Arian A. Duclayna
Professor Chia-Lin Chang
EAC 150
August 11, 2016
Benefits and Downsides of the Internet to Young People
“The internet has been a boon and a curse for teenagers.” – J.K. Rowling. Internet is
today’s most imperative source of information and it has changed everyone’s life. Undoubtedly,
young people are spending so much time online because everything seems easier when there is
internet; communication and learning, are all accessible in just one click. Internet did not only
change young people’s way of living, but it has also changed the way they feel and think.
Compared to a coin, internet has two sides; its benefits and harm to those who have access to it.
Legitimately, internet is one of the most useful tools invented for humanity; on the other hand, it
must be greatly restricted to adults who can handle its power, because it can cause harm and
bring danger to young people due to its uncensored media, psychological influences and health
risk due to prolonged use of computer.
To begin with, internet created a door for young people to access anything and
everything. One advantage of internet to young students is the abundance of information and
resources for learning. For example, search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing can help
students to do their assignments and research in a less amount of time compared to going to a
library. There are also a lot of free courses and tutorials offered online that can save time and
money to young students who can’t afford to go to college or university. Another advantage of
internet to young people is being able to communicate with their friends and family from across
the globe. Social media such Facebook, Skype, Twitter has been a huge part of every young
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people’s lives because it allows them to interact and share information instantly. Therefore, it’s
amazing how young people can do so much with internet and the best part is, it is easily
accessible right on one’s fingertips anytime and anywhere.
On the other hand, there are also negative effects of internet such as uncensored media
and psychological influences to young people who do not use it in a proper way. One of the
things that young people can do inappropriately on the internet is to access pornography.
According to the article “Differential Psychological Impact of Internet Exposure on Internet
Addicts”, people who are addicted to watching pornography creates a problematic behavior to a
person [Rom13]. Too much exposure in pornography without parental guidance can cause early
engagement with unprotected sex and sex addiction. For instance, according to the article “Web
Pornography's Effect on Children”, a study has been conducted on 471 Dutch teens aged 13 –
18, and the result shows that young people who often desire for pornography are more likely to
have a denoting attitude towards sex [DeA07]. Aside from pornography, tremendous amount of
violent online games is also found over the internet that can likewise be alarming because it can
be addictive and can result in aggression and violence to young people. For example, in the
article “The More You Play”, there was an experiment done to few participants. They were asked
to play violent and non-violent games. Participants who played violent games showed immediate
increase in aggression compared to participants who played non-violent games [You13]. To sum
up, without guidance from parents, young people can be very susceptible to negative influences
and danger caused by inappropriate usage of the internet.
Another negative effect of internet to young people is the health problems it can cause
due to prolonged and incorrect use of computer. According to a report released by British
research firm ChildWise, young people spent hours a day sitting in front of their computer
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instead of going out doing actual physical activity. Sedentary activity like surfing the internet can
lead to obesity and inadequate muscular activity. Some health issues resulting from spending so
much time on the internet is repetitive stress disorder like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome [Edw06].
Moreover, cognitive health issues are growing to young people who are overexposed to internet.
According to a new study in the Feb. 10 issue of Psychopathology, young people who are
spending more time on the internet than in real world are people who likes to retreat from real
life interaction and prefers going on social networks and chat rooms. This behavior may result in
many different mental illnesses such as depression and isolation [Bil05]. Therefore, one must be
mindful and disciplined in using the internet in order to avoid list of health risks it can generate
to one’s physical health.
In conclusion, internet is one of the best things ever invented in humanity. The amount of
things you can do over the internet is extremely phenomenal. It is an absolute great tool to learn
and communicate in just a click of a mouse. Its unrestricted accessibility, however, creates
apprehension to young people who can access to it. Internet can expose these young minds to
harmful uncensored videos or images that can cause various psychological influences; and over
usage of computer can also lead to different kinds of physical and cognitive health problems.
Internet can be really helpful and entertaining, but for those who do not know how to control it
will just experience its harm and dark side.
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Works Cited
DeAngelis, Tori. "Web pornography's effect on children." American Psychological Association
38 (2007): 50.
Hendrick, Bill. "Internet Addiction Spins Web of Depression." Internet Addiction Linked to
Depression (2005).
Mercer, Edward. "Physical & Social Effects of Internet Use in Children." Tech In Our Daily Life
(2006).
Romano M, Osborne LA, Truzoli R, Reed P. Differential Psychological Impact of Internet
Exposure on Internet Addicts (2013).
YOSWICK, JOHN. "The Internet Advantage." Collision OPS (2008): 39.
Youssef Hasan, Laurent Bègue, Michael Scharkow, Brad J. Bushman. "The more you play, the
more aggressive you become: A long-term experimental study of cumulative violent
video game effects on hostile expectations and aggressive behavior." Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology 49.2 (2013): 224-227.
Zareen, Zainab. "The disadvantages of internet." Regional Times (2015).
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