The Downside of Internet Consumption among Children Research Paper

The Downside of Internet Consumption among Children - Research Paper Example Nowadays, the present generation would rather spend several hours using the computer than watching TV (Pavlik 267). This merely implies that whatever they want might just be acquired in an instant as almost everything is possible in just a matter of seconds. It is imperative to note, however, that the effects and the various influences of the rampant application of the internet among the youth may eventually create both constructive and detrimental impact on their development. Although the internet serves to be favorable and beneficial most of the time, its detrimental effects outweigh its advantages in most cases. Moreover, Cheon significantly notes â€Å"children’s exposure to negative internet content relates to the social context of internet usage†, where the family plays a significant part on their susceptibility to some unpleasant subject matter which can be easily accessed over the internet (3). Worst of all, children are always prone to suffer almost all sorts o f health-related issues even at their very young age, and might as well become more indolent and insensible because of too much reliability and addiction on the advances of technology. The main essence of this essay seeks to point out those children less than 12 years old should not yet be introduced to the cyber world. Furthermore, it seeks to highlight the disadvantages of the internet to children as evidenced by their inappropriate exposure to the media. II. Internet Definition, Origin, and History The Internet is precisely the most profitable contribution and seemingly the best application to the usage of computers in this era of technological development. It mainly refers to the â€Å"interconnection of networks,† which permits other computers to communicate and transfer data through a system of multiple devices (Goel 196). The availability of information becomes more exclusive as the internet offers different services in just a matter of seconds. Although the internet c ontinues to exist in this highly advanced and complicated society, not everyone knows where and how it started. Goel notes that computer networking originated at the US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where it established the ARPANET in the 1970s that eventually developed the foundations of â€Å"internetworking† (197). Consequently, the stages that accompany the progress of the internet certainly made a quantum leap that made communication and interaction go across the borders of wireless connectivity. Purpose The frequent use of the internet severely revolutionized the current trend in the information technology (IT) industry where it created a much more complex and structured function in the delivery of the service it provides to its users. Hock argued that originally, the primary reason for the invention of the internet was plainly to design â€Å"a communications channel† which grants the comfort of data transmission where resources are readily available to the other users (2). In an academic research, conducted by the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the internet simply evolved to make what used to be complicated and difficult become more convenient and satisfactory. In this Information Age, the internet apparently does not only serve to make communication favorable to most, but it too has gone a long way to exceed limitations. Demographics of Users The massive application of the intern