Consequences of Internet – Term Paper

Over the last decade, the internet has enormously revolutionized communication and information-sharing among people. However, even though the internet has got our communication easier, it has not performed it without consequences and the negative views are related to overreliance and overuse of this technology. With the innovation of the internet, our daily life has drastically been shaped as individuals are regularly using it to satisfy their daily demands this has contributed to this problems. The essay focuses on some of the major problems associated with the internet technology and possible solutions discussed, followed by a rational conclusion. 

For several reasons, the worldwide use of the internet has been the radical movement of some serious issues. To commence with, online technology has offered several kinds of unsuitable entertainment for users. Millions of websites can easily be accessed by individuals from different kinds of ages. As a result, children can quickly register with the pornographic site containing damaging information such as nude images, sex videos and claim to be a mature person. 

When children interact with such videos, their thoughts and development are affected, and this is a negative effect on the society and the children themselves. It is the responsibility of the parents to monitor the activities our kids limit their access to particular sites (Huffake and Calvert, 2005). This can be achieved if individual programs are installed on the computer that enables parents to set the password for their home internet settings. The government should also come up with strict measures by ensuring that proper policies are put in place to prevent the young ones from accessing inappropriate sites, for instance, confirming if you are 18 and above should not be proof that you are an adult(Sharma and Maleyeff,2003).

Another problem that is associated with the internet is cyber-crime. Our privacy is hanging in a vulnerable position since Cybercrime is a threat to different people, organizations, and the government whose computers are connected to the internet. Every day, there is emerging stories about companies, government, and individual sites being hacked which has resulted in a loss of confidential information. People especially parents at home should install protective software’s on their personal computers that restrict access to particular websites that contains pre-determined keywords (Eltoweissy, Rezgui, and Bouguettaya, 2003). Organization and companies are the key targets for hackers and therefore, some solutions that aim at protecting their websites have been suggested. Companies should provide antipiracy software so as to secure their websites as this reduces the risk of cybercrime and the related activities. Also, companies should hire experts in the field of computer security who will be mandated with supervising the content and the materials to provide a more secure environment. The governments should follow the same through investing more money to improve online IT security systems to ensure that hackers cannot get access to their systems (Eltoweissy, Rezgui, and Bouguettaya, 2003).

Thirdly, the global scale of internet implies that the international laws that have been implemented are not enough to control all online activities. For instance, the restriction on legal reporting. In some nations, media is not allowed to reveal any details of the defendant’s past in case this prejudices a fair trial. Nonetheless, such restriction cannot be enforced any longer now that information can be published in other nations and accessed by everybody. To resolve this issue, it is the highest time that global standard is adopted. Because the internet is shared in all nations and has no boundaries, it is the responsibility of all countries to agree on what needs to be shared and what should not (Livingstone et al2010).

The widespread of the internet has led to the emergence of new innovative technologies like computers and smartphones, and the interaction with these device has increased than ever. As a result, we are abandoning our society and contributing to the growth of more hazardous waste than the old generation. Additionally, the internet communication has created more problems on social communication between families, friends, and relatives. Currently, a lot of people do own smartphones computers and tablets. Individuals interact with this devices 24/7 a day as they chat with their friends and relatives (Szczegielniak, Palka, and Krysta, 2013). Subsequently, this has created a negative effect on people;s relationship since individuals have less eye to eye conversation among themselves. Such an issue can be solved through the commitment of everybody, including friends and family members. For instance, parents can play an essential role in addressing this issue by leading by example since they are the elderly in the family. They should make sure that they spend less time with their devices for their children to see and emulate what they are doing. The family can also come up with policies that every member should follow, for example, during meal time, nobody is allowed to go with his/her smartphone to facilitate much eye contact among family members. Notably, since the youth depends more on the internet as compared to the older generation, it is an advantage to provide special activities for those with a limit to smartphones and computers (Rajani and Chandio, 2004).

Another problem regarding the use of the internet is addiction among teenagers who spend most their time on social media, entertaining videos games among other things. Addiction has contributed to laziness and has stopped individuals from participating in essential things for themselves and others. When people do not participate in physical exercise, this can lead to obesity and other health complications Barrense-Dias et al. (2015) carried out a study and found out that, in the United States, the obesity rate has nothing to do calorie intake but rather the lack of exercise. Even though this might be true, the biggest challenge of the America diet is technology. For us to reduce internet addiction, it is the highest time to encourage individuals to take time off their computers and participate in physical exercise. The families can also come up with a daily routine where all family members assemble to together, for instance, every evening and have a road walk (Huffake and Calvert, 2005).

The essay has gone some way in explaining the problems associated with the use of internet such addiction, cybercrime child pornography among others.; Moreover, there is the solution to every problem, but it all depends on the difficulty of implementing and monitoring them. On the other hand, despite the fact that the society will continue to rely more on the use of internet which brings negative consequences, the solution to mitigate these problems lies in everyone for us to enjoy what technology has come with. Some issues such as cyber-crime are global; the solution must be global. But generally, a combined effort of the government and organization can provide long-term solutions to the problems we are facing and that this when we can make this world a better and secure place for everyone.

Reference

Barrense-Dias, Y., Berchtold, A., Akre, C. and Sur;s, J.C., 2015. The relation between internet use and overweight among adolescents: a longitudinal study in Switzerland. International Journal of Obesity.

Eltoweissy, M.Y., Rezgui, A. and Bouguettaya, A., 2003. Privacy on the Web: Facts, challenges, and solutions. IEEE Secur Priv, 1(6), pp.4-0040.

Huffaker, D.A. and Calvert, S.L., 2005. Gender, identity, and language use in teenage blogs. Journal of ComputerMediated Communication, 10(2), pp.00-00.

Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., G;rzig, A. and ;lafsson, K., 2010. Risks and safety on the internet: the perspective of European children: key findings from the EU Kids Online survey of 9-16-year-olds and their parents in 25 countries.

Rajani, M.K., and Chandio, M.S., 2004, December. Use of the Internet and its effects on our Society. In National Conference on Emerging Technologies(pp. 20157-161).

Sharma, P., and Maleyeff, J., 2003. Internet education: potential problems and solutions. International Journal of Educational Management, 17(1), pp.19-25.

Szczegielniak, A., Palka, K. and Krysta, K., 2013. Problems associated with the use of social networks: A pilot study. Psychiatria Danubina, 25(2), pp.212-215.