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Are We Addicted to the Computer? Some psychologists are concerned about computer addiction. They say obsessive use of computers to surf the web, join chat room discussions, and play video games is a real and growing addiction.
In the last few years the Internet has become a widespread phenomenon around the world. People have started to use the computer like they used to watch TV. It is, in fact, very comfortable just to sit down and have a chat with somebody from South Africa about fishing and get some important advice. Whenever we get hungry, we simply order a pizza through the Internet. While we are waiting for the food, we send an important e-mail to a business concerning some stock sales for tomorrow. To
make a long story short, we just don't have much
time for communication with people anymore.
Besides, there is so much information available
that when we once start surfing the Internet, we
are hardly able to drag ourselves away from the
computer. There are a lot of people who are
addicted to TV and watch it 5 to 7 hours a day,and
I believe using the computer is becoming an
addiction, too.
María Eugenia Treu from Brazil Addiction to the Internet is becoming a very serious issue. If I had heard about this a few years ago, I would probably have found it hard to believe, but today it is something that is increasingly true.You might think that these kinds of things could never happen to you, but it is really not true. Sometimes when you are depressed and feeling lonely, if you go to the Internet, it can provide such good entertainment that you can get used to it. Then, the next step could be addiction. The
most important thing is to make sure that you are
not spending too much time in front of the screen.
Although it seems to be easy to drag yourself away
from the Web, it is simply not so. You have to make
an effort to put some limits that you can not
trespass.
Nicole Meier from Switzerland It always starts harmless. A friend tells you about these new uncharted territories—the chatrooms. Why should I chat? Usually you have some free time left and you are curious and want to be up-to-date. Sometimes you meet your friends in the chatroom instead of giving them a call. Later, you get more interested in other anonymous chatterers and find a common ground. Most times you chitchat with each other, sometimes you write with phantasy and give an impression to them. After seeing for a while the same nickname of a chatterer, you want to know more about them. You want to meet them each day, each hour, each minute so you won't miss any small talk or laughter. It
starts to be harmful when you prefer to stay on
while your friends go out for dinner and have fun.
Maybe you won't have time to prepare a meal for
yourself and eat only fast food. If you stay online
all night long, you won;t get enough sleep.
Finally, you can say that you are addicted to
chatrooms. This will be a serious problem in our
society in the future.
Paola Monsalve from Mexico Have you seen cartoons where children are turning into real addicts to electronic stuff? Unfortunately, this is happening in real life; more and more children are becoming addicted to computers, television, and video games. These things are all-consuming for them; they are hooked on them. Only if they are in front of a screen do they feel fulfilled. Clearly, this is a serious problem, and as long as parents don't do anything to stop it, children won't have the willpower to drag themselves away from these things.
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