ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW FOR CHILDREN’S INTERNET ADDICTION by Serhat Gümüş

ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW FOR CHILDREN’S INTERNET ADDICTION 
by Serhat Gümüş

Addiction means an inability to stop doing something, especially something harmful. Another similar definition is that addiction is the need or strong desire to do or to have something. So, what is in it for internet? If students spend more than usual hours on internet, does it mean that they are internet addicts? Does internet usage for long hours have a negative impact on the school life of students and success? Well, the answers to these questions can change depending on the common and traditional ideas of the parents and the teachers and also depending on the facts about understanding children and their pedagogic needs in a different way which is demanded by today’s life. 

A common belief supports the idea that if children spend more than two or three hours a day, they are internet addicts. Another common belief is that if children spend time on internet more than the time they spend on their homework, they are internet addicts.  The owners of these beliefs are usually parents and teachers.

We can call something addiction when it is completely wrong and there is no good in it.

S.G

I remember myself when I was playing soccer on the street after school and it lasted for long hours as well as tag and hide and seek, but no one ever called me soccer or hide and seek addict.  So, why should we call children internet addicts? Because the time that they spend in front of computers is more than the time that they study? As parents, we all want our children to learn technology in all aspects. So, is it not weird to call them internet addicts when they go for it?

When children are restricted about the things that they like, they cannot take benefit from the things that they have to do.

S.G

In other words, children feel better and focused to do something that they have to do when they are restricted about the things that they do not want to do. For instance, if the parents tell the children that they are allowed to have time on the net for one hour after they study their school subjects for three hours, the children cannot take the ultimate benefits from their studies because they are restricted about something that they like doing more than homework or self study. Of course, it is absolutely important for children to do their homework and study for the next day, but as mentioned if they are forced to study by being restricted about the things that they like, they cannot focus to learn. What parents and teachers have to do is making study hours limited but more qualified instead of increasing them. In order to do that, children can be told that after studying one hour (the limit can be taken up to two hours at most) they can have time on the net as much as they want. In this way children feel better and more focused to do their homework and self studies by knowing that the things that they like aren’t restricted.

Parents have the biggest role to bring this change. The first thing parents should do is to feel responsible and take the lead because parents are the ones who supply their children with computers, laptops, tablets, smart phones and etc. This new idea can show good results in a short time. In this way, children also develop their manner of responsibility and try their best to study in a more effective way. And, it will be something accomplished by all people in the family.