Abstract
Internet is one of the most abused types of media although internet addiction is still not considered an official disorder (Patricelli, 2010). It’s easily noticeable how a lot of people could easily get addicted in using the internet and there are actually several factors that could contribute to such behavior.
The aim of this research was to be able to discover most, if not all, compelling effects of internet addiction. Some researches were so far able to provide details and information about the factors that could lead to internet addiction and that was the research gap that this research was supposed to fill. We are to investigate the effects of internet addiction by using physical, social and psychiatric examinations in measuring the outcomes of each subject. This research study will have a total of 50 subjects. 25 will go to the control group who according to the initial screening were not diagnosed to have internet addiction problems. The remaining 25 shall belong to the test group and these are people who have problems with internet addiction for a minimum of 1 year already.
The method used in choosing the research subjects would be the simple random sampling method to limit bias and to prevent compromise on the results of the tests and outcome measures. Subjects should be aged from 16-25 because this is the age range that is usually exposed with the internet and its different patterns. The implication of such study lies on the improvement of way of life of people who are exposed to the use of internet and other computer services. The result of this study could then serve as a guide in determining whether they already have their lives affected because of internet addiction which in turn is a common problem in today’s high tech generation.
Importance for Policy Makers
According to Chak and Leung (2004), shyness and locus of control and other social and behavioral discrepancies are often associated with internet addiction. Some of the best examples according to past studies reviewed by Chak and Leung have enumerated loneliness, anxiety, self-consciousness, depression, lack of confidence, low self-esteem and even violence as some of possible negative effects of being exposed to the different behavioral patterns and mechanisms in the internet.
What’s alarming here is the fact that internet addiction not only occurs on a population under a certain age group. It could occur both on kids as well as on adults. By conducting another exploratory study about the harmful effects of internet on an individual, the evidences provided by past researchers would be more updated and would be able to cover a wider scale, through this research. Getting the latest trends and updates from studies and researches is an important task that law and policy makers have to consider.
As an example, since there are evidences that were able to prove the negative effects of internet addiction on an individual’s life and the sample population that that evidence used is considerably large (large sample populations could be used for generalizations), then such could serve as their basis in updating the old laws about the proper use of the internet as well as making new laws that could address the discovered problems which is actually the aim of this research.
Some of the policies and laws that could use some revisions once results of studies with much larger sample sizes include privacy policies since authorities might have to slightly invade the privacy of internet users if they are to establish full force in enforcing their would-be passed ordinances.
Internet addiction in relation with theories of poverty and inequality
There are a lot of people who are jobless these days and any form of addiction could usually lead to poverty. According to the United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (2012), there is indeed a strong link between addiction, no matter what type of addiction it is, and poverty. The inequality part could also be somehow related because not all people are able to diagnose that they are already suffering from a particular type of addiction and it could lead to serious conditions later if left untreated. Without the right amount of resources and access to the required continuum to transition out of addiction, poverty will most likely result and partly, inequality between citizens is a contributing factor.
There is limited to very few amounts of resources available to rehabilitate and educate internet addicts probably because government officials do not pay much attention to such issues because internet addiction is kind of a new thing and it isn’t even considered as an official type of addiction although its existence is clearly evident. This is basically also why there is a need to conduct studies that aims to enlighten the public especially the authorities that there internet addiction exists and it is quickly spreading like a virus.
References
Patricelli, K. Internet Addiction and Media Issues. Centerline, 2010. Web. http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=37608&cn=66.
Chak, K., & Leung L. Shyness and locus of control as predictors of internet addiction and internet use. Cyberpsychol Behav., 2004. Print.
UMSPSAR. Addiction and Poverty Models. UMSPSAR, 2012. Web. http://www.umspsarv.org/work/model-projects/addiction-poverty.
