Children should not be allowed to use the Internet

The use of Internet has tremendously increased. The quantity of internet users had reached 1.858 billion from 394 million from the year 2000 upto 2009. 43.6% of people globally could easily access the internet. Young kids were not left out by technological developments. Children use the internet to play games and search for different topics. Studies reveal that over 80% of American youngsters own phones, at the age of 12. The benefits of using internet have blinded many parents that they assume the permanent danger it expose young children to. The social media content brings the wider world closer to children, something unhealthy for a child’s growth. This paper strives to convince parents on the damaging consequences of using the internet on young children and the reasons why they should be prohibited from accessing the internet.

Addiction is a major problems connected with children access to the internet. Parents have not paid the necessary attention to internet addiction as an emerging issue in the community. The internet gives kids to a total new experience full of fun and entertainment. The information found on the internet is more interesting than the interactions in their families (Killen 29). It is important for parents to pay attention to symptoms to recognize when their kids are internet addicts. First, children with internet addiction are highly irritable. Second, they do not sleep in order to use the internet, and lastly, they lose trace of time when using the net. If this is unrestrained, children may find the internet to be more important than those people in their life.

Additionally, children lose the value of socialization. Lack of socialization is dangerous to a child’s future. Online friend suddenly become more important than their own families (Grossbart & Sanford 23). Research shows that majority of children in America spend a lot of time in their bedrooms using the internet. Eventually, there emerges a wide gap between parent and their children because children prefer talking to their online friends than their own families. Therefore, parents should deny their children access to the internet because lack of social skills may affect their relationships in future.

The internet exposes a child to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying negatively affects a child’s self-esteem.  Parents are not aware of the kind of people their children interact with on the internet (Livingstone et al 9). Children who have experienced cyberbullying losses their power, and they do not have confidence to fight the cruel internet community. Also bullying can cause anxiety and depression in a youngster, a problem which can persist through their adulthood. Children who have been bullied in most cases turn out to be drug addicts and suicidal if they are not taken through therapy.

Another issue of the internet is poor academic performance. Having access to the internet makes children to abandon their academic commitments. They forget to attend to attend to their school work because they are too busy chatting on the internet. Also, social media affect children’s behavior in academic institutions. Additionally, some kids turn into online discussion. This affects children as they cannot fully focus because they are tempted to login into other sites. A research carried out in Carnell University revealed that learners who never used the internet had a good performance than those who accessed the internet (Lenard et al 33). Therefore, denying internet access to children increases their academic concentration.

The internet has enhanced moral decay in young children. Social media increase indiscipline and make kids more aggressive because of the content watched on social media platforms. Kids get the notion that violence is not a big issue in their surroundings from watching action movies (Lapsley 12). Also watching this movies have increased killing cases as the internet gives people ideas on ways to kill a person, and they think that, like in most movies, they will go unpunished.

Finally, the use of internet increases sedentary lifestyle. When using their phone, children often prefer their own privacy in their rooms. They do not go outside to play with their folks, and they avoid doing any work (Grossbart & Sanford 34). Furthermore, they indulge in unhealthy foods, which is risky to their health due to increased body cholesterol. Sedentary lifestyle exposes kids to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Additionally, spending a lot of time seated can risk a child getting neck and eyesight problems. Thus, parents should eradicate their children’s internet to prevent health problems which result from poor lifestyle choices.  

In conclusion, the internet poses many harmful effects to children born in the era of technology, although it may have some benefits to the society. Children get exposed to inappropriate content, which psychologically affects them. Therefore, it is advisable for all parents to prohibit their youngsters from accessing the internet till they reach the legal and gain ability to differentiate between wrong and right. This will make children more responsible citizens in the society.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Grossbart, Sanford, et al. "Socialization aspects of parents, children, and the Internet." ACR

            North American Advances (2002). PRINT.

Killen, Melanie. "Social and moral development in early childhood." Handbook of moral

            behavior and development. Psychology Press, 2014. 137-160. PRINT.

Lapsley, Daniel K. Moral psychology. Routledge, 2018. PRINT.       

Livingstone, Sonia M, Leslie Haddon, and Anke Görzig. Children, Risk and Safety on the

            Internet: Research and Policy Challenges in Comparative Perspective. Bristol, UK:

            Policy Press, 2012. PRINT.

Lenard, Amanda, Maya Simon, and Mike Graziano. "The Internet and Education: Findings of

            the Pew Internet & American Life Project." (2001). PRINT.