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 This study source was downloaded by 100000834074590 from CourseHero.com on 07-05-2023 02:16:28 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/17444056/eac150-Research-Essay/ 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 This study source was downloaded by 100000834074590 from CourseHero.com on 07-05-2023 02:16:28 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/17444056/eac150-Research-Essay/ 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. This study source was downloaded by 100000834074590 from CourseHero.com on 07-05-2023 02:16:28 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/17444056/eac150-Research-Essay/ 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). This study source was downloaded by 100000834074590 from CourseHero.com on 07-05-2023 02:16:28 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/17444056/eac150-Research-Essay/ Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
