Kids Developing a Strong Emotional Need for Internet | Kiwi Commons

While the Internet is ?business as usual? for most of us, a tool for accessing information and communication, an emotional connection is emerging for kids and teens. Children report they would feel sad, even lonely, if the Internet was taken away.
A new British Study shows that 49% of under-12?s would be ?sad? without the Internet while one in five would be ?lonely?. In the teen years, a drastic jump in emotional connectivity occurs with 60% reporting that they would be ?sad? if they could not connect to the Internet, while 48% said they would be lonely. The sadness factor more than doubles in the teen years.

The ?Digital Futures? project, a study by Intersperience, surveyed 1,000 young people in the UK between the ages of eight and 18 to determine the impact of online and digital technology in their lives.

For teens, the heightened emotional connection to the Internet can be related to usage patterns. Social media and chatting online to friends is their number one activity. More than 70% of teenagers said they chat on Facebook. The Internet provides a social connection for the out of school hours.

The study reveals more diverse usage patterns for children. The under twelve group are sophisticated Internet users, performing more daily online tasks than adults. 74% are playing online games, 65% are using the Internet for homework and one-third looking for things to buy and sell.

And we are starting them out younger and younger. Parents report that two year-olds are most likely to dominate the family iPad. It?s easy-to-use touch screen technology gives them access to games or stories on their own, without assistance from a parent reading them a traditional storybook.

But what does this mean? If children are emotionally dependant on the Internet are there consequences to this technological prevalence?

Intersperience Chief Executive Paul Hudson said: ?The fact that children have a strong emotional attachment to the internet is often regarded as a negative thing but in fact it is perfectly natural for a generation whose social life is largely online. It?s equivalent to taking a phone away from older people, they?d feel sad and lonely too.?

Internet addiction is a growing concern for our population though. Children and teens who haven?t the self control or awareness to recognize the symptoms of detrimental behaviour are at higher risk.

According to Psyris.com one of the prime indicators of being addicted to the Internet is ?mood changes or altered states of consciousness associated with the behaviour.? Sadness when deprived of the Internet would count as a change in mood and behaviour. Children and teens should be monitored to ensure their Internet use isn?t affecting their health in a negative manner. ?Suggestions for controlling screen time and alternate activities can be found here at Kiwi Commons.

On the bright side though, the study showed that more than half of teenagers prefer to talk with friends face-to-face. Only 35%, though still a high number, would rather engage solely in online chatter.

Paul Hudson added, ?Adults may be concerned about the strong emotional connection kids have to the Internet today but our study shows that far from losing the art of conversation, children still prefer chatting to their friends in person.?

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Source: http://kiwicommons.com/index.php?p=11251&tag=kids-developing-a-strong-emotional-need-for-internet

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