Cons related to computer and internet usage mostly affect the teenagers. The teenagers are very open to experimentation. They also lack proper knowledge of the subject. Whatever knowledge they have are either fantasies or half-truths. These two factors make them very vulnerable to internet cons. Since, internet is vast place of data collection, these kids often get addicted to them. Addiction of internet and computers at any age is detrimental. These cons affect mentally as well as physically. If they are not properly checked, it often leads to exploitation. If you are thinking of buying a computer or installing internet for your teenage kid then you should know the cons that affect them the most.
Here is the list of cons of computer affecting teenage kids:
1. Obesity
The foremost of the cons of computer is obesity. The internet involves only the exercising of fingers for typing or moving the cursor. The lack of physical activity makes them obese. Moreover, all the kids have habit of munching in front of computer screen that makes things more serious. Lack of physical activity and over eating leads to obesity. Surveys have proved that 60 percent of teenagers get obese due to constant use of internet. The obesity can lead to further diseases and lack of interest for any future physical activity.
2. Lack of creativity
Internet is largest source of information. Proper usage can help you gain immense knowledge. However, teenagers often lose their creativity due to internet usage. The culture of cut/copy and paste makes them copy internet notes and articles as their assignment. They just change the language to make the copied articles their own. Sometimes, they even do not bother to change the language. This gives rise to plagiarism.
3. Sleeplessness
Most of the time, teenagers get so much addicted with computer and internet that they get deprived of their precious sleeping time. They stay awake to surf illegal contents at night to hide their activity from parents. Moreover, the late night free internet plans also worsen the situation. Sleeplessness can result in headaches, stress and obesity.
4. Sexual exploitation
The teenage kids have high hormone levels. At this age, they even learn to experience the effects of sexual interaction. These kids get very susceptible to sexual exploitation. They often become prey of sexual offenders. The lack of knowledge, improper parental guidance and their own curiosity can make them vulnerable to sexual exploitation via internet.
5. Lack of socializing
Internets and social networking has many advantages. However, the major disadvantage is the lack of personal socializing. Teenagers often interact with each other on internet but they seldom have personal face-to-face confrontation. They do not know how to talk to people even if they have thousands of Facebook friends. Some of the kids are so involved in social networking that they do not make real friends at all. This type of activity is detrimental for their future career. Most of the time, they face the dread at the time of interview and classroom interaction. Lack of real friends can also land them in troubles, as they do not know how to tackle social problems. Lack of socializing also leads to stress, loneliness and subsequent addiction to drugs.
6. Improper vocabulary
Most of the parental control on internet browser can be easily bypassed. The teenagers always love to explore things that are prohibited. They learn to give abuses thinking they are cool. They learn to use internet abbreviations to supplement their technical attitude. However, these habits certainly damage their vocabulary. They often give abuses and use internet abbreviation in real life. Many of the terminology like BRB or DND are used as regular words. These habits even reflect on their answer sheets during examination where they make the common mistake of writing ‘urs’ to express yours.
7. Lack of self ethics
This is a primary area of concern. The biggest con of internet is destruction of ethics. The kids learn to hack, download pirate movies and music, copy personal details and many other unethical things. Most of the time parents ignore these things. However, they forget that every criminal starts with petty crimes only. Today it may be the piracy but someday it can aggravate to stealing.
8. Violent attitude
The last but not the least of computer cons, is the development of violent attitude. Most of the internet contents are violence based. The kids learn the ways to fight and commit crime from internet. The computer games also add up to this problem. The teenage kids think that violence is a way to reflect their strength and cool attitude. Studies have shown that most of the teenage crimes have their roots engraved in violent gaming only.
