Slashdot Mirror
US Students Suffering From Internet Addiction
PsiCTO writes "American college students are hooked on cellphones, social media and the Internet and showing symptoms similar to drug and alcohol addictions, according to a new study.
This probably falls under the no-big-surprise category. CBC Radio 1 played a couple of interviews with students that took part in the study. I especially liked the quote in which the student felt like he had a phantom limb experience with his cell phone."
I know, it really is easy to "forget" your kids are over-doing something when they're NOT driving you nuts. :) But I digress, as parents, we need to set limits on our kids. Our 12 year old is, like most, always wanting to either be on the 'net on his laptop, on his cell phone texting whoever, watching TV, or playing the Xbox. Guess what - we limit his time with each, and send his butt OUTSIDE! The worst thing we can do as parents is to let them grow up without exploring the world around them, and that includes nature.
She's 16. She most likely wouldn't be involved regardless of what object was in her hand.
I had a younger cousin around 16 who came to visit from Europe. My friend and next door neighbor suggested that my cousin meet her daughter and another friend and that they go out and have a good time somewhere. Well, the daughter was so buried into her phone texting her friends that she hardly even spoke to my cousin (who knew perfect English) and not even to her other friend. I met her once. I have the feeling that when she is with her friends she texts in real life, she'd bury her head into her phone and start texting someone else.
I think, by allowing us to seek out the ideal people with our exact interests at the moment, the internet allows us to get into the mindset to discount the people around us as less worthwhile to interact with.
It's one thing to use technology extensively. It's another thing entirely when use of that technology becomes such a fixture or priority in someone's life that they wind up neglecting other important things in their lives--work, school, family, health, sleep, etc. When checking Facebook or Twitter or whatever becomes more important to you than anything else, when you manifest the same behaviors seen in alcoholics and drug addicts (anxiety from not being able to get your "fix", irrational or dangerous behavior to try and get access again, etc), that's when it becomes a problem.
The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
In many cultures (past and present) a 16 year old is considered an adult and often has learned to demonstrate the maturity and responsibility that goes with that status. It is a sad state when a 16 year old has to be treated like a child and even sadder when they respond at a level even lower than the pathetic expectations of our society. I don't understand why someone in their teens finds it so challenging to interact with other adults regardless of age. Yes, the cell phone had little to do with it.
Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
WTF?... What a fucking low standard we should hold 16 year old's to these days?
Makes me feel old beyond my years to say that I attended multiple birthdays of 'old people' and managed to look like I was sharing the same reality.
- These characters were randomly selected.
Some of that depends on the culture of the specific organization.
There is lots of literature indicating people become more productive over time if they are allowed to blend personal and work time. Being hunched over a keyboard for 9 hours a day gets a lot of man-hours out of people, but allowing people a little bit of freedom to manage their own time and pursue personal interests during the day can really empower people to approach their jobs more efficiently and professionally.
I would want my team to be held accountable for work output, not just hours worked. If people want to shop or check some geeky news site during the workday and maintain a high level of performance, let them. If they stop producing then you have a problem, but that is true with or without internet.
I don't understand why someone in their teens finds it so challenging to interact with other adults regardless of age.
I know people in their 20s and early 30s who don't interact well with other adults unless it's via SMS, Twitter or Facebook. They literally have no concept of how to carry on a face-to-face conservation. No idea of the importance of looking someone in the eye, having a good handshake or listening to someone for more than 140 characters without interrupting them. These same people then proceed to whine about their lack of a social and love life.
Honestly I can't wrap my head around it. I was a child of the internet age and spent my formative years on IRC but I still know how to carry on a face to face conservation. I still understand the importance of eye contact and body language to human communication. How the hell do people make it to their late 20s/early 30s without learning these skills?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
My daughter is now almost 21 and remarkably mature for her age, but if she were 16 and had acted that way I'd have smashed her phone. Parents today are huge enablers of such selfish behavior.
Does anyone here remember what teenagers did before mobile phones? Did you all have unmissable, action-packed adolescences or something?
I can remember being a teenager and hanging out with other teenagers. They were among the most mind numbingly boring experiences of my life. I can vividly recall spending entire days "hanging out" with groups in towns. Let me give you a typical "fun time".
Six+ hours spent standing outside shops, on street corners, under bridges occassional window browsing, one 40 minute break in a cafe, and all the while everyone talking complete and utter shite about either music, tv, movies or gossip. One continuous topic would typically be what we'd all see in the cinema later on. Eventually, after hours of idle meandering, legs now aching with pain, the group would finally make it to that place, at which point either a) no money would remain for everyone to see the film, so we'd all go home, or b) everyone would go in and talk continuously throughout the entire film. Later, people would either ring their parents for lifts home, or walk the long mile back to their abodes.
It was a special kind of purgatory. It was like going to mass, followed by attending a funeral, and afterwards a lecture in the tanneries of ancient Assyria, all mixed in with waiting in a long queue to fill in forms that made no sense. Imagine if you will Silent Bob without the Jay, standing on a corner _not_ having amazing adventures or experiences. Ah, the heady days of youth!
I'm sure some poster will following this up with tales of their awesome, all-American, action packed teenage socialising. But my experience was that teenagers were as boring as shit. Too old to play, too young to talk, too poor to go anywhere interesting, and too inexperienced to know when their bored.
Autism?! Autism!!! You think texting on their phones is a form of autism?! Teenagers are intrinsically autistic, monosyllabic, awkward, and uninteresting people. The phones and the internet have nothing to do with it.
May the Maths Be with you!
My daughter is now almost 21 and remarkably mature for her age, but if she were 16 and had acted that way I'd have smashed her phone.
Ok, that's kinda funny isn't it?
"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."
ATTRIBUTION: Attributed to SOCRATES by Plato
That brings me to an interesting point, / . is just "the ramblings of socially-inept, technology-literate news-mongers".