Nowadays, individuals cutting across generations use the Internet.

However, it is
teens who use it more than other age groups. They use it for various reasons,
from taking help for academics in the form of online tuitions to staying connected
with their peers and family. However, excessive Internet use (EIU) can cause a
child to develop Internet addiction or compulsive internet use (CIU), which can
cause several ill effects. It can also result in a range of harmful behaviour such as
wrong use of social media, impulsive online buying, excessive video gaming and
online gaming which is collectively termed as problematic use of the internet
(PUI). Causes of Internet addiction:

Teens can develop Internet addiction due to various reasons like trying to escape
loneliness and depression, social anxiety, and intense desire to search for knowledge.

More recently, Montag et al published their study titled, ‘The Role of the CHRNA4 Gene
in Internet Addiction: A Case-control Study’, in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.
According to this study, the rs1044396 polymorphism on the CHRNA4 gene exerts
“pleiotropic effects on a vast range of behaviours, including cognition, emotion, and
addiction.” Individuals with this polymorphism may be predisposed to Internet addiction.

While, as a parent, you cannot do much about any genetic factor, you can surely
exercise control over other factors to minimize the bad effect of excessive internet use
on your child’s health, both mental as well as physical.

Negative effects of Internet addiction

Anxiety, sadness and depression: Kids or teens who spend most of their time in the
virtual world gradually move away from the real world and start living in a world of
fantasy. After a certain period, they become dependent on the Internet to feel upbeat.
And, when they are unable to access the Internet, they start experiencing anxiety,
sadness and depression.

Unable to keep schedules: Teens use the Internet to do a lot of things like looking for
information, corresponding, paying bills, and doing financial transactions. However, in
the case of Internet addicts, they spend most of their time engaged in browsing, chatting
or gaming, instead of doing what they are actually supposed to do. Also, they are
unable to keep track of the time they spend in doing such activities. As a result, they are
not able to keep up with their schedules or studies which is one of the bad effects of
internet on students.

Sleep deprivation: Most kids and teens nowadays own smartphones and/or tablets,
which they carry with them wherever they go, even to the bed. They also use these
devices to hook on to the Internet before going to sleep to catch up on what’s
happening around them. While normal teens may log off after a while, those addicted to
the Internet keep browsing for long hours. As a result, they suffer sleep-related issues
like late sleep time, insufficient or restless sleep, and late waking time. This sleep
deprivation/disturbance can also worsen or magnify symptoms of anxiety and
depression.

Social isolation: Those who spend a lot of time on the Internet tend to become a part
of one or several online communities. They end up developing close friendships or
intimate relationships with a lot of individuals. To remain connected with these
individuals, Internet addicts stay online for long hours. Owing to such behaviour,
Internet addicts often end up isolating themselves from their families and peers.

Dishonesty and lying: Almost all Internet addicts understand that they have a problem.
However, when confronted or questioned by family members, friends or employers, they
try to conceal their habit. They try to do this by either lying or being dishonest about the
time they spend on the Internet.

Mood changes: Internet addicts use the Internet to reduce their stress and boost their
mood. They feel happy or euphoric when they are connected to the Internet. However, if
they have to stop using the Internet or are unable to access it, they become gloomy or
irritated and angry.

Negative impact of internet on society

Not only young children and teens, inappropriate use of the internet also negatively
impacts the society. Here’s how:

 Less interaction with family causes breakdown of social bonds

 Less time spent bonding with real-world friends and with the environment
 Exposure to false information and negative propaganda on the internet
 Mental agony from exposure to cyberbullying and online stalking behaviour
 High risk of falling victim to online scams and phishing attacks leading to financial
loss
 Recent threat of online radicalisation by extremist elements

If your child or teen is also in possession of gadgets that help him connect to the
Internet whenever he wants to, be aware of the above-mentioned negative effects. And,
if you suspect that your teen is on his way to becoming an Internet addict, seek help
from a counsellor or a psychologist at the earliest. 

About the author:

Written by Arun Sharma on 31 August 2017; updated on 9 December 2019

International Journal of Applied Research 2016; 2(3): 749-755Impact of gadgets on

emotional maturity, reasoning ability of college students
Magwa Simuforosa (2013) [29] studied the impact of modern technology on the
educational attainment of adolescents. The purpose was to examine the relationship
between adolescent usage of computers and academic performance. Within the
qualitative research the case study design was adopted. Interviews and focus group
discussions were the primary tools used to gather data. The study found out that
modern technology impacts learning both positively and negatively. Jyoti Ranjan Muduli
(2014) [35] studied Addiction to Technological Gadgets and Its Impact on Health and
Lifestyle of College Students. Primary data were collected from 150 respondents of NIT,
Rourkela. Findings of the study showed that most of the young respondents spend a
large amount of their time with their tech-gadgets and services provided by them. Tessa
Jones (2014) [54] studied Students’ Cell Phone Addiction and Their Opinions. The
author conducted field observations to examine Elon students’ behavior while walking
around campus, along with an online survey. Findings suggest that students seem to be
addicted to their cell phones, with 64 percent of students observed on campus
interacting with their device one way or another. Nevertheless, a survey of students
found that they believe that the need of self-gratification achieved through excessive cell
phone use has negative psychological effects on them. Tanvir Singh, Amit Kumar, Dr.
Yunfei Liu (2015) [50] have done study on the topic Personal Electronic Gadgets: A
Comprehensive Study on their Addiction and Sustainable Usage. They have carried out
a comprehensive study on the issue to aware the society about the unnoticed ‘Gadget
Addiction’ and the possible precautions that the society can take to make sustainable
usage of these unavoidable personal electronic gadgets

