You know you are online too much when…
 Dear Child Advocate,
From applying for a job online to emailing thank you notes and paying bills the virtual world is becoming very much a part of our real world. Do you wonder if all of us spend too much time being on amid cell phones, texting, faxes, blogs, emails, online communities, Twittering and the internet? Are we too connected? Too available? Is there any actual benefit to being connected so much? Are people losing “in person connections” being on all the time?
I have friends who complain that they cannot get their kids or husband to engage in conversation because they are constantly texting or online. My friend Mary protested when her husband texted her, she was in the kitchen; he was a mere ten feet away! Jason’s son regularly texts him about food; what’s for dinner and can we order pizza are common themes.
Dan and Jess miss the family time they used to have before everyone went to their respective areas to interact online instead. Recently on TV a teenager being interviewed related her “sleep text” experience; she had absolutely no memory of texting during the early morning hours and concluded she texted while asleep, similar to people who sleep walk.
Some families have declared one day a week to be offline.
Have you heard some of the jokes on our topic? We hope you enjoy the jokes below, laughter is good for the soul. Jokes are added periodically, check back when you need a chuckle or two.
You know you are spending too much time online when…
- Your husband asks where his glasses are and you answer Google them. Someone at work tells you a joke and you say "LOL."
- You would rather tell people that your bloodshot eyes are from partying too much than the truth (you were online all night).
- Being called a NEWBIE is a MAJOR insult. You get up at 2am to go to the bathroom, but turn on the computer instead.
Seriously how much time online or being “on” in one way or another is too much? This question is being debated by researchers and experts.
One group of researchers conclude that the Internet leads to more and better social relationships by creating an additional medium of communication with friends and family, and by enabling the creation of new relationships through Internet interactions.
In contrast, other researchers find Internet use to be socially isolating, because time on the Internet replaces other relationships in the real world.
"Our telephone survey suggests that potential markers of problematic Internet use are present in a sizeable portion of the population," the researchers noted in their paper, which appears in October ‘08 issue of CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine whose lead study author is Elias Aboujaoude, MD.
In a Stanford study — which Aboujaoude said is the first large-scale, random-sample epidemiological one ever done — the researchers conducted a nationwide household survey and interviewed 2,513 adults. Because no generally accepted screening instrument exists for problematic Internet use, the researchers developed their questions by extrapolating from other compulsive and addictive conditions.
The researchers found that 68.9 percent were regular Internet users, which is consistent with previous studies, and that:
- 13.7 percent (more than one out of eight respondents) found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time
- 12.4 percent stayed online longer than intended very often or often 12.3 percent had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point
- 8.7 percent attempted to conceal nonessential Internet use from family, friends and employers
- 8.2 percent used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood
- 5.9 percent felt their relationships suffered because of excessive Internet use.
The last statistic is the one Aboujaoude said he found most concerning. Which brings up the question, are there important people in your life that you’ve never met in person?
Deborah Schechner
SafeWave™ VP Creative Development
Deborah.s@safewave.org
"Together We Keep Children Safe Online"
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