Internet Addiction Disorder Among the Youth in Colleges

Transmittal Letter Date To From: Subject: Recommendation Report Reducing Internet Addiction Disorder Among the Youth in Colleges across the U.S Attached is my report for the study on ways of “Reducing Internet Addiction Disorder among the Youth Across Colleges in the United States.” Having been a victim of this disorder, this topic piqued my interest. Additionally, I have seen close friends and family members fall victims to the same. I have determined the causes of internet addiction disorder as well as provided recommendations on ways of dealing with them. This study was conducted by reviewing secondary sources as well as collecting primary data. I established that the reason many youths are addicted to the internet is because of their depression. Therefore, to them, being online at all times provides the best escape mechanism. On the internet, they can easily get lost and remain faceless. I recommend motivational interviewing as the best strategy that can be used to help the internet addicted youth. The strategy has been used over the years to help those people with substance addiction issues, and it has often worked in their favor. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for taking your time to review my recommendation report. In case of any questions, you are free to contact me on……. Recommendation Report for Reducing Internet Addiction Disorder among the Youth Prepared For: Betsy Devos The United States Secretary of Education Prepared By: University of Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Date: Abstract Recommendation Report for Reducing Internet Addiction Disorder among the Youth Prepared By: University of Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences This study was conducted to determine ways of reducing internet addiction problem among the college youths in the U.S. Given that a lot of the youth now spends their time on the internet, and they do not have time for other things that are important for their well-being, this study needs to be looked into further so that effective ways of helping these youth can be determined. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the major causes of internet addiction among the college youth, its consequences and ways of reducing it. To gather the relevant information, primary and secondary data was gathered. In the study, it was established that depression is the major cause of internet addiction as the youth believe that spending too much time on the internet will give them the relief they need. The consequences vary, but internet addicted people are likely to be unproductive and develop health issues. Therefore, the best way to handle this issue is to encourage the youth to seek for medical help while also creating awareness to avoid more youths from falling victims of internet addiction disorder. Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u List of Illustrations PAGEREF _Toc1581494 \h 5Introduction PAGEREF _Toc1581495 \h 6Methods PAGEREF _Toc1581496 \h 8Task 1: Determining the top causes of internet addiction PAGEREF _Toc1581497 \h 8Task 2: Determining the consequences of Internet addiction among the youth PAGEREF _Toc1581498 \h 8Task 3: Determining ways of reducing internet addiction disorder among the youth PAGEREF _Toc1581499 \h 8Results PAGEREF _Toc1581500 \h 8Task 1: Determining top causes of internet addiction PAGEREF _Toc1581501 \h 9Task 2: Determining consequences of internet addiction PAGEREF _Toc1581502 \h 10Task 3: Determining was of reducing internet addiction disorder PAGEREF _Toc1581503 \h 10Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc1581504 \h 12Recommendation PAGEREF _Toc1581505 \h 12References PAGEREF _Toc1581506 \h 14Appendix PAGEREF _Toc1581507 \h 15 List of Illustrations TOC \h \z \c "Figure" Figure 1: An example of an internet addicted youth using two computers and three mobile phones in an isolated room PAGEREF _Toc1577218 \h 6 Figure 2: Too much time spent on the internet PAGEREF _Toc1577219 \h 9 Figure 3: Top causes of internet addiction PAGEREF _Toc1577220 \h 10 Introduction The study was conducted to address the increase of internet addiction disorder among the youth especially those in colleges. I have been a victim of this problem, but I was lucky to overcome it. Every day, I see colleagues I love waste away on the internet and become withdrawn from their real-life friends. I feel that it is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed to offer the youth an opportunity for success in the future. Karacic & Oreskovic (2017) noted that more youth use the internet for extended periods and they isolate themselves from any meaningful physical interaction. Instead, they put their focus almost entirely on the internet and never engage in broader life events. The youth find it quite hard to separate themselves from the internet. Almost all aspects of their lives revolve around the internet (Dentzel, n.d). When they want to do assignments, they can find the information they need easily on the internet. When they want to submit their assignment, they can do so over the internet. This also extends to reading news and having innovative ways of chatting and communicating with friends such as through Skype calls and other social media platforms. Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: An example of internet-addicted youth using two computers and three mobile phones in an isolated room (source: /science/maria-konnikova/internet-addiction-real-thing) Internet-addicted youth seem to derive pleasure from their isolation. There the only source of comfort is being alone on the internet and chatting with people they never even know of. To the youth, the internet has replaced all other forms of passing the time (Flora, 2015). Internet-Addicted youth have become accustomed to living their real lives and virtual online lives. Flora (2015) established that 63% of her sample population agreed that they talked with total strangers on the internet The number of affected youth is increasingly on the rise. More youth have their lives continuously destroyed by addiction to the internet. Most of them run the risk of developing mental health issues. In investigating this issue, I will focus on the following: * Determining the top causes of internet addiction among youth. * You are determining the consequences of internet addiction among youth. * You are determining ways of overcoming internet addiction disorder among the youth. To conduct the study, I issued out questionnaires to a total of 70 students. From my study, I established that depression and psychological issues are the main causes of internet addiction. The addicted youth view the internet as an escape mechanism where they can lose themselves and find relief from stressful life situations. Therefore, I recommend motivational interviewing as the best strategy that can be used to help the internet addicted youth. The strategy has been used over the years to help those people with substance addiction issues, and it has often worked in their favor. The government can work with the affected youth through initiating and sponsoring these motivational interviews for them. Methods To complete this task, it is divided into the following three categories. * You are determining the top causes of internet addiction. * You are determining the consequences of internet addiction. * We are discussing actions that can be taken to reduce internet addiction among youth. Task 1: Determining the top causes of internet addiction To determine the ways of reducing interned addiction issue among the youth, it is important first to understand what its major causes are. I will create a survey form that will be filled online by the youth, providing them with choices on the reasons they spend their time mostly on the internet. The youth would have the option of choosing among depression, psychological challenges, and lack of real-life friends. The results obtained from this task will be quite valuable to me in completing the entire process. Task 2: Determining the consequences of Internet addiction among the youth Knowing the consequences of internet addiction would be important in helping to come up with ways of finding solutions. Therefore, it would be vital to determining the overall way of overcoming internet addiction disorder. To gather this information, I will review the work covered by previous research and carefully compare their findings. Task 3: Determining ways of reducing internet addiction disorder among the youth To determine ways of reducing internet addiction disorder, I will critically analyze the results generated from the previous tasks on causes and consequences. I will also critically analyze information collected from secondary sources that relate to the causes and consequences that have been covered in this work. Most of the research work carried out in the past have useful information on ways of reducing internet addiction among the youth. Results A total of 70 youths in college agreed to participate in the study. First, I asked the students if they think they spend a lot of their time on the internet. I needed to know this information before moving to the first task. 80% (f=56) of the respondents said that they believe they spend a lot of their time on the internet while 20% (f=14) said that they never believe the time they spend on the internet is more than normal. Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2: Too much time spent on the internet Task 1: Determining the top causes of internet addiction The 70 students were asked to give their opinions on which, among depression, psychological challenges, and lack of real-life friends forces the youth to spend a lot of their time on the internet. 50% (f=35) of the respondents said that they believe that most youths spend a lot of their time on the internet due to depression while 35.71% (f=25) of the respondents said they believed psychological challenges were the major causes of internet addiction disorder. 14.29% (F=10) of the respondents said that they believed it lacked real-life friends was the major cause of internet addiction. They argued that most people that spend time on the internet did so because they lacked any real frien...