Group 1: Jaspreet D, Hisham A., Momoko H., Quan W.

Us
We are T03-Group1, Jaspreet D., Hisham A., Momoko H., and Quan W..

The Subject
We decided that we will discuss internet addiction.

The Argument
The internet has become an one of the most used applications in our daily lives for emails, research, gaming, or just keeping in touch with friends but with all these applications of the internet an addictive behavior can occur where users of the internet get highly addicted to the applications they can use on the internet. this behavior can be called internet addiction or (IAD)

Cons of Internet
1. Pornography: is a very serious issues concerning. This can lead people to loose their jobs, failed marriages and destroy families.A study said that people who are addicted to pornography have difficult time recovering from addition than cocaine addiction, because cocaine user can get the drug out their system.But pornographic images stay in brain forever.

2. Theft: major disadvantage of internet is privacy. The messages sent over the internet can be easily snooped and tracked raveling who is talking to whom and what they are talking.People surfing the internet is constantly giving their person information to website.People giving personal information can cause financial and fake identity threats.

3. Internet Addiction: The over use of internet could lead to internet addiction. It's a growing problem a today's society.

4. Social and Family Problem: Children visiting the internet has become a big concern. When children are online they can be attractive into something dangerous.Children don't realize they could be talking to harmful person.when children become addicted to internet, they withdraws themselves from social and family life.Children have hard time communicating with people in person.

Definition of Internet Addiction
It is difficult to to give internet addiction a clear and exact definition, as internet addiction cover wide verity of different addictions. Internet addiction disorder or (IAD)is a behavioral disorder the refers to the excessive use of the internet or a certain aspect of the internet for example chatting, and on-line gaming.

Symptoms of Internet Addiction
internet addiction symptoms vary depending on what aspect of the internet is being used and how severe the addiction is. Basic symptoms if internet addiction disorder include

Physical symptoms include:

- excessive use of the internet for no benefit what so ever.

- poor grades and job performance.

- lack of sleep from staying long nights just to use the internet.



- Fatigue

- low or no physical activities

mental and social symptoms include

- Apathy

- racing thoughts

- noticeable decrease in social relationships

- lying on the time spent online

Avoiding Internet Addiction
There are always some ways to avoid internet addictions. Here are some examples of how to avoid internet addiction:

1. Family
Remember what is most important to the life. For example, family. Family should always comes first, so avoid using a computer at home all the time when family is there. Let all the other family members know that they are more important than computers.



2. Job
Jobs are important too, so do not to disregard jobs. Everyone needs work for money to support their living expenses. However, if people, those who are addicted to online chatting, chat online on the job may get fired. Always follow the internet usage policy in in the work place.



3. Study
Students should finish all their homework before they play or use the computers for leisure. Studying well is beneficial to students instead of good at gaming on computers.



4. Exercise
Make sure to exercise and do physical activities often. Staying too long in the front of computers is harmful to the body, so at least do a little bit exercise every hour if working with computers.



5. Help around the house
Another example is to help in preparing meals at home. Parents will be happier if their sons or daughters help them to cook instead of surfing internet. This will also mean they can leave computers for a while and interact with friends and family offline.



6. Calling
Although internet messages are very popular and fast to contact people, phone calls are more beneficial to people's social skills and help them go away from computers.



7. Timing
It is good to limit the computer usage time, and it may be a major method to avoid internet addiction. Once people can control the time they spend on the computers, they can avoid addiction on computers. The best to limit the computer time is to try to make a computer schedule, to show when can turn on the computers and when can not.



Statistic


-The use of internet has increased tremendously over the past years. The survey's show the internet use around the globe. The survey shows that Asia and Europe are among continent that use the internet more than other continent. In Asia specially China is country that is advancing everyday.The internet over use could lead to serious problems.

