Introduction
One of the greatest innovations in modern times is the Internet. In recent years, its use has multiplied. The Internet is crucial today because it has emerged as the top resource for learning about any aspect of any person connected to any subject. People have access to the globe and can learn about events nearby. But nothing worthwhile is without drawbacks. Everything has its negative effects, and the Internet is no different. It has many dangerous effects on our daily existence. In this regard, I will focus the paper on the various ways by which the Internet has negatively affected our lives and make a conclusion on what needs to be done about such effects.
Internet Addiction
The Internet has made almost half of the world population to be addicted to it such that people cannot concentrate on important issues surrounding their lives. Such individuals prefer concentrating on problematic Internet gambling which makes them lose money and as a result, causing series of harmful effects to them and their loved ones (Konnikova 288). Internet addiction is much prevalent on the young generation, and its symptoms are as follows: a headache, backache, blurred or strained vision, and disturbance in sleep. The addiction has caused students to drop or skip their academic classes and forego all college extracurricular activities, with the intention of using the services to set up extreme sexual encounters. The addiction interferes with necessary social and professional activities in our lives, as most people exhibiting the symptom often have trouble at work while experiencing social isolation. Such individuals either will be mentally distressed or will have medical impairments, which is the inability to function because of pathological gambling. Moreover, Internet addiction has risen to a rate of six percent in individuals and as such, has caused people to suffer from psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, A.D.H.D., and O.C.D and as such, they are bound to suffer a great deal (Konnikova 290).
Sedentary Lifestyle
Additionally, the Internet has created a sedimentary life-style amongst people, which has made them shun all outdoor activities due to the availability of host games. As such, lack of physical activities has caused people to fall prey to many lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity (Chou, Condron and Belland 386). Obesity, in turn, leads to other health-related conditions that people would have avoided if they were not addicted to the Internet. Statistics reveal that obesity condition is prevalent in young children who are addicted to video games, especially students. Parents are advised to control their children's addition to the Internet, to avoid such health problems.
Unscrupulous Activities
The Internet has promoted unscrupulous activities among people. It facilitates human trafficking by anonymous criminals who often engage in luring underage girls and young women to carry out sexual activities in particular hidden haunts for financial rewards and hence fostering the loss of societal values. Furthermore, anonymity makes users take advantage of freedom of speech on the Internet, thereby using such opportunities to bombard other users with harassing and obtrusive messages that make the Internet to become a virtual world that is filled with friction among people (Chou, Condron and Belland 370). Notably, over the recent years, millions of people have experienced cases of cyber crimes. According to the Telegraph News, 1 in every ten individuals worldwide is a victim of cyber offenses with over 6.3 million population reporting such cases.
Anonymity and Cyber Crime
The Internet has as well allowed high anonymity to many individuals who access different forums, websites and chat rooms (Bargh and McKenna 580). They are unsuspected cyber criminals on the Internet who play with human emotions by luring them to reveal sensitive information using emails and credit card information. Some criminals create fake websites for online shopping, as such, they phish people to believe that those sites are legitimate, resulting in millions of money lost due to the misleading business transactions they have with these criminals. Globally, the economic cyber-crime rate has remained static at 40%, and cases of online fraud are frequently aired in the news (Bargh and McKenna 585).
Conclusion
In conclusion, people should be comptivated, educated to use the Internet for their benefit, and should be careful of its side effects that cause negative impacts to their lives. It is advisable for us to monitor how much time we spend on the Internet so that we cannot be addicted to it. We should also be careful about the content that we access on the web, as others are unethical. Moreover, cyber criminals use the privilege of anonymity to make a scapegoat of their actions hence adversely affect the activities of other individuals. The Internet should be regulated to avoid the anonymous users from taking advantage of the privileges that come with it, such as the privilege of using a private username. As such, many people may consider the Internet as a vital part of life given its varied uses. Nevertheless, it causes series of adverse effect on the lives of many individuals in different regions of the world.
Works Cited
Bargh, John A., and Katelyn YA McKenna. "The Internet and Social Life." Annual Review of Psycholog. Vol 55, 2004 pp 573-590.
Chou, Chien, Linda Condron, and John C. Belland. "A Review of the Research on Internet Addiction." Educational Psychology Review vol. 17 no. 4 (2005) pp 363-388.
Konnikova, Maria. "Is Internet Addiction a Real Thing?" The New Yorker (2014) pp 287-291.
