drug addictions are not always the psychoactive substances, drugs How to protect youth and adolescents of addiction to new technologies?
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one in four people suffer from behavioral problems associated with new addictions.
can talk about addiction in all cases in which the fans interfere with daily life, or when practice this hobby for fun no evil instead of for fun.
Among the warning signs that may indicate an addiction include: ●
loss of study time, with or without poor academic performance.
● Impairment or lesser commitment to interpersonal relationships and leisure activities.
● Increase in conduct involving aggression. ●
have anxiety, irritability, physical discomfort even if you can not use the object of addiction.
Adopting attitudes prevention is very important, but if you suspect that there might be an addiction, seek professional assistance specialist.
Internet Addiction
There is no doubt that the Internet is a breakthrough, which can be of assistance to academic and social level, the problem arises when their use is uncontrolled.
To prevent this misuse in young people, it is important the role of parents when the limits and allow the use of this technology for a preset time and for the intended purpose at all times.
It's easy to start the session on the Internet to find information for work and end, several hours later, without this information, but with a different one that is fit for the intended purpose and having gone through a chat or messenger.
is important at this point to talk about the potential dangers of the Internet, primarily for children.
chats or emails used to build distance friendships, flirting with a girl or boy alleged, etc., But the problem with this type of courtship is the disillusion and deception of which can be a victim . To this end, it is important to inform children and adolescents, when talking with someone in a chat, not to give personal information that can be identified, as, for example, a 12-year course may actually be someone of 50 with different intentions with which it is expressed.
Any finding of suspicious situations, you can send a message explaining what happens to the police, who even has an address for such purpose (delitos.tecnologicos @ policia.es).
game addiction Video games are not only fun, but stimulate hand-eye coordination, deductive reasoning, are good for short term memory and long term, improve abstract reasoning and as attention and self control.
Again, the problem arises when misused in time, dedication or inappropriate content to the user's age.
is important to stick to the rules of use appearing in video games and computer games. These rules are established by the Paneuropean Game Information (PEGI), following the standards of various European countries.
are five age categories: 3 +, 7 +, 12 +, 16 +, 18 +, and seven different descriptions of content, profanity, discrimination, drugs, sex or nudity, gambling, terror and violence .
Given this classification, we can easily know the suitability of the game to the user profile. It is also important to follow these recommendations for the proper use of video games:
● Default
playing time and not exceed it. Review periodically the time spent on each game.
● Plan your study time and leisure time, and within the latter, the time to be devoted to computer games.
● Rest 15 minutes every hour, so that there is no eyestrain.
● Use
games age-appropriate user.
● Do not use if you are very tired and immediately stop or reduce the time spent on them in case of aggressive behaviors observed.
mobile phone addiction
Currently the age at which the first mobile phone becomes increasingly low, mainly because in this age group is mostly used to play music and send messages, and also because able to communicate with their children at any time is a comfort to parents.
As in other cases, no cause for alarm as long as they observe behaviors and abnormal reactions, being a good marker for the monthly consumption, which in some cases it's limited.
How can we protect young people and teenagers from addiction?
The best protection is to provide a clear and sufficient information about their benefits but also for the damages and risks involved.
Equally important is to control its use, establishing the limits indicated above, and doing so sharp until the young will reach maturity and be able to self-impose these limits naturally.
Finally, we note the importance of effective use of leisure and free time. It should make an effort to maximize leisure, planning different activities given that it is highly recommended to spend some time doing nothing and just relax.
