Paper Example on Balancing Act: The Pros and Cons of Students' Internet Use

Restriction of Internet Use to Students

The Internet is essential in students' daily lives because it allows them to learn quickly and easily; the use of the Internet by students also helps them connect with other students and share ideas; however, internet use should be restricted to students.

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Students' use of the internet makes them unfocused (Carbonell, Xavier, et al. 475). Almost every student has a social media account. Students spend their free time on their social media accounts in school, rather than using preps and classwork. Students use the internet to watch online videos during class time rather than concentrating on their classwork.

Furthermore, other students use the school’s internet to bully their fellow students (Carbonell et al. 475). For many years, bullying has existed although through different forms. Traditionally, bullying has either involved physical bullying or verbal bullying. With advancements in technology, bullies are now known to use the internet to hide and not be easily caught. If internet access gets limited, the bullies will lack a platform for bullying their fellow students. The limitation of internet access to students can also help minimize cyber rumors among students (Carbonell et al. 475). Hackers who steal their fellow students’ accounts can also be stopped through regulation of internet use. With limited access to the internet, victims of bullying can find peace of mind and even better school results.

Additionally, the use of the internet limits books for research (Carbonell et al. 475). This is because most students find it easier to research their school work from the internet than books. The internet's information is usually smaller than the information in books (Carbonell et al. 475). Therefore, the old learning method is usually ignored, with students preferring the new Internet use approach. However, the old learning style is considered more effective as compared to the modern method. Students also use the internet to play games when teachers are in class. The practice is diminishing for teachers since they wake up early to attend to the students. Therefore, parents should also be at the forefront and restrict internet use by their children for a better future.

In the current generation, technology, particularly the internet, needs to be limited to students (Li, Wen, et al.). The limitation should specifically be on those sites that are not suitable for viewing by the students. The sites may have an impact on the way that children get to interpret matters affecting society. Students should have limited access to the internet since some sites such as pornographic sites usually affect the students' way of thinking. The sites can make the children get negative thoughts, which may lead them to malicious activities, bringing society problems. Students should use the internet to get relevant information, which is essential for helping them in their school work.

Most students lack the maturity required to use the internet (Rashid, Tabassum, and Hanan 605). The students end up misusing the internet, and at the end of the day, it corrupts their morals rather than helping them. For this reason, I feel that students' internet use should only be limited to the purpose of acquiring knowledge. Additionally, I think that adults should take responsibility for restricting internet use by students. If students begin engaging in online platforms, their morals get affected, and thus, their concentration on school matters is also affected. Therefore, the students' values and morality are negatively impacted.

Mentality and Relationships

Students' wastage of time is one reason why there should be restrictions on internet use by students (Rashid et al. 608). Internet addiction brings many problems, including lifestyle changes, for students to spend most of their time using the internet. The reduction of social relationships is another effect of internet use addiction whereby students ignore their friends and families. Excessive internet use causes students to lack the time to physically communicate with their friends and families since they spend most of their time online. Other problems include educational problems which lead to low grades. For this reason, therefore, internet use by students should have some limitations.

Bad websites

While exploring the internet, students can come across bad websites such as pornographic websites that corrupt their morals. The websites can teach students bad morals, such as making love, and even lead to bad scenarios such as rape and sexual abuse. The internet can lead to sexual crimes that often occur on social media platforms (Rashid et al. 609). In most cases, the victims are usually school-age women who can easily be lured by the offenders, molested, and in some cases, the victims are usually raped. Studies have shown that the internet has contributed to many instances of rape and sexual harassment in school-going women. While students spend most of their time on the internet, sexual offenders find it easy to lure them into sexual activities. For this reason, therefore, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders, with the government being the largest stakeholder, should establish ways to limit the use of the internet by students.

Physical effects

Due to taking much time on the internet, students become less interested in other activities such as physical play. Nowadays, computer games have become famous among young people. Thus, most students prefer to spend their free time in front of screens playing video games (Dell’Osso, Liliana, et al. 1098). The students who have had access to the internet for the last four years have become internet lovers compared to sports lovers. Therefore, the internet negatively impacts their hobbies, making the students lazy and weak. Studies have revealed that the use of the internet can lead to back and muscle complications. Additionally, the screens can lead to eye damage for those students who love spending most of their time on the internet.

Cheating

The internet has led to the establishment of many search engines such as Google and Yahoo, which could assist students in cheating (Dell’Osso, et al. 1098). Additionally, social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Messenger can also lead to students cheating. Students can apply search engines to search for answers online during the time of a school test. Additionally, students can also use social media platforms to communicate and ask for answers. The above activities usually affect the test's quality since the results do not portray their real academic attributes.

The ministry of Education, after realizing this, has brought about the restriction on students carrying their phones into examination centers. However, the students can apply some other channels out of control for the government and schools to cheat. The limitation of internet access by students during class time and during tests can help curb the problem since students will have the ability to concentrate. Through so doing, an improvement in the students' grades will be recorded.

Additionally, some students use the internet to hack into the school’s system, whereby they get access to examination materials. Others hack into the school systems to change their real grades and add false grades. In the case that students get to change their grades, the education system gets compromised. Therefore, this is enough reason for the government to come up with ways to regulate internet use by students.

Social effects

The excessive use of the internet by students affects their social lives. Students' use of the internet for long durations can lead them to social isolation and communication problems (Dell’Osso, et al. 1098). Personal relationships are essential for students as they enable them to share life experiences and also work together.

Additionally, studies have shown that social isolation leads to low grades for students. The students lack communication skills, which enables individuals to make new friends. Although internet use enables people to communicate on social media platforms, it makes them lose on the face to face communication. Message misinterpretation is another negative effect brought about by the excessive use of the internet by students. A student should use face-to-face communication compared to internet communication because it helps them gain communication skills, supporting the students in developing relationships.

Conclusion

The internet acts as one of the essential tools of learning for students. During learning, students can take breaks by using the internet to play and relax. All students should have the ability to use the internet and internet devices such as laptops to assist in learning. However, a price comes with the advancements in internet use. Students' uncontrolled use of the internet can lead them to bad websites such as pornographic websites, negatively impacting their morals and lives.

Works Cited

Carbonell, Xavier, et al. "Problematic use of the internet and smartphones in university students: 2006–2017." International journal of environmental research and public health 15.3 (2018): 475.

Dell’Osso, Liliana, et al. "Problematic internet use in university students attending three superior graduate schools in Italy: is autism spectrum related to suicide risk?." International journal of environmental research and public health 16.7 (2019): 1098.

Li, Wen, et al. "Diagnostic criteria for problematic internet use among US university students: A mixed-methods evaluation." PloS one 11.1 (2016): e0145981.

Rashid, Tabassum, and Hanan Muhammad Asghar. "Technology use, self-directed learning, student engagement, and academic performance: Examining the interrelations." Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016): 604-612.