(NEEDS GRAMMAR FIXING ONLY)Does the Usage of Internet harm Child Development?

Is the internet the safest technology in the world? Should parents have second thoughts before letting their children use the internet? These kind questions always run through my mind when someone refers about the internet, but I will explain what the internet really is about. The internet is a global communication interconnecting millions of computers. Children use the internet for various reasons, but the most significant reasons are for information, communication, entertainment and school performance. According to Thompson S.H Teo study, Internet users used the Internet mainly because they perceived the Internet to be more valuable to their job tasks and secondarily because it is enjoyable and easy to use (Omega, 27.1). The internet has many positive aspects, but it also seems to have adverse effects too. Vint Cerf, the creator of the internet predicted that this technology will affect the future and developing areas such as artificial intelligence and child development. Although the internet is the most useful technology for child development, it also has a harmful effect on social, physical and cognitive development of modern children lifestyle.

Social development refers to an alteration in the social structure of a social group or society to enhance the capacity of a society in order to finish their objective. It has a target in developing power to increase human activity. The internet can improve children and their school-based education and can be used as a tool for creativity and intellectual work in groups. Also, Gonca Karayagiz said:

“Computers have occupied increasingly central roles in children's world with the advance of technology. They have proved to be an ideal companion for children in developing and developed countries who spend most of their time at school or home with computers. As a measure of development and modernization, technology has made people's lives easier and contributed positively to social well-being so far while it has also brought about some problems and threats stemming from irresponsible use of the internet”( Karayagiz).

Creativity, intellectual work in group, school-based learning can be improved by the usage of the internet.

However, when excessively used, the internet can also take children away from their usual life work such as chores, homework, and engaging with family and friends. There are also other dangerous concern involving the usage of internet inappropriate content, such as violence, pornography and abusive language. Pornography is one of the severe impacts on child development. The erotic picture that has the intention to release sexual behavior is known as pornography. Pornography is an easy way harm children and their developing childhood. Pedophile is a person who is sexually attracted to children and many pedophiles is the one who indulge in making child pornography. Pedophile uses a tool to demolish children’s reticence and blackmail them in making child pornography. The Law has tried their level best to remove pornography from being release on the internet, but were unsuccessful. Many child using the internet usually end up getting involved in public business. As Lawrence Lessig quoted “The Internet created the possibility of noncommercial publications of public domain works”, his purpose was to explain how internet get people involved public affairs (Lessig). Cyber bullying is another reason why the internet harms children social development and maybe be fatal. Hannah Smith a 14 year old teenager was the victim of cyber bullying through the internet (Smith). Also, Gabrielle Molina a 12 year old hanged herself due to cyber bullying after a video of her engaging in a fistfight with another classmate was uploaded to YouTube(Molina).These were some of the examples that link with Lessig quote about how the internet gets involved in public affairs. So do you still think the internet is safe for our children?

The usage of internet harms social development; however, it has only little effect on the physical development. Physical development is growth or development in the human body; it is developing of bone, height, muscles and brain. Physical development is one of the primary reasons which was influence by the internet. The internet is mostly consisted to have quick and rapid access to information about everything in the world. Nowadays, most remain child home searching, playing games or chatting with people rather than having a physical activity. This may lead the children to have weak eyesight, weak spinal cord and even be over weighted. One of the most common syndromes that occur by using the internet is the information fatigue syndrome. Information fatigue syndrome is the over expose to media, information and technology. The result of this can cause you to have an innumerable amount of headaches. From what we have learned, the use of the internet have causes many children to obesity, short height or usually wears glasses.

Cognitive development is the construction of thought processes, memorizing, problem solving, decision- making, starting from age of 4 till their adulthood. Cognitive mainly means how a person thinking learns and understands about his or her world. The developing of information processing, speaking languages, memory and their intelligence are the main parts of cognitive development. A child only develops cognitive by getting involve, listening, talking to the surrounding people. The internet harms the cognitive development as many people use the internet and they intent to post flawless and inaccurate information online. Even Professor Dimitri Christakis from Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington has research that average 80% of children use more internet than their parents. Consequence of these posting may lead child to have difficulty determining the difference between what’s real or not and what’s legal or illegal. For example, Aseeva Olga Vladimirovna said:

“A distinctive feature of the present stage of development of the youth social activity is using the opportunities provided by a networked community, in particular the global Internet network this is widely used in society. However, modern society must be aware of the danger of finding young people in the virtual space for a long time and also modern society has to take responsibility for the submitted information and communication systems, cultural forms and practices, models of behaviors”( Vladimirovna).

Nowadays, School have some online programs which get the child indulge on the internet and most schools start to use the internet as a cheat for research essay by plagiarizing some else essay from the internet. This is not just involved in school, but also becoming a habit in colleges as well. Using the internet may cause a person to have cognitive impairment. Cognitive Impairment is the loss or lack in developing cognitive skills. The impact of media and technology use on kids has change the way how children think about the world. It seems like only few children can develop cognitive through the internet while other children are destroying their capability of developing cognitive. For Example, scientists discovered signs of atrophy of grey matter in the brains of heavy internet users that grew worse over time. This could affect their concentration and memory, as well as their ability to make decisions and set goals. It could also reduce their inhibitions and lead to ‘inappropriate’ behavior (Harris).

For the youth, the internet involves higher numbers of insecurity along with a multitude of chances. Inappropriate material, sexual solicitation and cyber bullying are risk of usage of internet. Despite these risks, the internet can be very helpful for children in developing their cognitive skill for school performance. The internet is certainly the place for children to expand knowledge, reach new places and provide information about the world, but there must be a reduction in usage of the internet. Overall, parents are responsible for making the internet either helpful or harmful. If a parent set limits on the internet for the children it can be very useful, but if they don’t take care of this serious matter then the internet is very dangerous for children. Work Citation:

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity.New York: Penguin, 2004. Free Culture. Web. 27 Sept. 2010.

"ScienceDirect.com - Omega - Intrinsic and extrinsic ..." Insert Name of Site in Italics. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2013 <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305048398000280>.

"TSK Koruyucu Hekimlik Bulteni." Insert Name of Site in Italics. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2013 <http://www.korhek.org/?mno=600>.

Vladimirovna, Aseeva Olga. "Internet Influence on the Development of Youth Cognitive Activity." Sovremennye Issledovaniâ Socialʹnyh Problem, 6 (2012):

Smith, Dave “Teenager Hannah Smith killed herself because of online bullying.” The Guardian, Press Association, 6 August 2013. Web. 04 October 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/06/hannah-smith-online-bullying>