Internet Addiction - Vittoria Palumbo
Effects of Internet Addiction
50% of teens today admit that they feel addicted to their mobile devices. We can just imagine
what the real number is. (Joyce) The number of teenagers who are addicted increases day by day, and not just teens, but their parents also abuse their mobile devices. With this behaviour, we will never be able to have a conversation, because now we live in a world inside the smartphone that makes us forget how to relate to people and how to live our lives in a peaceful way. Internet addiction often causes negative effects like social isolation, lack of sleep and psychological effects.
Social isolation
“Digital devices have transformed people’s lives. They are changing everything from parent-child
relationships, to human interaction, to our ability to focus on the task at hand,” said James Steyer
(Joyce). Those who spend a lot of time with their phone become one with them. They live their lives
on their smartphone and create true relationships and friendships with many people, spending hours
and hours on social media a day. They move further away from their real life and their families. (Sharma)
Lack of sleep
About 55.3 per cent of the people participating to the experiment reported that texting and using the
digital platforms for at least an hour a night before bed, and nearly 85 per cent of teenagers sleep
with their phones on or near their beds. (Mazzola) Most teens use their mobile devices before going
to sleep, connecting to the internet and social media and staying for hours until they lose sleep, and
this can cause a sleep disturbance that can increase with time. (Sharma)
Psychological effects
Psychological effects
Excessive Internet use can cause a child to develop Internet addiction, which can cause several ill
effects. Teenagers who spend many hours on their devices using the internet, begin to create their own world
where they live their lives. They begin to become addicted to this life and they are no longer able
to break away and begin to suffer from anxiety and depression. For example, they will feel alone and
sad, and they will no longer be able to feel as good as before.
In this new generation, teens have a completely closed mentality, because they live in a world made
In this new generation, teens have a completely closed mentality, because they live in a world made
only of social media. This will cause many social problems and above all, for the future since by now
we are no longer open in the way of seeing and facing things.
Works Cited
Joyce, Amy. “Teens Say They're Addicted to Technology”. The Washington Post. WP Company. 03
May. 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2019.
Mazzola, Jessica; NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “Nighttime Texting Linked to Bad Grades, N.J.
Study Finds”. NJ.com. 08 Oct. 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2019
Sharma, Arum. “The Negative Effects of Internet Addiction in Children”, Parent Circle.
Parentcircle.com. 31 Aug. 2017. Web. 18 Mar. 2019.
In my opinion, Vittoria explained very well the main effects of Internet Addiction. I agree with what she says and I can relate to some things she wrote. For example, the loss of sleep. Not many teenagers recognise that sleeping is essential for your brain to work properly and also I spend a lot of time on my phone during night time. I think that if we would follow more what Vittoria suggested not as many people would be addicted to the internet as they are now.
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