The Internet is Creating a Generation of Anti-Social Youth 1

THE INTERNET IS CREATING A GENERATION OF ANTI-SOCIAL YOUTH

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 The Internet is Creating a Generation of Anti-Social Youth 2

The Internet is Creating a Generation of Anti-Social Youth

Internet use in Australia has exhibited tremendous growth in the past decade (Australian

Communications and Media Authority 2015). According to (Australian Communications and

Media Authority (2015), the country has experienced this situation due to the availability of

strong networks as well as gadgets. Many young people can easily access internet services using

a wide range of internet-enabled devices. It is beyond any doubt that this resource has impacted

populations positively and negatively. For example, the internet has made communication fast

and convenient where people from different parts of the world can share information instantly.

On the other hand, different societies around the globe are worried by the deleterious effects such

as moral erosion and security concerns in the form of cyberbullying, which are anti-social traits

(Bipeta 2016). Websites and social media have made it easy for the youth to access different

resources. Some of the online contents are constructive while others are destructive. It can be

argued that the internet is creating a generation of anti-social youth. This paper will focus on

internet addiction, cyberbullying and pornography to explain this theory.

According to Wei, Ven-Hwei and Wu (2010), the internet has provided an avenue for

publishing sexually explicit content which has a negative social impact on young people who

interact with the pornographic sites. The authors further reveal that about 12% of the websites

which translates to 4.2 million were actively publishing pornographic content by 2008.

Whenever the young people access these types of material, their sexual attitudes are adversely

affected. It has been proven that there is a likelihood of young people to develop psychological

disposition on sensitive sexual issues such as rape, prostitution, infidelity, and fornication among

others (Wei, Ven-Hwei & Wu 2010). Pornographic sites significantly contribute to youths

knowledge regarding a variety of immoral sexual behaviour. The findings provided by Wei, Ven-

Hwei and Wu (2010) reveal a strong relationship between internet interactivity and acquisition of
 The Internet is Creating a Generation of Anti-Social Youth 3

antisocial sexual attitudes. Love et al. (2015) provide different suggestions that underlying neural

process is responsible for pornographic addiction. This implies that failure to establish and

address these factors exposes increases the vulnerability for this form of obsession. However,

Love et al. (2015) do not elaborate on other theories that contribute to conduct learning among

teenagers. This makes availability and high levels of exposure, as the primary risk factor

contributing to the social problem.

The emergence of internet crimes such as cyberbullying is evidence that many young

people around the world are developing antisocial behaviour as a result of online technologies. In

their article Baldry, Farrington and Sorrentino (2016) argue that there has been an upward trend

of cyberbullying among teenagers and students. The emergence of social media technologies

such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and electronic mailing tools are an example of the target

sites that this crime is perpetrated. Baldry, Farrington and Sorrentino (2016) also explain how

other studies have unearthed the issue. For instance, about 19% of online visitors between 1999

and 2000 were either bullied online or committed this offense to other users. Later, it was

established that 32.6% of students in America were either victims or effectors of the crime

(Baldry, Farrington and Sorrentino 2016). Almost similar trends were obtained in other

researches conducted in England, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Colombia and Korea among other

nations. It is clear that the numbers at hand exhibit an upward trend of growth in antisocial

character. Baldry, Farrington and Sorrentino (2016) further elaborate that there is overlap the

between cyberbullying and school bullying where one form can be used to fuel the other. For

example, a student can be attacked online by posting negative comments, and the same effect can

be felt at school whenever their colleagues access such content on the social media. Some bullies

may prefer using the technology because it is fast, cheap, efficient and capable of reaching out to

many targets. The mode also reduces levels of physical interaction which gives more
 The Internet is Creating a Generation of Anti-Social Youth 4

opportunities for the criminals to threaten while at the same time creating fear and uncertainty

for preys to bow to pressure. Many young people who interact with the internet are likely to be

targets or potential offenders of this antisocial traits facing the society today. According to an

article published by Brantley (2017), young people self-bully themselves on social media. This

implies that some percentage of reported cases can fall under the category of self-infliction.

However, this was only published in a news website, and more studies have to be conducted to

ascertain this claim.