Gurmit Singh (2014) [49] studied Mental Health of Adolescents In Relation To Emotional
Maturity and Parent Child Relationship. The sample comprised of 200 9th class
adolescents (100 boys and 100 girls) from Government Secondary Schools of Moga
district the data was obtained by using Emotional Maturity Scale (2011) by Singh and
Bhargava, Parent Child Relationship Scale (2011) by Rao and Mental Health Battery
(2012) by Singh and Gupta. The results of the study showed positive and significant
relation between Mental Health with Emotional Maturity also between Mental Health and
Parent Child Relationship. Mojtaba Noorani, Zhaleh Refahi and Abass Gholtash (2014)
[33] studied A comparison of propensity for marriage and emotional maturity between
men and women. The aim of this study was to compare the propensity for marriage and
emotional maturity between male and female students in Marvdasht Azad University.
The research plan was descriptive – causal and the sample included 123-people. Dr. K.
Rajendran (2014) [24] studied emotional maturity stage of athletes and non-athletes.
The purpose of the study is to find out the emotional maturity between Athletes and
nonAthletes. To achieve the purpose of the study 100 Athletes and 100 non-Athletes
colleges’ students were selected at
 
~ 751 ~ 
 International Journal of Applied Research  
random from different colleges and university from TamilNadu. The result of the study
revealed that there is a significant difference between Athletes and non-Athletes in their
Emotional instability, Emotional Regression, social maladjustment, personality
disintegration, lack of independence and emotional maturity. It is found that Athletes are
more emotionally matured than non-Athletes. Dimpy Mahanta and Vikasni Kannan
(2015) [32] Emotional Maturity and Adjustment in First Year Undergraduates of Delhi
University: An Empirical Study. The sample for the study consisted of 80 first year
undergraduates from various colleges of Delhi University. The age ranged between 17-
19 years. The sample was selected through incidental sampling technique. They were
administered the Global Adjustment Scale(Student Form) by Sanjay Vohra and
Emotional Maturity Scale by Singh and Bhargava to measure adjustment and emotional
maturity, respectively. The results showed a significant positive correlation between
emotional maturity and various dimensions of adjustment. Mukhtar Ahmad Wani, Prof.
Aejaz Masih (2015) [36] studied Emotional Maturity across Gender and Level of
Education. The sample for the present investigation was randomly drawn from different
department of Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi. A total sample of 100 (50 male & 50
female) including Post Graduates and Research Scholars were selected. The data was
collected by administering the Emotional Maturity Scale developed by Prof. Yeshver
Singh & Prof. Mahesh Bhargave (1990). The findings of the study revealed that majority
of the post graduate students and research scholars of the university are emotionally
unstable. The findings also showed that male students are emotionally immature than
females on personality disintegration dimension of emotional maturity. Significant
difference was also found between post graduates and research scholars on personality
disintegration dimension of emotional maturity. On other dimensions of emotional
maturity no difference was found between males and females and post graduates and
research scholars.
Overuse of mobile gadgets hampers students' ability to study, sleep
BY SHUSUKE MURAI
STAFF WRITER
 May 1, 2015
ARTICLE HISTORY
 PRINT
 SHARE

Excessive use of mobile phones causes students to fare poorly in elementary, junior
high and high school, not only because it makes them lose their concentration due to a
lack of sleep, but also because it apparently compromises what they have studied,
researchers say.

Students who spend several hours each day staring into mobile phones or smartphones
tend to change their sleeping habits and stay up late to use the devices, education
ministry research published Thursday showed.

The research was conducted last November with 23,139 participants from the fifth
grade of primary school up to the third year of high school, at 771 public schools
nationwide.

It showed, for instance, that 53.5 percent of junior high students who said they use a
mobile phone for more than four hours a day to talk, send email or surf the Net,
habitually do not get to sleep until after midnight. That ratio was much lower, at 14.9
percent, for those who don’t use mobile phones at all.

The research also found that overusing mobile phones affects the quality of students’
sleep.

Asked if they find it hard to get up in the morning, 78.1 percent of junior high
respondents who often watch or use electronic devices, including TVs, game consoles,
mobile phones and computers, immediately before bedtime said they sometimes or
frequently do have trouble the next morning. That compared with 60.9 percent among
those who don’t use gadgets at all.

This lack of sleep also affects school performance, said Junichi Sato, an education
board official who led the project, which was jointly carried out by the city of Sendai and
Tohoku University.

