Today, the internet has become the biggest source of information in the whole world thanks to the advancing technology (Green 52). Any kind of information concerning anything in this world can be found there. Therefore, many people have sought to improve their knowledge, skills, and abilities about the internet in order to be in a better position to benefit from it. As a result, the world has since become just like a small global village whereby people can communicate from any corner of the world in seconds.
People have also been able to acquire education without having to step in a lecture hall (Tomei 71). It is no longer the time when students had to travel from one continent to another in search of the best institutions of higher learning. These institutions have been brought right in their homes and that has cut them all that cost of having to travel and live in a foreign country.
Never the less, everything good has its negative side, the emergency of the internet has come with its own ills. A lot of work that was done manually is now being done through the internet (Tomei 73). Students need not walk to classrooms; there are no longer messengers to post or deliver written messages from one office to another.
The physical activity that was there is no longer in existence and hence people have become lazy. This is not healthy for the body as people end up developing health complications because of lack of exercise. On top of that, children have been exposed to sources of misleading information.
Pornography sites are common sites that are visited by many young people and as a result, they end up learning a lot that can spoil their lives (Green 53). The biggest problem of all is the fact that many people have become addicted with the internet. People in KSA spend most part of the day online staring on the screen and that has greatly affected other useful activities that used to be carried out there before.
There are various reasons that have caused people in KSA to get addicted in the internet. Having a good connection of internet wiring is one great cause of internet addiction (Green 55). Without the wiring, people would not be in a position to access the internet services. Therefore the fact that the government does a lot in ensuring that people get connected, increases their chances of being addicted.
There is also increased speed in the use of the internet, which enables people to get any kind of information or entertainment that they may want in a very short time (Kutais 100). If people had to wait for a long periods before accessing what they want in the internet, then perhaps they would lose interest and find better things to do.
It is no longer the time that entertainment could only be found in the televisions, newspapers, and magazine. The internet has created a more efficient source of entertainment, which creates a mental stimulation just like in a television (Kutais 100). Continuous exposure to the television has made people too much addicted to some programs and thus their minds are always tuned there.
This number of people has since reduced because people have found a more appealing source of entertainment in the internet. There is always that urge to get online and chat with friends, watch movies, play games among other things. The most visited sites in the internet are social sites like face book and twitter. People can now get to know others and make friends on the social cites while others go ahead and get married.
Good internet connectivity coupled with the fact that the cost of using the internet is very cheap make people to spent countless hours in the internet (Green 56). There have been countless cases of people neglecting their duties even starving children with hunger not because there is no food but simply because they cannot get themselves off the damn internet.
By paying a very little amount of money, one can be able to stay glued to the screen for a very long time. Suppose the charges for accessing internet services could be raised, perhaps the number of internet addicts could decline.
The internet services can be accessed not only in the computers but also on mobile phones. Social network addicts are on the increase because even in the absence of the computer or the cyber café, they can easily chat with friends through their mobile phones (Kutais 103). The number of hours people spend on sleep has tremendously declined.
A person may need to sleep and even go to bed but fail to do it immediately because of the urge to view other people’s status, to update one’s own and the like. This has been made simpler by the use of mobile phones. From the comfort of one’s own bed all that is done and thus many people no longer take the required healthy number of hours of sleep.
Internet addiction has had both positive and negative effects in KSA. In the kingdom of Saudi Arabia where Islam is the religion, gender segregation is at a very high scale. The females are not allowed to interact with the opposite sex from outside their families (Azzam 44). This gap has since been bridged by the social networks; they can communicate and make friends with people of their own choice from the comfort of their houses.
There have been many cases of relationships ending due to this. A man may feel jealous when his fiancée keeps chatting with other members of the opposite sex and vice versa. Once cautioned to stop it and one fails to because of addiction, serious problems ensue and many times the relationship becomes very strained. On top of that, health complications have arisen because of staring at the screen for long hours and the failure to carry on activities that cause the body to exercise.
Internet addiction has led to an increase in antisocial behavior. The way people used to communicate in the real world has since changed. The daily practices that comprise interpersonal communication are declining as internet addicts are now using smiley faces and avatars instead of body gestures (Azzam 41).
