Internet Addiction: How to Spot It in Your Teens

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — The internet is everywhere. According to Pew Research Center, 96% of US teens use the internet every day, and 46% of them say they’re online almost constantly. A big increase from 2014 to 2015, where only 24% of teens reported being online. Ivanhoe tells how to spot internet addiction in your teens.

Phones, laptops, tablets, computers, the internet is at the tip of everyone’s fingers …

Ninety-five percent of teens have access to a smartphone — the average teen spends seven hours and 22 minutes looking at screens every day, which leads to some risks. So how can you spot the addiction?

Kate Eshleman, PsyD, Pediatric Psychologist at Cleveland Clinic says, “We might not be physically active. We may not be getting sufficient sleep. We may not be interacting with people in person.”

And be sure to check their academics. A recent study found that teens with internet addiction have disrupted signaling between brain regions that control attention and working memory. This can make it hard for teens to focus on schoolwork.

Eshleman says, “Just by the nature of being on the screen and I think it could also look at what we’re being exposed to. We know that social media has a lot of impact on people’s mood.”

Moods like becoming agitated or mad when their time online is interrupted or limited. Staying up late or waking up in the middle of the night to continue online activities are also signs. That can lead to more sleep deprivation. The CDC says almost 73% of high school students don’t get enough sleep.

So, what can you do? Create tech-free zones, like keeping devices out of the kitchen. A survey by Pew Research found that 74% of teens feel happy when they don’t have their phones with them. Set up parental controls! Apps like bark.us and aura can help monitor and limit online access. Making sure your teen doesn’t get overloaded with the internet.

Another way is to sit down and talk with them, when you do talk with your teen, educate them about the potential negative risks of being addicted to the internet and instead encourage them to do activities outside.

Contributors to this news report include: Cliff Tumetel, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.

Sources:

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/teens-and-internet-device-access-fact-sheet/

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/screen-time-for-teens

https://stepstorecovery.com/blog/internet-addiction-in-teenagers/

https://www.fastcompany.com/91056274/teens-are-happier-when-phone-free-says-recent-pew-study

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/04/health/internet-addiction-teen-brain-activity-wellness/index.html#:~:text=Teens%20who%20spend%20lots%20of,19%20between%202013%20and%202022

https://journals.plos.org/mentalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022

https://www.socialrecoverycenter.com/blog/7-symptoms-of-teen-internet-addiction

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/sleep.htm#:~:text=High%20school%20students%20(grades%209%E2%80%9312)%20National%20sample.,not%20get%20enough%20sleep%20on%20school%20nights

https://diamondrehabthailand.com/manage-teen-internet-addiction/#9_Set_up_parental_controls

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/03/11/how-teens-and-parents-approach-screen-time/