The effect of overexposure to the teenage brain

UNDATED (WKRC) – Internet addiction is a growing issue in a world where everybody has a computer in their pocket, and it’s affecting teenagers.

Compulsive internet usage has been on the rise in recent years, and it can seep into every aspect of someone’s life, from mental and physical health to social and academic wellbeing. As computers and internet access becomes more and more pervasive throughout modern society, average screen time has risen to three hours per day.

Many people even recognize and acknowledge that they use the internet too much. Over 30 million of the United Kingdom’s 50 million internet users acknowledge a degree of compulsion to their internet usage, and that it was negatively affecting their lives.

Teens are at a particularly vulnerable state for internet addiction, as their average screen time is double that of older generations (six to nine hours a day in teens against two to four in adults, excluding work), and still have developing brains. Teenage internet addiction can intensify existing addictive behaviors and impede normal development.

A study from UCLA observed children aged 10 to 19 who had been officially diagnosed with internet addiction. The researchers continued tracking the 237 participants for 10 years.

Teenagers diagnosed with internet addiction exhibited compulsions to rapidly click mice or scroll social media, and had less average activity in the critical thinking and decision-making section of the brain. Internet addiction can also cause anxiety, depression, and social isolation.

Of course, the internet itself presents risks even when the threat of addiction is ignored. Obscene or pornographic material, cyberbullying, and hackers can all add to the distress.

The internet has so many benefits, which is even something experts on adolescence can agree with, but it cannot start interfering with daily responsibilities. Students who are falling behind due to social media usage or acting out due to content consumption demonstrate how easy it is to let an “inconsequential way to kill time” damage your life.

The internet will only become a bigger and better tool for progress, work, and entertainment, but we need to be responsible about our usage of it. Otherwise, we risk losing hours of time to the infinite scrolling feed that could instead be spent on doing things we enjoy with people we love.