Digital addiction is no longer a myth and fiction. Smartphone technology has become an integral part of our lives. It keeps us connected with the web and makes us aware of minute minutes happening worldwide. We hear news, incidents, and even our young teens are well aware of the things. Connected smartphones alert us all the time, and we don't have mental peace these days. We are addicted to listening to the alerts, reminders, pings, and rings of phone calls, text messages, emails, and news stories. It is causing the increase in dopamine stimulation from our cell phones causes us digital addiction. Apart from adults, the young generation is struggling with isolation, depression, and anxiety.
The constant connectivity with the digital world has made us lose the human connection. The continuous dopamine stimulation from our devices causes digital addiction & curiosity.
What is Digital Addiction?
There is a fine line between dependence and addiction. The use of digital devices to the extent where your needs contradict your life and stop you from routine life obligations is known as the hallmark of addiction. Similarly, usage of digital devices more than your needs names digital addiction. Nowadays, our youth is digitally addicted and spend most of their time on smartphones, the internet, and social media.
Three Types of Digital Addiction that You Need to Know
Here are the few type's addictions that belongs to the digital world. Take a look at the following.Smartphone Addiction
The experts do believe that youngsters are the most affected community and they have got behavior issues. Digital devices are affecting our daily lives. The digital world is leading people to deep depression, curiosity, and anxiety. So, cell phone addicted youngsters spend more time on their phones to comfort themselves. Phone addiction is one of the portions of digital addiction. The dependence syndrome causes due to excessive use of digital devices.
Social Media Addiction
Social media obsession is the second-largest source of digital obsession among teens and kids these days. We know that youngsters spend hours and hours on social media sites and apps. They use Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, and many more social platforms. Young teens love to send and receive messages and do chat. Teens also capture photos, videos, voice and video calls on social networks. The new study says that excessive use of social media decreases the level of happiness and satisfaction.
Internet Addiction
The obsession with cyberspace means the person has impulse control disorder. The pathological usage of the internet can drive young minds not to differentiate between the web and real life. Youngsters obsessed with the internet spend more time on the web, and they have a high risk of doing online gambling, hookups online, gaming, and watch sexually explicit content.
Smartphones made Us Lose Human Connection
Technology is continuously tightening its grip on our minds, and our youth has got digital addiction. The young generation is losing human connection and love to stay in isolation by using mobile phones, the internet, and social media. Our voices have turned to audio, and our facial expressions change into emojis and icons. The mobile phone touch screen won't allow us anymore to shake hands with each other in person. Young teens are drifting from real-life fun, playgrounds, and love to play online games with strangers online.
The electronic urge among the youth causes digital obsession, and parents need to reinforce the real-life activities no time ever before. Cell phones, social media, and internet addiction lead our youth to serious health issues like depression, anxiety.
How is Digital Addiction in Teens Similar to Drug Abuse?
Research published in the journal, NeuroRegulation, San Francisco State researchers studied that cell phones usage and 135 students.The study says that the excessive use of cell phones causes the same issues that teens got via drug abuse Erik Peper, Associate Professor of Health Education, proposes that.
Digital Addiction Statistics of Teens
Here are the statistics that you need to know about the digital addiction of kids with smartphones, social media, and internet.- More than 95% of teens have cell phones
- 80% of the teens are constantly connected to the internet
- Nine out of 10 teens ages 13- 17 use social media apps on smartphones
- 51% of teenagers are using Facebook, 52% use Instagram, & 41% use Snapchat
- 59% of the parents feel that teens are addicted to mobile phones
- 2% of kids ages 14-16 are obsessed with the internet
The Physical Effects of Digital Addiction in Youth
The rate of digital obsession is increasing day by day among youth. Young people these days cannot imagine spending a day without phones, cyberspace, and messaging apps. They are addicted to messaging, chats, voice and video calls, and share media using cell phones connected to cyberspace. We surround by the virtual world, and it is due to social media, smartphones, and the web. Therefore, the adverse affected of digital addiction causing symptoms of mental issues among teens.
The mobile addiction in teens is controlling teen's time. It affects young people's social skills and causes the following issues among teens no time ever before.- Depression
- Anxiety
- Immense sense of isolation
- Sleep disturbance
- Obesity
- Dry eyes
- Migraine
- Sedentary life style
The question arises, how can parents deal with the digital addiction of their children?
How can Parents Resist Teen's Digital Addiction?
The obsession with digital devices, cyberspace, and social networks causes health and moral issues. You need to do something to help teens to prevent developing addiction to technology. Here are a few tips and legitimate solutions for parents to look after teen is obsessed with smartphones and social platforms.
- Make sure to "screen-free" time in your house
- Use password-protected internet networks
- Don't allow your teens to use phones while at the dinner table
- Don't allow your teens to play online games on mobile devices
- Limit the digital phones and PCs from non-educational activities
Parents should be role models for real-life activities and create your teen interest in sports
Set Parental Control on Kid's Smartphones
Is your teen cell phone addict? Is your kid spending excessive time over the internet? Do you want to protect your child from the digital addiction to social networking? We have answers to your questions. You can have parental control app on your android, iPhone, PCs, and computer devices.
What can You do with Parental Control Software?
You can get rid of kid's digital addiction using the best parental monitoring application. You can install it on your non-rooted Android phones and jailbreak iPhones. You can manage screen-time and monitor browsing history on cell phone web browsers.
The application is capable of tracking social networks like Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Instagram. Users can read social media logs and block internet connection on your smartphone. Parents can filter those websites where teens are spending most of the time. Users can record live phone calls and read messages to know about teen's activities on mobile-cellular networks.
The parental control app captures screenshots and keystrokes. It enables users to perform live screen recording of a cell phone to know how much time your child is spending on every activity.
Top Products of Parental Control Software
You can choose one out of these apps to set parental control to protect teens from digital obsession. Every product has parental spy features for kid's safety on cell phones, the internet, and social media.
Conclusion:
Digital addiction these days is a curse for the young generation. It is the parent's responsibility to protect teens from the adverse effects of technology like depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Parents need to set parental control on kid's phones, internet connections, and on installed social networks on smartphones.
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