There is a decline in the use of facial expressions and other body gestures to put across intended emotion. As a result, people have developed personality disorders in which they do not identify with their real life persona but rather with their Internet representation. Therefore, the ability of people to maintain a healthy social life has greatly been reduced (Young 7).
In order to help the people in KSA to deal with the problem, rehabilitation is the best thing that can help them with the best solutions to internet addiction (Young 8). Our group is going to make use the little savings that we have to start a company that will offer rehabilitation services to people addicted to the internet.
It is our expectation that we are going to get funding from the government and other donors since we do want to charge any fee to our clients. I am the overall leader of the group and my role will be to see to the success of the company.
I will organize everything that has to be done, and make sure that everything is in the right order. My duties include looking for the best facilities that will enable us carry out our mission effectively. I will also go ahead to acquire the best sources of labor from people who are experienced and willing to work as volunteer.
The greatest professional problem that many encounter when setting up our company is getting the best human resource (Noble 21). Given that, we do not intend to charge any fee to our clients, we will need a lot of sacrifice.
We will not be in a position to pay for any labor not unless we get good funding or a donor. Therefore, people will offer their services based on helping but not earning daily bread. As a result, we are expecting that many people are going to turn our invitations down never the less we are determined to make it.
To deal with the above problem, we intend to spread awareness on the importance of offering voluntary services. In addition to that, we are going to request the government for some funds and apply for sponsorship by other able individuals or organizations. If all goes well, we are looking forward to start rewarding our human resources with some amount of money at the end of each month.
The big problem is that, the government may turn down our request and we may not be able to get a good donor. On top of that, it is very hard for some people to offer free services given that they have spent quite a lot in acquiring the knowledge that they have. They see it as a waste of time and their energy (Noble 148). That can make us not be able to get the best human resource to add on the one that we already have.
The other professional problem that we are likely to face is to do with the training of all the members. Professional ethics require that a person should be well conversant with what he or she is doing in a company. Therefore, we need to train our staff thoroughly for them to be able to offer the best services (Noble 4). Getting the required personnel to give the proper training may be quite a challenge given that we do not have the ability to pay in order to get the best.
In order to deal with the above problem, we have decided to make the best use of the internet to look for a volunteer who can offer the service. If that is not possible, we intend to contribute the little that we have to pay for the lowest bidder. In addition to that, we shall try as much as possible to get a lot of information about rehabilitation of internet addicts from the internet.
Getting a volunteer trainer may not be easy and contributing the little that we have to pay for one will mean a decrease in the limited finance that we have. Lack of enough capital when starting a company is a great setback (Worthington 12). Still the information on the internet is not enough to equip us for what we are about to do. Depending much on it will mean that our services will be limited to certain activities.
We intend to work on looking for the best human resource first before considering the issue of training. This is because with the best skilled labor, there is no need for a lot of training (Worthington 13).
That will cut down the cost of having to hire a professional trainer. We will have also been spared the cumbersome duty of having to search for a volunteer trainer. Getting the best skilled labor means having those particular person in our midst throughout. They will end up showing us what to do and correcting us whenever we go wrong.
There is a good internet network in KSA and that has facilitated the use of internet services. Many people are able to access it at very low cost. There are interesting sites like the social media that keeps people glued to the screen for long hours.
As a result, people have been addicted to it, and are exposed to many problems (Young 9). We intend to start a company that will help the people to deal with the problem. Getting the required skilled labor is our greatest problem and in addition to that training the staff could pose a big challenge.
Works Cited
Azzam, Henry T. The Arab World Facing the Challenge of the New Millennium. London: Tauris, 2002. Internet resource.
Green, Lelia. The Internet: An Introduction to New Media. Oxford: Berg, 2010. Print.
Kutais, B G. Internet Policies, and Issues, Volume 4. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2002. Print.
Noble, Dawn. How to Start a Home-Based Professional Organizing Business. Guilford, Conn: Globe Pequot Press, 2007. Print.
Tomei, Lawrence A. Lexicon of Online, and Distance Learning. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. Print.
Worthington, Kelvin. Setting Up and Running a Successful Home Business. Glebe, N.S.W: Pascal Press, 2006. Print.
Young, Kimberly S, and Cristiano N. Abreu. Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Print.