Many young people around the world prefer spending a lot of time interacting with

different online tools which contribute to antisocial reaction due to addiction. According to Alam

et al. (2013), many scholars have focused their studies on the impacts of internet usage. It has

been revealed that about 83.4% of young people between the age of 20 and 40 years often access

this resource at high rates (Alam et al. 2013). A percent of these young people visit websites for

no particular reason while many spent a substantive amount of time interacting on the social

media. Most of these social networking tools like Facebook and Whatsapp have gained

familiarity among the young generation in the last decade. Evidence provided by psychiatrists

indicate that internet addiction is a problem that faces the modern society (Alam et al. 2013).

This has been categorized as an impulse control disorder of behavioural addiction which

manifests in a similar manner as pathological gambling. Persistence of this problem can present a

situation classified as social impairment. Users are often slowly but steadily drifted away from

the society as they spend most of their time online. Forms of this problem that is likely to emerge

among the youth include online sexual, relationship, gambling, and gaming addiction. Many

internet users initially discover an online tool, experiment, exhibit escalation, compulsion and

finally proceed to the level of hopelessness. Alam et al. (2013) explain that this form of

compulsion affects interpersonal relationships where young people may develop character
 The Internet is Creating a Generation of Anti-Social Youth 5

challenges. This can be attributed to the limited time that the users spend on physical, social

interaction. Alam et al. (2013) also reveal that addiction can make people unable to control their

emotions since they only understand how to interact with machines and not people. In most

cases, the problem magnifies due to the psychological disorientation of individuals. For instance,

the high external locus of control is often exhibited by heavy internet users. This category of

people do not believe that they can have total control over events that occur around them. Since

the mind is affected, their reaction is also attacked due to addiction. In the end, addiction makes

it possible for young people to share problems, believes and emotions. Individuals fail to develop

the ability to read body languages, emotions, and modes of striking conversations in social

gatherings. In addition, communication techniques such as speech and creativity fail to develop.

This shows that continued use of the internet leads to addiction which escalates to present an

anti-social problem. Love et al. (2015) presents a counterargument which claims that previous

studies adopted misleading methodologies for studying internet addiction. The author further

claims that this type of addiction is only an expression of other disorders that individuals may

have. However, Love et al. (2015) do not provide sufficient evidence to confirm such

assumptions.
The internet has many benefits but also presents the society with several challenges that

affect youths ability to adhere to social fabrics. Different scholars have pointed out that this

resource is contributing towards the creation of an antisocial generation among the youth. Some

of the adverse effects of this technology include cyberbullying, internet addiction and

pornography. It is important for communities and families around the world to establish a means

of saving the young generation from developing these traits. One of the possible ways is through

guidance and counseling to ensure that the youth are adequately supported in the entire process

of psychosocial development. Guardians should spend adequate time with the young people and
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help them develop positive behavior. Policies and technologies should be introduced to curb

cyberbullying and pornography content on the internet.

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Reference List

Alam, S., Hashim, N., Ahmad, H., Wel, C., Nor, S., & Omar, N., 2013, 'Negative and positive

impact of internet addiction on young adults: Empirical study in Malaysia', Intangible

Capita, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 619-638.

Australian Communications and Media Authority, 2015, 'Report 1- Australian's digital lives',

Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Communications and Media Authority)-

Communications report 2013-14 series.

Baldry, A. C., Farrington, D. P., & Sorrentino, A., 2016, 'Cyberbullying in youth: A pattern of

disruptive behaviour.' Psicología Educativa, vol. 22, pp. 19-26.

Brantley, K., 2017. Scores of teens are SELF-bullying online, the report reveals - and experts

warn it could be driving up suicide rates. Daily Mail, 1 November, viewed 13 September

2018, <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5039859/Huge-increase-teens-self-

cyberbullying-report-warns.html.>
Love, T., Laier, C., Brand, M., Hatch, L., & Hajela, R., 2015, 'Neuroscience of internet

pornography addiction: A review and update,' Behavioral Sciences, vol. 5, pp. 388-433.
Wei, R., Ven-Hwei, L., & Wu, H., 2010, 'Internet pornography and teen sexual attitudes and

behavior', China Media Research, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 66-75.