Internet addiction and academic performance

 

Today the Internet has become the main tool for entertainment, trading, communication, and education. It is a high speed of information tool and also has great potentials for good educational value on the Internet. Yet there are many attributes in the Internet, which are today posing to be a great hazard for many students. There is something about the Internet, which is addictive, and this is what has to be tackled. The main attributes of the Internet make it very flexible to be accessible all through the day. this accessibility is on one hand very useful but on the other hand is a disadvantage for all the students. One has to have good self control to be able to ignore the urge to surf the net during the time that is scheduled for it. But often it is seen that the students cross their surf time limit and their time starts eating away into their study schedule.

Emotionally the Internet gives a feel good factor to the students through the many social networking sites. Gradually the student gets an upbeat mood about himself and he begins to live in a virtual world. This is detrimental as he is not to personally interact with the others in a real manner. What happens virtually and what happens in the real world is something that cannot be controlled. So the internet gradually seeps into the psyche of the individual and becomes an all pervading option.

Internet addiction refers to the inability to control his or her use of the Internet. Excessive use of Internet all times is what is called internet addiction. This is an addiction that causes a lot of problems on the family, health and th academic performance. The negative results of addiction to Internet results in affecting the physical health of the person and also many other problems like lack of sleep, irritability, and other such problems. The lack of exercise due to sitting in front of the computer could lead to a lot of eyestrain and also the carpal tunnel syndrome problems. Back could pain and the entire system goes for a toss. Family relations are also upset by an addiction to the Internet and interpersonal relations also o for a toss. Academic problems thus get into the picture. the addiction causes a decline in the study pattern and there is a considerable drop in the way the student scores.

The student starts missing classes, and he is in a greater risk to be placed on probation if he is in a senior grade. He lacks focus and attention and shows disinterest even in the extracurricular activities. Such children have a lot of emotional and psychological problems and undergo anxiety, depression, and a feeling of self effacement. They fear that their life is a zero without the Internet and that it would be boring and monotonous. At times when the computer crashes or the Internet breaks down, the addict would succumb to a lot of emotional pressure ad have a lot of problems coping up with the situation.

In spite of the fact that internet is meant for a good cause and is meant for the progress of the world, students tend to sometimes take it for granted and cause their own downfall. There are various ways in which you could avoid getting into such sticky situations and parents and mentors should make it a point to educate the child about it.

Internet addiction is a problem that arises out of overuse of the Internet, which is normally caused due to lack of supervision and a certain level of ignorance about the whole situation. Academic performance is normally affected under such circumstances and it has to be rectified immediately.