Essay Example on Parents: Helping Your College-Going Child Tackle Internet Addiction

Internet addiction is a concept not well comprehended by many parents. While some may be aware of its existence, they are unaware of the implications that this behavioral addiction could have on their college-going children. They are equally likely to possess minimal information on how they can address the issue to come up with sustainable solutions to the problem. Parents may not be aware that behavioral addiction disorders are now officially recognized in American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual for mental disorders. It is therefore crucial to design a medium to communicate as efficiently and exhaustively as possible the importance of extending resources to handle internet addiction.

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Brochures remain the appropriate medium for the task at hand. A well-designed brochure serves as an essential way to introduce a person to a relatively new concept. The front of the brochure could introduce internet addiction while pointing out its clinical nature. The back of the brochure will contain information on how to handle internet addiction including the contacts of individual professionals and organizations who can aid a student with Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). The body of the brochure will contain the causes of internet addiction, symptoms that indicate a student is likely addicted, effects of Internet addiction, and the triggers that induce a person to overindulge on the addictive behavior. Information on the emotional costs of Internet addiction should take a significant amount of space. This places focus on the importance of nurturing relationships between parents and their children to reduce alienation among students which could be a driver of internet addiction. It is crucial to make the brochure visually appealing. As such, the brochure will have pictures complementing the worded information. The font selected needs to be large enough for a mature audience. More so, the readability of the brochure is enhanced by having a background that contrasts with the font color.

The distribution of brochures is as important as their design. Placing brochures within the reach of the target audience maximizes their impact. There are rare occasions where parents of college students are gathered together. This may include admission and graduation. The brochures could be distributed at these events. They could also be placed strategically in locations where parents spend time waiting for services such as reception rooms in the administration buildings. Brochures can also accompany outgoing mail addressed to parents. Another option is developing a printable brochure on the school's website.

Brochures are the medium of choice in this aspect given they offer several advantages. They are inexpensive compared to other marketing tools. After designing the brochures, reproducing them in bulk results in lower costs per unit printed (Molina and David Martin-Consuegra 726). Brochures also ensure that the message reaches the target audience if they are distributed correctly. In the case of parents, the brochures could be mailed even without any accompanying document. A brochure in addition has enough space to provide an extensive description of a concept. For instance, a trifold design could contain more information that a postcard. The use of graphics in brochures help in emphasizing certain aspects of the message. Brochures can also be distributed using multiple channels such as shopping malls, newspapers, mailing and bulletin boards among others (Molina and David Martin-Consuegra 723). The brochure's ease of distribution makes them ideal to convey information to a target audience. Brochures also act as tangible reference materials that can be used later. In case, a parent, does not read he brochure after they receive it, they can always retrieve it and examine its content.

Work Cited

Molina, Arturo, Mar Gomez, and David Martin-Consuegra. "Tourism marketing information and destination image management." African Journal of Business Management 4.5 (2010): 722-728.