It can impact physical health, grades, and lead to clinical addiction. Removing it can cause withdrawl, you can become dependent on it, and it can actually change your brain. It’s not alcohol – it’s the internet.
College student addiction to the internet (including the use of pornography, gambling, fantasy, and social media) is on the rise. What is our appropriate response? Is it any of our business or responsibility that students may be addiction to the internet?
Studies show that students can’t go 24 hours without the internet, they exhibit co-dependency characteristics, and go through withdrawls without it. Internet can lead to depression and affect physical health (eye strain, insomnia, carpal tunnel, headaches).
Students are likely to deny the affects of internet addiction. They may feel empty, anxious, or depressed when offline (see link).
Students may experience other affects of internet addiction. If internet addiction comes in the form of gambling, students will experience financial affects including financial aid and retention. Students addiction to social media may influence their psychosocial develop including involvement and community development. Student addiction to pornography may lead to sexual addiction and may correlate to improper acting out and sexual deviance .
The internet can also affect academics. Beyond increasing opportunity for plagiarism, the internet is changing the way we think . Scholars from the UK have found that students read differently and think differently than we used to, ‘It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of “reading” are emerging as users “power browse” horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense.”
200 students from the University of Maryland were asked to go 24 hours without technology. The image above is a wordle representation of how they felt about the media restriction. This isn’t just an American problem, but a dilemma across cultures.
How should institutions and administrators respond to the internet addiction? What is our legal ability to monitor students’ individual internet use? Can administrators block sites they deem unhealthy to students (gambling, pornography, etc)? Schools may boast that they are wireless or provide nearly constant access to the internet – but is this healthy? One researcher suggests using cognitive behavioral therapy as a solution, perhaps something we could do through health and counseling centers. 84% of college counselors believe this is a real issue, and 93% of them have not received training in how to treat or diagnose it.
We have done a good job responding to alcohol and drug addiction on campus, how will we respond to internet addiction?
*Note: one researcher, using a non-validated instrument, found that internet addiction is on the decline.
Wow, internet adiction! I can't say that I have ever thought about excessively using the internet as an addiction. After reading your post, it brought to light the fact that this is a real problem. Many of the problems associated with internet addictions are true for most other addictions, if not all addictions.
ReplyDeleteSo what is our role as student affairs professionals? I do not think that it is our place to monitor the amount of time students spend on the internet. I do think that it would be positive to educate students on the risk of internet addiction and provide support for those who may think they are experiencing this problem. Although the internet is a great resource, it does not need to be used for everything. Maybe providing information through other outlets once in a while? This gets tricky because the internet is so convenient! I am not entirely sure what the answers to your questions are or how to fix the problem but you have got me thinking. For me spreading the knowledge that intent addiction exists is a good start!
As I read this blog I began to think that it may be referencing student affairs professionals (probably because I am amazed at the level of connection some of my peers have to the internet) but rather it was referencing the addition to the internet that our students are exhibiting.
ReplyDeleteAfter some thought, I am not sure if we could limit student use of the internet. To some extent I think we may add to it. If we consider the major shift to technology in classrooms, for homework, data entry, class, and general information its hard to blame the internet. We have made this shift.
I believe we could help some students with this addiction, similar to how we help some students with alcohol and drug use. But ultimately it is up to each individual student if they well admit and treat their addition. Or up to us as professionals in education to find a way to teach differently but still engaging.
I know people that probably fit into the category of internet addicts. I am also seeing some of my children's friends that seen to have a real issue of knowing when it is appropriate to surf the net and when it is not. I wish "we" could have cell-free zones like we have places that alcohol or smoking is not allowed. The smart phones are just adding to the idea of being addicted to the internet. But much like other addictions, like alcohol or smoking, our society can only handle such additions with increased education and awareness!
ReplyDeleteAs student affairs professionals, it is important to finds ways to engage students socially that can break students away from their internet. Encouraging social interaction and bonds that can remove the reliance on internet use such as Facebook and can only enhance a students ability to interact socially.
As a parent, I try and limit my children's time on the computer but this will only last until they leave for college. I also try to instill that when they are with friends or family that the use of the internet (or even texting, for that matter), is disrespectful. My daughter stated the other day that she went to lunch with a friend that was on Facebook the entire time they were at lunch and that she would not go to lunch with her again. So awareness can help. Maybe it doesn't resolve the problem but it is a start!
Oh the irony of this article while I am typing to a website...online. I am sure I have the same stories as everyone else for walking around and seeing people on their smart phones, bumping into other people, not having eye contact, and worse, when the phone buzzes, that awkward silence between two people in a conversation to see a) whose phone just went off, and b) what does it say?? Sorry, I had to check the Sunday football score on my phone...where was I...
ReplyDeleteEvery year, i teach a unit of the world religions, and one of my tasks is to see which student can live a whole week...including the weekend, without any luxury. One of the luxuries is the internet. The tough part is, every class nowadays uses the internet, computers, websites for gaging learners. As much as Apple has made life "easier" for everyone, the long term effects could be dramatic. I have found the younger generations have a horrific time spelling, an even worse time trying to find information if it is not given to them in less than 5 seconds. They get extremely frustrated with having to "look again." Socially, looking around campus, social gatherings, even bars, you see more people staring at their phone than actually talking to the people around them. It is incredible.
