Technoogy Addiction
The most important phenomenon that changes our social structure is technology, which we encounter in every area of our lives. Technology is an important power for human life. However, when technology is used at an addictive level, it becomes a phenomenon that makes life quite difficult. As a result of technology addiction, people have difficulty in meeting even their basic needs and start to spend all their time on technological tools and equipment.
According to research, young people spend an average of 3 hours and 20 minutes of their time on the internet, 3 hours on social media, and 2 hours and 58 minutes in front of the television. 89% of smartphone users between the ages of 18-24 look at their phones within 15 minutes of waking up. 74% of them look at their phones first thing in the morning. 25% do not remember being in a closed area without a mobile phone during the day (The Role of Civil Society in the Fight Against Substance Abuse and Addictions, 2020).
WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY ADDICTION?
Internet
Phone
Social Media
Games
Television
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF TECHNOLOGY ADDICTION?
A person spending too much time with technology, the first option that comes to mind at every moment being types of technology, starting to overshadow daily life and responsibilities
Technological tools (internet, social media, games) starting to overshadow a person's real life
Constantly sharing something on social platforms, virtual friends replacing real friends, becoming obsessed with followers
Starting to see successes achieved in social life as superior to real life successes
Starting to distance oneself from family, work, school and social life, becoming lonely
Spending more time on technology than planned
Developing restlessness, irritability and anger when staying away from technological tools
The situation where a person continues to use despite seeing the physical and psychological harms
(Ayhan and Köseliören, 2019).
WHAT ARE THE DAMAGES OF TECHNOLOGY ADDICTION?
Technology has many harms, including physical, psychological, social and spiritual.
Physically; the nutrition patterns of individuals addicted to technology can be disrupted. Individuals eat unhealthily and unbalanced in order to spend more time on technology. This situation causes various health problems in individuals. A sedentary life causes individuals to gain excessive weight. In addition, individuals' sleep patterns are disrupted. The aggressive behavior of individuals who do not have a sleep pattern increases and this can lead to various diseases.
Psychologically; individuals cannot control their willpower after a while. They acquire artificial heroes and companions for themselves in the social world. This situation leads to loneliness in time.
Socially; the individual begins to distance himself from the real world and people due to the time he spends in the social environment. Social skills are lost by not going out into the outside world. This situation brings various problems over the years.
Spiritually; spending excessive time in the social world harms the person's family ties. Spiritual value judgments are damaged by the things he is exposed to in the virtual world (Yeşilay, TBM 2021).
HOW SHOULD HEALTHY INTERNET USE BE?
First of all, children should be taught to set limits and take responsibility from an early age. It is harmful to have technological devices in the child's personal room during childhood. Therefore, the devices should be in common areas. Children should be talked about the time they spend on the internet. It should be learned what they do there, what kind of games they play and on which social media they spend time. In this way, it is possible to learn what the child experiences in social environments. Environments should be prepared for children where they can communicate and share with their friends not only on the internet but also face to face. It should be shown that face to face activities are of higher quality and more exciting than activities in the virtual world. It should be explained that information transferred to the internet can be copied very quickly and therefore personal and family private information should not be shared on the internet.
Remember that your children take you as an example. Therefore, parents should also be careful about their internet use. Being busy with your phone while communicating with them makes the child feel unimportant.
The internet environment offers opportunities for them to develop themselves in areas such as language learning, coding and software, design, digital photography and digital music. Let your children benefit from these opportunities provided by the internet.
General Directorate of Education and Guidance Services, Safe Internet Use)
WHAT TO DO?
First of all, addicted people need to be encouraged to the real world. People need to find the right peer groups and socialize with them. Children can be directed to beneficial activities such as sports, art and music. The family needs to communicate with the child in a healthy way. This will direct children to spend time with real people. Children's computers should be checked. However, this should be done without them feeling it. In addition, the places where technological devices are used can be changed. If the child uses the computer in his/her personal room, the computer can be started to be used in the living room.