Harmful Impact of the Internet on Children

Harmful Impact of the Internet on Children
The Internet is not only a source of information but a medium that connects almost every aspect of our life. The Internet is a place of great ease and infinite connectivity, but also a place of great vulnerability. In a world of the internet, we live through infinitely complex virtual networks, barely able to trace where our information is coming from and going and thus posing a threat not only to our lives but also to the lives of our children. The digital world plays an immense role in the day-to-day activities of 21st-century children. The U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports teens between the ages of 8 and 28 to spend about 44.5 hours a week in front of a digital screen, according to another report 23 per cent of kids have reported that they feel that they are addicted to video games. As the younger generation is growing more and more tech-savvy and dependent on the internet, they are being exposed to the various malicious side of the internet.
Online Games:
With fast internet and the advancement of gaming technology, the internet got bombarded with thousands of online games. Even though online games are a fun way to socialize encouraging teamwork, it comes paired with risks of it own that parents need to be aware of. Without the right guidance and supervision, games can expose children to risks such as game addiction and addiction of any kind is harmful. Now that games come paired with the option of buying in-game perks, these perks are tempting and can only be bought with real tangible money. Children end up buying these perks blowing a hole in their parent’s pockets.
There have been cases around the world where young children would buy game credits online without even informing their parents. Parents not being as tech-savvy as their child would come to know of it only after a month or two when they have almost lost all their savings. These addictions are not only affecting the pockets of the parents, there are many more harmful effects of game addiction. There have been many cases where children committed suicide because of their inability to complete various tasks in-game. Blue Whale, a notorious game that forced children to commit suicide as a task, took the lives of many. One needs to understand that these problems arose because of the lack of proper supervision from parents. Parents should understand that taking care of their children even includes monitoring and supervising their activities and always help their children to understand the writers and wrongs of life. Activities and always help their children to understand the writers and wrongs of life.
Social Media:
We have all seen an immense rise in the number of social media users in recent times. According to the statistics, 90 per cent of teens ages 13-17 years are on social media. 51 per cent of them are daily active on social media, shocking. Isn’t it? Social media platforms were introduced to connect people around the world. However, it is not the same place which was introduced to us. In recent times, we have only witnessed violent, sexual and hateful content dominating these platforms. People could have used it to share positive and learning stuff instead of sharing dark content. This kind of content has a harmful impact on psychology, especially on kids.
No parent around the world would want their kids to absorb this kind of content. Especially after seeing the huge rise in the number of depression cases. Parents are quite limited in keeping an eye on the content their kids are absorbing on these platforms.
On the very last World Mental Health Day, experts suggested taking a break from social media platforms as these are having a negative impact on mental health
Health problems: –
Having access to the internet on smart devices led to the overuse of smart devices like laptops or smartphones/ tablets. You would be shocked to know the number of diseases reported among children globally. All this is a result of cutting off physical activities because of playing games or accessing the internet or binge-watching for long hours. There is a huge rise in the number of patients with insomnia, depression, obesity, and eyesight among children.
Conclusion: –
As mentioned in the above paragraphs, it clearly shows how harmful the internet can become for children. And as a parent, you would all be more worried now and looking for solutions here and there.
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