By Micah Ella O. Real
Bugo National High School
HAPPY? Sad? You have ANXIETY.
The internet is a big help for the people. With the internet, things are easier to deal with. When you need to research for something or whatsoever, the internet says it all. Books? Who needs books? But did you know that things can be somehow quite hard with the internet?
It’s not that bad when you’re not abusive on using it. It’s totally one of the best thing that people created. But with no control on using it, it can have bad effects.
Majority of the people now are using the internet. Most of these internet users are teens and children. Even though a child can only have a social media account when he/she is already 13, yet there are people that doesn’t even care about the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (this can be understandable because it is a law in the United States, but it would be also high time that we should have similar laws in the Philippines).
Some teens say that the internet is their “comfort zone” for they can only get their attentions on the internet. Most of them say that the internet is their way to get socialized. Socializing? Well, socializing on the internet isn’t that bad. But know your limits. Other teens also said that they lost their relationship with their friends, worst one is that they lost their relationship with their family. These teens only chat to their “internet friends," and didn’t even realize that they aren’t already paying attention to the people that are with them.
The Internet can also affect our studies, either good or bad. The good side is that, it can help you research stuffs for your homework, and also can give you knowledge with other stuff that could help you in the future.
The bad side is that people (mostly teens) are getting drained to social media that could get them anxious and insecure, which make them change their appearances. Children could skip meals because of this. Children are different nowadays, most of them are not getting into physical activities because they are only just tapping the screens or keyboards with their fingers.
Social Media is the reason why people are wasting their time on the internet. There, you can get interesting stories about the person you followed. In the Philippines, the top used social media sites are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Statistics say that there are 94 percent of teens that use social media daily.
Online games is another story, it can also have a bad effect or a good effect especially when it’s a strategic game. But online games are not so much deadly as Social Networking Sites (SNS). The SNS is quite deadly because cyber-bullying is also a thing that contributed rising teen suicide rate.
There are positive and negative effects when it comes to the internet. But these negative sides that the internet gave can reduce when you know how to control yourself. Use the internet for a better reason.
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(Juventus Vox is SunStar Cagayan de Oro's section for the youth's perceptions and life's views, feel free to contribute by sending in articles via cdosunstar@gmail.com)