FOR CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS
There are two major reasons for spending much time on the internet. The first could be, a search for an important information which could take hours to find, the second could be spending much time on the internet for the purpose of escaping from anxiety, depression, loneliness and the likes. The first reason can be overlooked, as it would definitely not occur frequently. For the second reason, it would most likely occur frequently.
Focusing more on the second reason, spending too much time on the internet is hazardous and there are a lot of demerits involved. A research study showed that kids who are below 18 years spend an average of eleven (11) hours a week. This amount of time is on the increase as they advance in age. This amount of time being spent, results in less productivity in almost all aspects of life.
Parents and guardians have a pivotal role to play in regulating the amount of time their children spend on the internet. They should be able to properly define and point out to their children the differences between normal internet usage and the compulsive usage. If your kids have a project to work on, and it requires the internet usage, they should be given a controlled access to use it, even though much time is going to be spent on it.
It is essential for parents and guardians to note that they can observe if their children are exhibiting signs of compulsive usage of the internet. A number of children and teenagers prefer to spend more time on the internet, rather than people in reality.
Some of the signs of the compulsive usage of the internet includes:
1. General internet obsession: Children and teenagers who are always preoccupied with the internet, or have specific sites or points on the internet without any productive work, are obviously using too much internet time.
2. Self-justification of the time spent online: A child or teenager who frequently defends himself about the amount of time spent online without any cogent reason, should be cautioned.
3. Heightened ecstasy when involved in online activities: If a child or teenager is hyper-active when surfing the web or going through social media platforms, it shows that such child would most likely spend more time on the internet because he or she does not want the fun to decline.
Parents and guardians need to be on the lookout for various signs which their wards might exhibit as regards the internet. Excessive time spent on the internet with little or no productivity as the results is detrimental to children and teenagers in the long run.