The following quote appeared in an article in todays Sydney Morning Herald on Schools, parents to get talking about chatrooms
Last year, a Flinders University study of 114 teenage students found that on average, they spent 13 hours a week online, and one-third were “in the process of becoming psychologically addicted” to the internet.
The study seems to be authored by Dr Mubarak Ali but the Google link to the Flinders site isn’t working at the moment, so I can’t verify if that pull quote is an accurate summary of his findings. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt as smart people rarely say such stupid things.
I wonder if proto-sociologists found a similar percentage of kids were becoming psychologically addicted to writing, reading or hanging out? The Internet is a technology as well as a destination. Kids can spend just chatting in person, on the phone and now online in chatrooms and instant messages. Why does participating in such a developmentally normal behaviour create concern?
Someone compared the net to reading newspapers, magazines or novels. We don’t start panicing that our kids are reading too much.
3 responses to Addicted to the Internet
Indeed, unlike TV which is very passive, the internet is largely an interactive medium, and indeed I would suggest that the majority of children would be using the internet for interactive pursuits rather than purely passive ones.
The question is – are they merely chatting to friends, or are they doing something creative ? It may well be that the Internet is more akin to the telephone than the TV.
Addicted to the Internet
I like your comparison of the internet to the telephone. While I’d love my kids to only do creative, resourceful affirming things on the internet, I think even chatting or playing a game is valid.
My eldest daughter is currently into Sims 2. Interestingly she spends about the same time reading Sims 2 fan fiction and downloading fan created add-ons as she spends playing the actualy game.
Lastly the delay in replying was I’d configured WP to hold all comments. I’ve updated SK2 and all is working now.
Addicted to the Internet
The particular tool versus toy information twigged my thinking. I’m buying a replacement for my SONY dsc-S75 that i have had since 2001. It is often a terrific camera. Very tough and has survived many drops, even one in the lake but I’d prefer a better zoom as well as faster ready time between shots plus I enjoy have the movie method. Kaylene Rave
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