The “Internet-Addiction”

Teenagers are addicted to the Internet

Due to this huge internet access and provided technology, teenagers are endangered of internet addiction. Teens at the age of 15 already get smart phones from their parents with 3G internet, which means that they can surf the web anywhere they are. They basically surf online whenever they get bored. Obviously students, as we know, get bored in class sometimes too so they just take out their smart phones or lap tops and surf online without even realizing that they are bored.

Some teenagers also have the feeling they are ‘missing out’ on something if they did not access Facebook for longer than two hours.  There is a certain difference in the ‘Facebook-Addiction’ and the ‘Web-Addiction’: The ‘Facebook-Addiction’ is happening unconsciously, which means basically that students keep checking their Facebook profile and as soon as something very dramatic or special happens in their life, they have the need to tell the world by posting a status.

Furthermore, many students and teenagers tend to have Facebook opened up even during study time or while they are watching television. Is your Facebook tab open as well at this moment?  

Some people don’t even realize how many hours they spent on Facebook if they add the hours on their smart phones as well.

However, the ‘Web-Addiction’ is known as someone having the need to read the latest news online. People think that all the news are getting updated quicker than in the printed news papers which is true but are all of the online news trust worthy? There are always news updated but are the first news the most accurate and true ones? This is something people need to think about.

Other people also shop online which leads to great addiction as well, they don’t need to go outside for shopping because this can be all done online. Another subject is playing bets on sports games, people simply follow games online and bet on the scores.

Finally students are also relying on the data they find online, whatever they need to do research on, they simply Google the topic they need to know about. Less and less students go to libraries, less students ask teachers for help, they just rely on whatever they read online.  http://www.counseling.umd.edu/Personal/~kandell/iacpbart.htm

Here is an Internet Addiction Test where you can check yourself if you are harmed by the new technology of these days. http://www.netaddiction.com/index.php?option=com_bfquiz&view=onepage&catid=46&Itemid=106