Negative impact of Internet and Information Technology towards children

Due to rapid of the technology, the Internet is become necessity thing on people life nowadays. All age level are using Internet to find information, to interact, to communicate, makes transaction and others. But what are the important things that should be consider are about the impact of Internet and information technology towards individual which focuses on the children. The Internet has drastically changed the way that children interact with the world. They have access to in depth knowledge, tools to express their creativity, and people from all over the world. Besides give a lot of benefits to the user/children, the internet also give new risks which are cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate material, online predators, revealing too much personal information and so on.

Compared to a few years ago, children are not too exposed to the Internet because of the lack of application that can make them interact, play games and other. Technology nowadays, make all activities can be implemented on the Internet. All in the fingertips. This technology cause many parents give trust to their children on using Internet without monitoring what their children are doing. Based on my observation, experience and reading, there is many disadvantages exist such as expose to inappropriate material that can damage the children's mind. We can see many bad habits that act by children nowadays that influence by the Internet. Other than that, gone are the days when children used to play outdoor games. But, now they are prefer to play games online which do not involve any physical activity. Due to addiction of Internet, children and many people are doing less physical activities and it contribute to obesity among them.

Children using electronic gadgets like smartphones at a younger age are increasingly exposed to certain social and health risks that come with it. Parents, however do not fully understand the negative impact of using such devices. Many also do not teach their children how to use them properly. Internet also can contribute to health risks such as poor sitting postures and children straining their eyes by sitting in front of and staring at electronic screens for too long. There are also social and emotional risks like gaming addiction and cyber bullying, which could lead to serious consequences. Children could pick up negative habits like being violent, or face problems in socializing with peers. In addition, some children skip meals or eat faster so that they can finish their game and go on to the next level. These problem worsen later on in the primary schooling years, but such habits may be formed when they are younger.

For a great number of children, their lives revolve around computers, and video games. They don’t take interest in outdoor activities such as playing games, meeting their peers, going through stamp and coin collections, making and flying handmade kites and top spinning like how children used to spend their school holidays in the past. Nowadays, the word “game” means computer and the latest version of PlayStation. It shows that, it is a children’s obsession towards the computer, Internet, iPads and online games.

In my opinion, the Internet actually contribute many benefits towards children. Due to nowadays most people are exposed to the rapid technology, it also give the impact towards children to explore more about the technology. In this case, the Internet can be used by the children with monitoring from parents. The parents should make sure that their children do not get too addicted to the use of the Internet to the exclusion of their daily activities.

Reference:

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Kids 'using gadgets at earlier age being exposed to risks': Study