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Internet Addiction

By Samantha Wilson, Mom of 2, former law enforcement officer

Internet addiction is a phenomenon that is still under review of the watchful eyes of healthcare professionals around the globe. But if you are a parent of a teen who spends countless hours online, it may be time to consider whether their Internet use is turning into an addiction.

Regardless of what the medical practitioners agree to disagree on, as a parent you need to understand that overuse and misuse of the computer and Internet can cause negative effects to your child’s mental and physical health.

Not only can overuse cause serious physical and mental side effects, a child who spends unlimited amounts of time online in chat rooms, message boards or multi user games, are at a higher risk of contact by predators.

How much is too much?

It is difficult to determine how much time is acceptable for your child to be online and when to draw the line. As in any form of entertainment, parents need to set limits to Internet use, much the same as watching TV.

If you find that your child is spending too much time playing online games, chatting or surfing the net, you will need to intervene quickly. It won’t be easy, however try to identify what it is that is attracting your child to the net.

If it is social acceptance, look for outside clubs or organizations with similar interests that they can join, if it is gaming, set limits to the time spent on these games. Lead by example. If they see you online for hours at a time, they will do the same.

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