Using The Internet Too Much May Result In Behavioral Changes In Teens

Children and teens who are exposed to computers for more than 4.5 hours a day may develop weird changes in their behaviors

According to a new study, teenagers who use the computer for more than 4 and a half hours a day are exposed to a greater risk of developing changes in their behaviors.

It has been known for a very long time that computer games or movies can get really violent and that kids are very much drawn to these things. There were cases when children got killed while trying stuff they saw in movies or in games they played. Thus, companies have tried to censor their games as much as they could, so as to prevent such things from happening. With the Internet, however, there is another story.

The researchers who participated in the study said that they saw a great link between computer use and changes in behavior, especially in teenagers who spent more than 4 and a half hours a day using the computer. These teens are at higher risk of developing risky behaviors like illicit drug use, unprotected sex, and drunkenness. According to the researchers, there’s a very strong link between what these kids see on the Internet and the way they act in real life. They said that seeing people engaging in certain activities, such as drug use or unprotected sex, may make teenagers do that too. Given that teenagers spend so much time in front of the computer and that they are exposed to such images at all times, the risks of them behaving in such ways is very high. Although parents can make use of programs that control their kids’ access to the Internet, nowadays’ teens are very intelligent and they can learn the tricks very fast. Thus, the whole thing is useless, if the children are more practical than their parents, when it comes to using the computer.

According to the scientists, the amount of advertisements these kids are exposed to is very high. If they could also see them on TV, now they can see it online too and that increases the risks of developing certain behavioral problems. Furthermore, computer use by teenagers has increased very much in the past couple of years and that is quite worrying. No one can fully control what their kids are looking at when they are on the computer and that becomes a very big problem, given that during their teenage period, kids are more sensitive and very receptive, when it comes to new things. Thus, if a teenager sees on the Internet someone of his or her own age smoking pot, the risks of him or her developing such a behavior are very high. Researcher Valerie Carson, a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University in Canada, said that the fact that kids spend more than 4 hours a day surfing the Internet, being exposed to images of behaviors, is very worrying because they can adopt those certain behaviors. Among the multiple risky behaviors the researchers were talking about there are also things like non-use of seatbelts, cannabis and illicit drug use, drinking and smoking. Not to mention the unprotected sex, which can lead to serious problems like sexually transmitted diseases or even pregnancies.

Bottom line, parents should be a bit more careful when it comes to their kids spending too much time in front of the computer, because that can turn out to be very bad for them. Not allowing them to spend too much time surfing the Internet can significantly lower the risks they are exposed to.