Nowadays people’s lives are easier, than they have been during the last few decades. People use the internet for many different reasons like research, gaming, shopping, job search, communication, and the list is endless. Thomas L. Friedman gives an opinion in the New York Times that humans “thirsty for knowledge, for opportunities, for connecting with the rest of the people around the globe, escaped their frustrating political realities and live a virtual, alternative life” (Friedman). This virtual life has led to many disadvantages that are harmful regarding personal, social, professional and study life. Being online for different purposes can be extremely helpful, but it encourages cyberbullying, loss of creativity, and disturbance in way of living due to different kinds of addictions.
Online networking has taken misbehaviors and indiscipline to the extreme. Young people’s use of the internet exposes them to enormous risks and pitfalls like cyberbullying, which is caused mainly by the excessive and inefficient use of the internet. Cyberbullying is mostly used to exact revenge, and it is sometimes executed in a nefarious way to infuriate their victim. “60% of girls and 59% of boys experience cyberbullying” in their life, and everyone goes through distinctive types of bullying (Teens and Cyberbullying). Moreover, “16% of boys and girls get physical threats” from fellow classmates which creates emotional trauma in them (Teens and Cyberbullying). The percentage of boys and girls who go through these conditions are high, because most young people either have laptops, or devices like mobiles, on which they can do their online bullying out of sight.
Cyberbullying can be of different forms like name-calling, for instance, “42% of girls and 41% of boys experience offensive name-calling in schools” according to the study of the Pew Research Center (Teens and Cyberbullying). Cyberbullying not only affects the victim, but also the attacker because they are often worried about being caught and sometimes feel guilty of their actions. Being bullied by people online can lead the victims and witnesses to do the same, so Mark Gibbs suggests in his article, Bad Behavior Online that:
It would be far wiser to ignore much of this online bad behavior, by developing thicker skins and treating these people as the silly children they are would save everyone a lot of trouble, although the effects of bad online student behavior, which can disrupt the discipline and management of schools must be restricted with strict rules and regulations. (Gibbs)
Above all the government is involved in preventing cyberbullying through: The website StopBullying.gov which is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and it endeavors to stay up-to-date on the latest information about cyberbullying. It also provides information on what schools can do to institute policies and procedures, such as those required by state education laws like Texas Education Code section 37.0832(c) to prevent and address bullying. (Spoede)
The government’s participation in prohibiting cyberbullying shows how much significance it contains, and therefore every citizen should take serious measures to steer clear of various kinds of cyberbullying that they are aware of.
The extended usage of the internet can cause loss of creativity, plagiarism, detest towards group activities, and temptation to cheat on quizzes and tests. To begin with, the protracted usage of the internet can induce plagiarism predominantly in students who attend schools and colleges. For a fact, “45% of the U.S. teens say they use the internet either on a computer or a cell phone almost constantly” to finish school work (Most Teens). They often have to submit research papers, complete homework, do major projects, and study for exams, which can be difficult at times, so they decide to obtain information to help them exclude evitable plights in their grade averages. However, they forget to properly cite the sources that they used in order to create a better essay or project, and this results in plagiarism.
Additionally, students avoid group activities in classrooms, because they are not used to developing ideas and are afraid that they might cause trouble for the whole group. Hence, they choose to feel dismayed and become subdued, and all of these situations are caused because they spend a prolonged time on the internet unnecessarily, while they were supposed to read resourceful books or do ingenious activities that could have helped them be creative. Furthermore, some students have the urge to cheat, on circumstances when their phones are not kept away, during tests, small or big. “Using the internet is an addictive activity” which has created a certain thought in students that it is better to get the right answer online, than to write what they know from what they learned (Preface to ‘Can the Internet Be Dangerous?’).
The unrestrained use of the internet can lead people to several forms of addiction, like social media addiction, information overload, and game playing. The social media addiction is mainly caused due to the over usage of apps like Facebook and Twitter, although “let’s not forget that the ‘social’ aspect of social media all but guarantees that we become more” introverted and private (Williams). Individuals waste time chatting, video calling and checking posts on social media for seemingly endless time that eventually it turns into an inescapable desire. During leisure time, everyone finds something interesting to do, like playing games, online gambling or online shopping, but after some time it occurs to be an inevitable obsession.
The internet has a “major impact on how we communicate, interact and understand the world”, but using it more than it needs to be used can cause the mankind to suffer in many harmful ways (Marijan). Being online to converse with friends is adequate but using it to bully others is inappropriate. Utilizing the network to help in studies is acceptable but plagiarism and cheating is impermissible. It is excellent to take advantage of online activities and interactions, but compulsion is displeasing. The internet is one of the most amazing privileges that humans have today, but most of them fail to employ it properly, so don’t forget to treasure valuable privileges.
Works Cited
- Friedman, Thomas L. ‘Social Media: Destroyer or Creator?’ New York Times, 3 Feb. 2016, p. A23(L). Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A442103207/GIC?u=j084910009&sid=GIC&xid=4089fa6c. Accessed 11 Jan. 2019.
- Gibbs, Mark. ‘Bad behavior online.’ Network World, 13 Nov. 2006, p. 82. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A154319373/ITOF?u=j084910009&sid=ITOF&xid=eb7d9e99 . Accessed 11 Jan. 2019.
- Marijan, Branka. ‘Social media and conflict.’ Ploughshares Monitor, Winter 2018, p. 20+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A568974652/ITOF?u=j084910009&sid=ITOF&xid=4442f757. Accessed 11 Jan. 2019.
- ‘Most Teens Report Using the Internet ‘Almost Constantly’ in 2018.’ Tribune Content Agency Graphics, 2018. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/WYRSWK571773785/OVIC?u=j084910009&sid=OVIC&xid=bcd2c70c. Accessed 14 Jan. 2019.
- ‘Preface to ‘Can the Internet Be Dangerous?’.’ The Internet, edited by Jack Lasky, Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010236160/OVIC?u=j084910009&sid=OVIC&xid=1d9cbf6a. Accessed 14 Jan. 2019.
