Too much internet for our teens...need opinions!!

[Bassibabes]

Morning ladies and gents,

I've recently started a degree and have to do a project on the internet which I've decided will be specifically about internet usage and internet addiction in our children, particularly our teenagers and young adults.

As a mother of a daughter who is 14 and two sons, aged three and seven, I do feel that they are constantly surrounded by gadgets and gizmos which hook up to the internet and have started to get more and more concerned about what they are exposed to and how this effects them. My daughter has a laptop and an iphone (hand down from me!) and my son has a new iPad mini and my little one has a DS, but is efficient in the use of all tablets and smart phones. I know that this might seem extreme, but I don't think I'm the only parent who's children have these gadgets and knows how to use them. We all know that giving the children access to the internet and allowing them to use these things, helps us get a much needed moment's peace and quiet, even to put the washing on, or Heaven forbid, grab a shower hehe!

The main focus of the project is access to the internet and how this effects our children, thinking that this generation are going to be going out to get jobs and raise families of their own at some point. I have been reading lots of studies about young adults addicted to online gaming and know that this is a serious problem for some people. My daughter doesn't seem to be able to function without a laptop and/or phone. She walks around the house carrying her laptop while talking to her friends on Skype, with one ear in earphones listening to music on her phone - multitasking on a whole different level!

I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have about your children using the internet and gadgets and how you think it will all be in five or ten years time. The subject fascinates and scares me and I'm interested in other opinions about it.

Is access to the internet a human right? How do we limit use on the internet, especially for our children? What do you think is TOO MUCH time online? Can you go for an hour without checking your emails or surfing the web? Do you play online games? Are you addicted to Facebook or Twitter? Can you survive without the internet on your phone or at home? Have you personally experienced an internet addiction or know someone who has?

Anyway, thanks for your time :) feel free to PM me with any private thoughts...

Michelle

[cory]

Interesting debate to be having on Mumsnet...

Too much internet for middle-aged mothers: now that is a debate I think we should be having

[Astelia]

I don't think access to the internet is a human right, but it is nice and educational- like having access to a tv only better.

[MuchBrighterNow]

I think the ease at which dc can research / problem solve etc. with the aid of the internet is making school and traditional linear forms of learning seem terribly outdated. I think a lot of Dc see not much parity between the work they do at school and the online world.

IMO they spend far too much time connecting virtually and not enough time interacting in real life..... I do recognise however that they have been born into a world that is utterly different from the one we were born into. Multitasking in a digital way will be very much part of their future. Who knows if our dc are at the advent of a creative extraordinary new age ,or a doomed generation of disfunctional screen addicts !

[tropicalfish]

My 15 yo dd is on the internet, it seems to me from the minute she gets home to when it gets turned off at 10pm, barring the time she spends on her hair!
She appears to get hardly any homework from school.

She is not very chatty and does not have a friendly or affable personality. She doesnt make communication easy but hammers away on facebook.

I was very strict when she was younger and basically barred all electronic game consoles until she was 11 when she got an ipod touch. I am very pleased I did this, as she spent all her spare time reading.