Social interaction needs to be the key. Cindy, maybe you have the right start here with your daughter. But I can tell you, the 5 years I have done this World Religions assignment, with over 100 participants each year, less than 10% can achieve the task...that to me is a major concern for our social well being as a future generation.
Although it is crazy to think that college students can rely so heavily on something that did not even exist when they were born, I have seen this addiction at work.
ReplyDeleteDuring the past few summers I have worked at a summer camp in the mountains of northern Arizona. When I started there in 2006, there was no cell phone service and it was only the second year the camp had wifi. But it was only available in limited buildings, as we were not allowed any forms of technology in front the children. All of our cell phones, computers and Ipods had to be stored in one cabin that was up the hill from main camp, and off limits during the day.
Every night at camp most of us were "free" from 9 to 11pm. We were allowed to go anywhere on camp property and do whatever we please, (within the guidelines of a very strict contract). In 2006 that time mostly consisted of playing card games, listening to music and venturing off into the woods with the hopes of spotting animals.
Over the next few summers, I heard many of the full time staff talk about how nights were very different back when they were a counselors (10 to 25 years ago). They would say that they could not believe how little human interaction occurred amoung the counselors, and the change did not happen until camp got internet.
In 2011, I understood what they were saying and how much had changed since 2006. From 9 to 11pm, almost every night this past summer I could walk into that cabin affectionately called the "LG", and the main room would consist counselors on their lap tops with their headphones plugged in. Most of them head bolted straight for the top of the hill right at 9pm, unable to wait any longer the get their hands on their cell phones and computers. Some were even incapable of waiting, it was not uncommon for counselors to sneak their smart phones into main camp, eventhough it was a firable offense, so they could stay connected during the day.
The most unbelievable part of it was the silence. In 2006 I never would have thought it possible for 50 counselors to sit in a room without talking to one another. If you looked carefully though, you would notice that counselors would be facebook chatting each other. It was this summer when I realized that the days of card games and staff bonding were gone, Facebook had stolen them.
So here's an issue that proves the point of this article - as I'm reading all of the comments about how sad this use of technology and the normalcy of it is, my brain immediately wanted to "like" what I was reading. But wait, there isn't a "like" button in life, or on this blog, or on my email, or...oh, the power of Facebook!
ReplyDeleteWe all have personal stories that we could link to this topic but I have to echo Holly's question about what we do as Student Affairs professionals? Especially when perhaps we're guilty ourselves? And what class doesn't require technology at this point?
I struggle with what we do as professionals when we are so seldom in the classroom. In my office where we employee students, do we block sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? Student Activities offices are contantly planning programming. Do they check phones at the door? Does Housing & Residential Education stop providing Wi-Fi during certain hours?
So the first option, blocking certain sites in an office setting, is perhaps an option. The second two seem overboard to me. I would imagine if you're checking technology at the door of an event, students aren't going to attend. If you limit wi-fi access, students will go elsewhere, whether for the few hours there are limits or they choose to go to a different institution.
As frustrating as it may seem, it appears that this is merely a change in times and we have to deal with the aftermath? Bringing awareness to the issue (like Cindy suggested) and if that doesn't work, helping students through their addiction and dealing with it as it comes? And let's not forget giving kudos to parents like Cindy for teaching their children right from wrong.
Great comments, thanks for sharing. Kim, your comment made me think about how important it is to "retreat" with our staffs to places where we don't rely on technology. I was thinking about the comment of how people instantly "plug in" during a break. Do people plug in to try to get away from those around them, or to stay connected? I suppose the answer is probably "yes" but, as a fan of the MBTI inventory, I wonder how people who prefer introversion and extroversion view connection and technology differently.
ReplyDeleteI read an article a month or so ago that talked about addiction to smartphones and the internet was a main reason. If you combine that with easy email access, the routine website checks (as if things really change all that much in 45 seconds), text message checks, and general messing we are conditioning ourselves into reliance. The article suggested that human beings are now not even aware of the ritualistic processes that they go through on their smartphones. The article goes on that we reach for our phone unconsciously and begin our ritual. Mine is email (work, gmail, school, coupons), then text check, then internet (cnn, aol, foxnews, espn), words with friends check, and then sometimes the weather. Then repeat five minutes later or 30 seconds... While i don't respond, or make a move, or read an article, I feel the need to catch the headlines, and at least see the word someone played. I don't get it, but this whole phenomenon seems real to me.
ReplyDeleteTimes are changing! What can be described as internet addiction today may be considered productivity in the work place in another generation.
ReplyDeleteHigher Educaton and education in general needs to get onboard with technology. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes that gaming and internet is the wave of the future and has started to offered colleges grants for introducing gaming into the curriculum (with statistics demonstrating that students "study" longer when gaming). In fact, either we do it ourselves (education) or private industry will figure out how to do it for us. :)
http://www.ehow.com/list_7543261_grants-community-colleges-game-design.html