1. Online Gaming Addiction
Online gaming addiction is an addiction to online video games, role- playing games or any interactive gaming environment available through the internet. Gamers who become hooked show clear signs of addiction. When gamer can’t fallow their gaming routine they feel restless or irritable. Gamer show social withdrawal from family and friends when their addicted to online games. Children who play four to five hours of games have no time for socializing, doing homework, or playing sports. Children are also taken away from their normal social development. The online gaming addiction has led parents across the globe concerned about their children, who are addicted to online gaming. Parents are having hard time understanding what online gaming addiction is and how they can solve this problem. The compulsive gaming can make people lose their jobs and relationships. Research shows that one way to recover from online gaming addiction is to use computer with more responsibly. Online gaming is hard addiction to over come.

ADDICTION WARNING SIGNS FOR GAMING

-People increasing their play time.

-Thinking about online gaming, when involved in other activates.

-People playing online games to escape from their real life problems and depression.

-Lying to friends and families in order to spend more time playing games

-Start neglecting family and friends

2. Online Gambling Addiction
online gambling addiction, has many different definitions which include 'pathological gambling,' and 'compulsive gambling'. online gambling addiction is an addiction to play games of chance online. while online gambling can be fun and profitable to a certain extent it can be dangerous. online gambling can occur from reasons such as emotional problems similar to depression or anxiety

symptoms of online gambling include:

- unpaid bills - stealing and selling of belonging etc.

3. Cyber-Relational Addiction
1. Cyber-Relational Addictions' meaning:

People, who addict to online chat-rooms, internet messaging, social networking sites, and online gaming relationships and they can not stop themselves to continuous on the developed relations with other people, are cyber-relational addicts.

2. Cyber-Relational Addictions' cons:

Cyber-Relational addiction is the most harmful to addicts' personal lives. Addicts always share their feeling, include happiness and unhappiness, to the other persons online. They are not actually talking face to face. They are more like talking to something unreal. They are not developing their social skills, yet they may have mental problems since they can not really talk to someone face to face. Also, since addicts always talk to their online friends, they will talk less to their family members. It is a big damages to the relationships in the family. Family members can not save addicts from dangers since addicts do not want to talk to anyone else except their online friends.

Effects of Internet Addiction
The effects of computer addiction can be classified based on the level to which a person is addicted, and most commonly effects younger generations. Statistics Canada found that more than 25% of the children between the ages 2-17 were found to be either overweight or obese. A major factor is, that in our current wealthy society younger generations have a greater ease of access to technologies such as; computers, games, and television. By doing this we tend to spend more time sitting down, instead of getting the right amount of exercise that is needed.



As society begins to rely more heavily on technology we see that important life skills, such as social skills, are being lost. Our society is a business oriented, which makes social skills essential to communication within business as well as with business associates. As we spend more time on the computer, we lose connections between friends and family, which will eventually lead to people no longer attending social gatherings, and spending less time outside.

It has been found in countries such as; China and South Korea that computer addiction can be deadly. Within these countries there have been cases where people have died after spending more then 3 days on the computer. In 2007 a Chinese man died after spending 3 days gaming in an internet café. Countries, like China, have started making special counseling centers to deal with gaming addictions; in addition China has applied strict laws limiting the use of internet cafes. Another problem that can be related to computer addiction is that increased computer use is associated with failures which can lead to dropping out of school.



To get help with Computer Addiction

1.	You could talk to your doctor or local mental health service.

2.	Making specific time limits. For example, you can make ‘computer-free’ parts of the day where you say, “Okay I’m going to get all of my homework done between these times and that’s the only time I’ll use the computer. After this I won’t go on the internet.

3.	Install software to restrict access to website that you visit frequently. ( you could even ask a friend to set the password for you, so you won’t be able to access it at all)

4.	Ask your family members to include you with whatever there doing like, for example movie nights, or just playing games, etc...to get your mind off of the computer.

Conclusion
Our group would like to conclude that even though Internet has many positive influences on us, there is still more negative things than the positives. Technology can be a friend to our modern day society however, as a population we need to be aware of the dangers it poses as well. Computers can be very helpful, to accomplish school and work tasks, yet, it is important to limit the time which we spend on the computer to avoid the possibility of computer addiction. This is shown with evidence from around the world, and can be achieved through the four points we mentioned and many more.