Introduction
The Internet is unquestionably the most important mass medium nowadays. According to the research that was done by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2006, there are over a billion Internet users in the world and most of them are young people (Healy et al., 2001). Out of 100% of young people that use computers, more than 90% use the internet regularly.
To some extent they use internet to do homework’s and research, however most young people also use internet to communicate with their friends after school (Archer, 2007). They communicate through chat rooms, emails and post comments on their friends’ walls. Internet usage among young people is so pervasive that many professionals, scientists and psychologist have begun to study its effect on the lives of youths.
Literature Review
The youths are generally regarding the Internet as a flexible medium and often consider themselves as experts on Internet than their parents. (Buckley, 2008)
Although the young people enjoy the digital web experiences that integrate them into their daily lives their exposure to Internet harbors them with negative impacts especially when they go online (Healy et al., 2001). Online dangers include exposure to improper, exploitative and dangerous contents.
A number of studies have identified attitudinal and behavioral differences between societies and cultures that use the Internet. Unlike television viewing where parents can execute intervention and control the young people confidently by monitoring them, when they use internet is much more complicated (Healy et al., 2001).
Methodology
Procedure
A survey will to be conducted to examine the use of internet among the young people. The targeted population include young people aged 15 to 24. Questionnaires are to be prepared and hard copies of the questionnaires are to be distributed through face-to-face interactions. The respondents will be requested to fill out the questionnaires by themselves. A briefing session will be conducted with the interviewers and the exact meaning of questions in the questionnaire will be explained.
The questionnaire will consist of three parts. The first part will focus on how the young people allocate their time across different media types and their media preference for different activities. The respondents’ time allocation to the media will be measured by asking them on average how much time they spend with each medium everyday (Healy et al., 2001).
The second part of the questionnaire will focus on the contexts the usage of Internet. Respondents will be asked about their access to the Internet at school, at home, and at work. Questions on how often the respondents use the Internet for a particular purpose will form the second part (Cuban, 2011). A list of five uses of Internet will also be included. Respondents will be asked on how they know about specific websites and how often they locate them through various means.
The third part of the questionnaire will finally focus on the search of sensitive information’s using Internet (Mander, 2011). Respondents will be asked to indicate which information sources (parents, teachers, friends, and the Internet) they would like to consult for information about sensitive issues under various concerns, including privacy, ease of access, confidentiality and speed.
Research Question
Effects of Internet on Young People
New communication technologies including the Internet have been found to have great impacts on the lives of young people than all other technological innovations. With so much social action taking place from behind computer screen, parents and teachers are concerned about the loss of social skills among young people (Cuban, 2011).
Spending hours in front of a computer especially on the internet can lead to obesity due to lack of exercise. Bad posture and body pain can also develop from long hours of sitting hence making the blood circulation to the legs and other parts of the body not to be so effective (Healy et al., 2001). Sometimes after spending long hours in front of the computer screen the eyesight may also vanish. Many young people who spend great time in front of computers begin to show symptoms of some diseases that are not usually seen until someone attains old age.
The amount of time spent in front of the computer can also have many effects. Young people today are able to log on and talk to their counterparts growing up in different parts of the world. The internet literally opens up their minds to possibilities of world culture and hence enabling them to understand and appreciate their diversity.
Painfully shy people that are unable to hold face to face conversations can go online and talk for hours with someone elsewhere in the world, who may be in a similar situation at home (Buckley, 2008). The internet hence enables young people to find answers to questions that they may not feel comfortable discussing with their parents, friends and even teachers. An example of this might be sex education, which is only given cursory consideration in most schools.
Solutions to the Effects of Internet on Young People
Internet is a two edged sword, one edge good and the other edge bad. Parents should use internet access as a teaching tool to help their youngsters understand the duplicity involved in life.
Some studies have even shown that young people who regularly use the computer are able to improve their reading skills, spatial skills and visual skills.
The only disadvantage computers have so far is that they can be used by the young people in isolation, away from the watchful eyes of parents and some of the information accessed out of the watchful eyes of parents my not be good for young people (Grossman et al., 2007). The younger mind may not be able to process the information appropriately and the only solution to this is that parents are supposed to keep a watchful eye on youngsters without overpowering their growing independence.
Conclusion
The 21st century is a digital age and we expect that the importance of the Internet will continue to grow. This study presents the current state on how young people use media especially the internet and hence provides a baseline against measurements of changes in the future. From the current study we find that Internet plays a prominent role among young people. However the use of internet is still preferred as a media choice for information driven activities among young people.
References
Archer, A. c. (2007) “Violent video game effects on children and adolescents.” USA: Oxford University Press.
Buckley, M. (2008) “The dumbest generation.” England: Norton & Company.
Cuban, N. (2011) “What the internet is doing to our brains.” London: Unwin Hymen Ltd.
Grossman, A. D. (2007) “How the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future.” USA: Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Healy, M. J. (2001) “Endangered minds: why children don’t think and what we can do about it.” USA: Oxford University Press.
Mander, E. (2011) “The net delusion: The dark side of Internet freedom.” 2011: Public Affairs.