Internet Influence on Kids 

Internet Influence on Kids 

Nathan Gonzales (9th), Reporter

While the Internet can be very useful when it comes to developing multimedia communication and interpretation skills, children also risk not developing physical communication skills. It also makes it hard for the children to develop the capacity to express physical affection or the emotional intelligence necessary to interpret gestures and facial expressions. 

 

Although the social and psychological impacts of Internet use on children are still widely debated, the physical impacts are more clear. As with other tasks like watching television, the Internet use can replace healthy physical activities like sports and outdoor exercise, leading to health effects like obesity and poor muscular development. Like the negative social and psychological impacts, however, physical health risks are most pronounced in cases of excessive use. Limited Internet use can actually contribute to a healthy development of hand-eye coordination. 

 

The internet can also be dangerous in other ways towards children and teens especially because they are more vulnerable than adults. These days sexual predators and other predators often stalk children on the Internet, taking advantage of their innocence, lack of adult supervision and abusing their trust. This can culminate in children being lured into dangerous personal encounters in real life. These predators lurk on social media and gaming platforms that appeal to children. 

 

Another bad influence from the Internet can be cyber bullying. Social media and online games are today’s virtual playground, and that is where much cyber bullying takes place, and it’s operating 24/7. Children can be ridiculed in social media exchanges. In online gaming, their player personas can be subjected to incessant attack, turning the game from an imaginative adventure into a humiliating ordeal that escalates into cyber bullying across multiple platforms and in real-life. 

 

To conclude, the Internet is a very helpful source for many people but there are also a lot of negatives to it. The Internet is a whole different world. Technology is only going to grow which means we need to find better ways to stay safe from online predators. Also teens need to be more educated about how serious online bullying is and the consequences. Parents need to have some type of schedule with the use of the Internet so children don’t get lazy.