problems that teenagers have using internet

five ways that teenagers use the internet and technology

1. Nine in ten (95 percent) U.S. teens ages 12-17 use the Internet. About three in four (74 percent) say they access the Internet on cellphones, tablets and other mobile devices at least occasionally.
2. 78 percent of teens now have a cellphone, and almost half (47 percent) of those own smartphones. That translates into 37 percent of all teens who have smartphones, up from just 23 percent in 2011.
3. One in four teens are “cell-mostly” Internet users -- far more than the 15 percent of adults who are cell-mostly. Among teen smartphone owners, half are cell-mostly.
4. Most teens have at least a basic cellphone by age 12 or 13. Among teens ages 12-13, 68 percent have a cell phone. Just 23 percent of younger teens have a smartphone.
5. More than 4 in 5 teens with cellphones sleep with the phone on or near the bed.
6. 75 percent of all teens text, and 63 percent say that they use text messages to communicate with others every day.
7. 26 percent of American teens of driving age say they have texted while driving, and 48 percent of all teens ages 12 to 17 say they’ve been a passenger while a driver has texted behind the wheel.
8. One in four teens (23 percent) have a tablet computer, a level comparable to the general adult population.
9. Nine in ten (93 percent) teens have a computer or have access to one at home. Seven in ten (71 percent) teens with home computer access say the laptop or desktop they use most often is one they share with other family members.
10. Eight in ten teens use social networking sites. Two in three (65 percent) social media-using teens have had an experience on a social network site that made them feel good about themselves, while 15 percent say they have been the target of online meanness.
    

Human beings are wired to seek out and enjoy novelty and new experiences.

Why?

Because our ancestors’ survival relied on them to chase new experiences and surroundings. If that wasn’t the case, only a tiny section of the world would be explored rather than the entire globe.

As a reward for novelty, our brain releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine every time we engage in novelty.

This neurotransmitter is responsible for motivation – not pleasure. It is the “go get it” chemical that makes a person seek out new experiences.

This is why a new song sounds better than the old song.

This is why your new girlfriend kisses better than your old girlfriend.

This is why you can literally become “addicted to travel”.

We still have our ancestor’s DNA and unfortunately, evolution can’t keep up with the pace of the modern world. We are mal-adapted for our current environment.

We are effectively an old species in a brave new world.

1. Put a timer on it

Many people who have a social media addiction or an Internet addiction find it very difficult to quit cold turkey. Since Internet addiction or social media addiction won’t kill you, you don’t have to quit entirely.

Just reduce your time.

How to do it: Set a designated time on which to log onto the Internet. Spend that time catching up on your favorite social media and other sites. Once the time is up, don’t go back to those sites again. Reduce your time by a couple of minutes every day until you can go days without checking those sites. This requires a lot of self-discipline and constant monitoring to pull off.

2. Embrace boredom.

Boredom is one of the most painful things any human being can experience.

Why?

Because it’s hard to be alone with yourself or your thoughts.

When untrained, the mind is like a wild dog that won’t stop barking. At its worst, it is like a merciless judge who only seeks to condemn.

In order to hopscotch past the rigorous process of disciplining the mind, many people turn to distraction. Today, this distraction is in the form of social media and Internet addiction.

How to do it: When there’s a “gap” in which the mind is not active, the mind will want to latch onto anything it possibly can in order to keep itself occupied. If you train your mind to latch onto the present moment, there will be no tension because you are accepting what is. One way how to train yourself to do this is to sit with yourself for at least 10 minutes every day, then increase the time. This is also known as “meditation”