MODERN ADDICTION: INTERNET ADDICTION

“An over-indulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate,” 

says Criss Jami. Every person around the world has at least one obsession over something.

Addictions have become more common each day. The most common ones are gambling, alcohol, and nicotine. However, we cannot realize the threat to ourselves and our children. The ınternet seems innocent, but why can’t people leave their phones? Internet addiction has become a part of our lives, and it is badly affecting our teens’ success, social life, and health.

Multitasking is dealing with more than one task at the same time. It sounds like it is a useful thing, but this is not valid for the internet. In a survey, many teens admitted that they watched TV, used social media, and texted while doing school work (Joyce). However, in the end, the quality of their work is very low. Therefore it affects their grades at school. Next, teens lose the ability to focus on something. Therefore, neither can they pay attention in class, nor finish their homework quickly. As a result. they spend too much time learning something new and finishing their homework.

Second of all, our social life is changing because of the internet. Nowadays, in a cafeteria, we can see a group of teenagers sitting at a table together but they are isolated. All of them have a phone in their hands, surfing on the internet. When we are online in social media, we see lots of different content that pops up to grab our attention. Usually, the first thing that catches our eye is the photos of other people’s lives. Our teens always get distracted by them. Their ideas change, develop in a way that those famous people accept. Teens started to decide on certain standards to be happy. For example, they bought new clothes and other things to become similar to the famous person that they followed on social media. The worst is that they created a fake place that they can escape from their real-life and be happy such as online games. (Young) Also, they started looking for happiness in likes and comments made by other people. In other words, it is a world that consists of a false sense of happiness, built on others thinking you are happy.

This false sense of happiness is a huge reason why our teens are addicted to the internet. The constantly updated dynamic structure of social media restricts the social lives of our teens. They have become less likely to go outside and hang out with their friends. Their communication with their families is decreased, and even they began to lose their ability to socialize and meet with other people. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube also have bad content which can affect our teens developing minds and opinions about politics and can lead them to imitate bad habits, even to turn towards violence.

Last of all, our health is the most critical thing in our lives. Unfortunately, we don’t realize that the internet also has a horrible effect on our bodies, especially on the growing bodies of our teens. Teenagers love using their phones while they are lying on the bed, so they usually use social media and text late at night. However, according to the studies, the time that teens sleep affects their performance during the daytime (Mazzola). Again, the intense internet habit among young people is one of the factors that disrupt sleep patterns, and this leads to insomnia which is a sleep disorder. The need for sleep increases hunger, and when this combined with the long sedentary time spent by young people on the internet, it leads to obesity. Also, while our teens are using their phones, their way of sitting and looking at their phones can badly affect their posture, and the light coming to their eyes all the time may lead to some disorders in their eyesight. (Mazzola) Also, cyberbullying and other dangerous internet sites can impair the mental health of our teenagers.

In conclusion, the internet is something that affects us in all aspects of our life, sometimes it is helpful, sometimes harmful. However, besides its useful aspects, it affects the lives of adolescents such as their performance at school, social lives, and health. We should inform our youth about the use of the internet and show them how to utilize it conscientiously.

Azra Mevlüdoğlu

Works Cited

• Joyce, Amy. “Teens Say They're Addicted to Technology. Here's How Parents Can Help.” The Washington Post. WP Company. 3 May 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2020.
• Mazzola, Jessica. “Nighttime Texting Linked to Bad Grades, N.J. Study Finds.” Nj. 8 Oct. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2020.
• Young, Kimberly. “What You Need to Know About Internet Addiction.” TEDx Talks.5 Jan. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2020.