Topical Teaching

If kids are addicted to internet, Facebook and Twitter, it’s not as if their parents have no options. Reading about how fearful parents are about theeffects of their children’s addictions, I couldn’t help but wonder why they felt so powerless.

A third of all UK parents believe that their children are in danger from the internet and 80 per cent think it is possible to become addicted to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, a new study suggests. It also found that a third of parents even believe that the web can “rewire” a person’s brain.

Internet charity the Nominet Trust, who commissioned the research, say there is no evidence that social networks are harmful in themselves, and that there is no neurological evidence of the web changing brains.

Facebook and Twitter, they suggested, usually in fact reinforce existing friendships, while even playing video games has been show to improve coordination and ‘visual processing skills’.

Parents can take control over their children’s internet access.  Some recommendations include:

• Capping time on the internet
• No internet access in their bedrooms
• Ensuring that they do not have a Facebook page if they are under 13.
• Imposing strict bedtimes.

If you do not hinder access to the web and have no rules or involvement in how it is used, you have something to worry about.  This addiction is very real and requires a proactive response.