The Internet: The Negative Impacts Of The Internet

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The internet is a network system to join computers worldwide, and was developed for a U.S. government project to improve military preparedness (Smith, 2002). Several inventions have changed the way people communicate with each other. From the old fashioned telegraph to today 's modern communication technology, people tend to create easier ways to correspond. Today’s communication technologies, such as e-mail and other internet chat programs, have created a cheap and incredibly fast communications system which is gaining steady popularity. Technologies, such as computers and the Internet, have become tangled in young people 's lives. “According to the Kaiser report, in 2004, 74% of 8-year olds to 18-year olds in the United States had Internet …show more content…

As the Internet has become vital in the lives of young people, their online activities and interactions have become the focus of intense research. For youth, the negative impacts of the Internet include Internet addiction as well as online risks such as cyber bullying. On the other hand, Internet has become a boon for kids. It’s only because of Internet technology that children with disabilities can learn easily unlike the older days. It is becoming evident that the Internet presents risks as well as opportunities to youth, therefore it’s necessary to discuss about both perspectives of internet on …show more content…

There is evidence that Internet addiction has a negative effect on academics (a drop in grades), family relations (having to hide their excessive Internet use from parents), physical health (sleep deprivation due to long hours of Internet use), mental health (depression), and finance (cost of accrued Internet expenses) (Chou, Condron, and Belland 2005). Online gaming and chatting are enjoyable same as any other leisure activities that do not always lead to Internet addiction. However, some evidence suggest that frequency of computer use such as playing games decreases the quality of friendships and romantic relationships, and can have a negative effect on academics (Wainer 2008). One of the most common forms of harassment among youth is cyber bullying. The following was the result of the survey taken by Ybarra and Mitchell on 10- to 15-year-old kids who have used the Internet at least once in the last 6 month in 2008. “Fifteen percent of all of the youth reported an unwanted sexual solicitation online in the last year; 4% reported an incident on a social networking site specifically. Thirty-three percent reported an online harassment in the last year; 9% reported

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