In the beginning, the internal network, more commonly known as the internet, was created in 1983. At this point, it was a new, revolutionary technology, but people likely thought that this was the furthest it could go. To say the least, it has not only become a simple tool, but now a much more complex, amazing one. It allows us to communicate with others across the globe, and access a wide array of information with ease. It has changed the way humans live their daily lives. However, since parents feel that it could be a useful tool, most have allowed ultimate access to the internet to their children. The internet can be exceptional at times, but there are definitely some disturbing things about it as well. For children, the major issues of the internet could be strong addiction, deteriorated physical health, and worst of all, cyberbullying.

The first problem is talking to people. First, communication with people from far away was almost impossible until the internet. However, people can now talk to anyone they want at any time. This has opened up a new area of bullying called cyberbullying. It’s almost the exact same as normal bullying, except it is online instead of physical. Since this conversation is taking place online, there are barely any repercussions for the bully. About half of the younger population (all ages under 18) that use the internet have been cyberbullied before, and about a third have even received threats. This is a huge problem because the rate of deaths by suicide in people from ages 10-19 has been rising since 2007. A quote from the website, bullyingstatistics.org, even says, “Cyber bullying victims are more likely to have low self esteem and to consider suicide.” 

The reason why this is happening so often is because adults and parents cannot watch everything that their children do online for every second of the day. Why should a parent allow their child full access to the internet if there is the massive potential of their mental health becoming seriously damaged? Cyberbullying occurs much more often than many people think, which is why it’s taken so long for people to learn about it. Luckily, there are ways to avoid and stop it. Simply not going on any electronics for a day can help people feel better about themselves and what they’ve accomplished. Blocking kids who are committing cyber bullying helps too. 

Another problem with allowing children unlimited internet is addiction. With so many apps, social media platforms, and games, most people have quickly begun to use the internet much more than previously. Now, 6% of the world is considered to be addicted to their phones. While this may seem like a small amount, that’s still 420 million people. Addictions ruin lives, as the addict will have constant, overwhelming craving to participate or interact on one of the many apps available to them. According to karger.com, “In the past few years internet addiction (IA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD) have become very frequent, leading to many personality and psychiatric disorders including low self-esteem, impulsivity, poor sleep quality, mood disorder, and suicide.”  This is especially terrible to kids/teens, since most teenagers are going through puberty and can suffer from a lack of self-esteem. Attempting to cure an internet addiction is also quite difficult compared to other prevalent addictions, as there haven’t been any proven effective methods in curing an internet addiction. With all of these problems, you may be wondering: “For children, isn’t the internet much more negative than beneficial?” 

Addiction causes someone to spend a majority of their time around that certain thing. However, there is not only a mental effect, but a physical effect as well. According to ehstoday.org, “Extensive Internet use is also connected with sleep deprivation, bad posture… and ADHD.” A person only has one body and must maintain it if they want to live a happy life. However, internet addiction is causing these children to ruin their body permanently for temporary enjoyment. The first and possibly the worst effect of prolonged internet use is sleep deprivation. According to altamirarecovery.com, because of the blue light coming from the computer, melatonin, a hormone assisting with sleep, is blocked, potentially causing restless hours and lost sleep for many. When losing sleep, people cannot function at their best properly, so clearly, not only do children’s internet addiction cause long term reparations, but also short term as well.

The internet provides many tools and is essential, but cyberbullying, addiction, and physical deterioration of health are still threats that lurk in the shadows. Overall, the internet is helpful and its use has become quite prevalent in this day and age, but these significant drawbacks will most definitely cause hesitation when parents are deciding whether or not their child should have full access to the internet. Therefore, parents should be more observant and vigilant about the content their child is consuming, and can also add parental controls if they are to let them surf the web. As an anonymous but wise person once said, “I finally realized it. People are prisoners of their phones, that’s why they are called ‘cell’ phones.”