle in harmful ways.

The second effect of the Internet on children is a decrease in the level of education.

Another effect of the Internet on children is the development of negative behavior. Brummer (2006) stated that many people prefer maintaining relationships through social applications on the Internet rather than in person. As a result, children who overuse the Internet may isolate themselves from interacting with others personally. Therefore, parents should do their job in supervising their children's use of the Internet to avoid such problems in the future. In addition, children's use of the Internet without being supervised by an adult could lead to entering inconvenient sites that might contain violence scenes which  a child can mimic what was seen on that specific site. As a result, a child might start a fight without any reason and might bully others. Therefore, children use of the Internet must be limited and observed by parents so these negative behaviors are not considered as a threat and a problem in the future.