Dangers of the Internet in a teenager’s development

Teenagers who spend several hours a day at the computer often end to have undesirable behaviors: smoking, alcohol, cannabis, unprotected sex.

But things are getting worse. Apparently when a teenager stands over four hours at the computer, surfing the Internet, the risk of adopting one or more of these risky behaviors increases by 50%.

That’s the conclusion reached by a team of Canadian researchers from Queen’s University in Ontario, who conducted a study of the behavior of about 8,000 young people between 10 and 16.

For a year, experts have noted down the number of hours spent by each adolescent on television, computer and console games. Frequency data was then associated with a series of negative behaviors and a link was found: “Children and teenagers who spend many hours surfing the Internet always see images and behaviors they can adopt later,” says Valerie Carson, one of the authors whose results are published in the journal Preventive Medicine.

“In addition, up to date with computer technology and the Internet, getting to unravel different types of control established by the parents, especially for unwanted Web sites, “she adds.

Do any of you girls have problems with their kid? Too much Internet and lost nights to finish the latest Modern Warfare video game? Do all these sound too familiar?