The research, published in March, looked into the correlation between studying
enthusiasm and smartphone usage. It found that using a mobile phone for an extended
time even affects students who habitually study a lot.

That implies a lack of sleep or reduced study time as a result of mobile phone usage is
not the only way these devices affect performance at school.

The study revealed that students who spent over two hours every day both studying and
using messaging apps, especially the popular Line, scored worse on a math exam than
those who spent less than 30 minutes a day but didn’t use a smartphone at all.

“When people talk about children using smartphones in a negative sense, their main
concern seems to be about their criminal use, but this study calls the attention of
parents and students to the risk that excessive use of smartphones can compromise
students’ effort to study,” Sato said.

Sato advises the use of smartphones and other mobile devices be limited to just an
hour a day.

This study is anchored on the Distributed Cognition Theory. In Distributed Cognition Theory, the
student is afforded more power. In other words it is a student-centered approach to learning where the
learners participate in a systematically designed learning environment that supports interaction
amongst its participants (Bell & Winn, 2000). This theory promotes learning in a community of learners
or a system where interaction takes place. It is through this interaction where cognition occurs.
Distributed Cognition requires sharing of cognitive activity among the parts and participants of this
system, which can be other people or tools such as devices, technologies or media. These
participants distribute their cognition among other learners and physical or digital tools by
 
 
externally representing their knowledge. At times, by using these tools, a little bit of the information
might stick with the user, this is known as cognitive residue. It is through interaction with other
members and tools that progresses learning. Therefore communication among all participants is
paramount in importance (Bell & Winn, 2000). The role of technology within this theory is an invaluable
part of the system in which the learners are interacting. This interaction can either help to distribute
their knowledge, off-load certain amounts of cognitive work making the cognitive load less and or help
to scaffold new capabilities (Bell & Winn, 2000). For example, using camera to take a photo allows
more time to learn instead of writing it on a notebook. Also, in this theory, technology (gadgets) can be
used to help extend human capabilities. For example, calculator can be used to solve math problem
quickly instead of solving it manually. These gadgets help students to make their learning more
efficient. Another example of this is taken from a case study that was conducted using robotics to
produce solving problem skills. In this case study, students were placed into small collaborative groups
and were asked to construct a robot, using Lego Mindstorm for schools kits, which would perform
various tasks. The groups were introduced to a tool known as a flowchart. They used these flowcharts
to map the programming instructions they would give the robot to complete the given task. This
allowed them to off-load some of the cognitive work to the flowchart and then through its use, they
were able to solve harder problems (Chambers et al., 2007).
 
 
This learning theory supports the very skills needed by the 21st century. Learners who are placed into
a learning environment based on this theory would
be using their “knowledge and skills—
by thinking critically, applying knowledge to new situations, analyzing information, comprehending new
ideas, commu THE IMPACT OF GADGETS IN LEARNING
AMONG GRADE 11 STUDENTS November 2017

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.7852295,125.4926411,313m/data=!3m1!1e3

According to research conducted by Patrikakau (2016) on parental involvement in

media and technology use by increasing discussion and attention between parents and
children in limiting the use of technology can save children from the dangers of the
digital age so that children can prepare for future development. Based on preliminary
observation, the researcher saw that children less in socializing with the environment
because of the low involvement of parents in providing assistance and limiting the
intensity of the use of gadgets in children and parents always make gadgets as a tool
that makes parents feel comfortable in the activity. This is what makes parents forget
that excessive use of gadgets will affect the child's prosocial behavior.

Influence Of Gadget Usage And Parent Involvement To Children's

Prosocial Behavior
A LAINI - Jurnal Imiah Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran, 2018 - ejournal.undiksha.ac.id

…...

The present study explores the usage and attitude toward Facebook and text
messaging examines the influence of personality and gender on the new
communication technologies. The study further investigates the status of parental
monitoring and control. There was significant relationship between Facebook use and
anxiety, while cell phone owners perceived themselves as more outgoing, cheerful, and
sensitive. A significant proportion of teenagers indicated that their cell phone was
inextricably wrapped with their identity and even their sense of self-worth.

Facebook Use and Texting Among African American and

Hispanic Teenagers: An Implication for Academic
Performance
E. Bun Lee

First Published January 17, 2014 Research Article

https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934713519819

Article information 
…..

Mobile phones were initially marketed as a source of communication but

technology took such leaps that now Mobile phone doesn’t mean a mere gadget
to us anymore; it means the world to us. Although we can’t deny the benefits
of mobile phones but at the same time we have to admit that this technology
has silently crept into our personal and social life. Inventions are planned
for the benefit of mankind. However, their unforeseen side effects are
inevitable which are unveiled only with their use and more so with their
overuse. January-April, 2015, Vol. 8, No. 1EFFECTS OF MOBILE PHONE USE ON THE
SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS OF A PUBLIC SECTOR MEDICAL COLLEGE
IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PAKISTAN Tauseef Aman1 , Noreen Shah1 , Abir Hussain2 ,
Akbar Khan1 , Shakila Asif 1, Alia Qazi1