Psychologist Ms. Lee Li Li would like to share a talk with you, titled “Pandemic, does it cause Internet Addiction?” where she attended on the 3rd of February 2021 (Wednesday) in 2pm, at 8TV 活力加油站 unit. Below is a summary list of key points from the talk.

5 main reasons of children’s and teenagers’ Internet Addiction

1. Environmental factors
2. Feelings of loneliness/emptiness
3. Worries/Stress
4. Lacking of Problem Solving Skills
5. Mental illnesses

In order to keep up with peers (such as discussing online games or chatting using social network sites together), children are more likely to fall into Internet Addiction while exploring the Internet. Other than that, if parents are busy with work and failed to provide sufficient care to the child, the child would tend to use the Internet as a substitute to fill the void in them, as a means to overcome their feelings of emptiness/loneliness.

During the times where the child feels lonely and troubled but is not able to seek proper help, it will be resulted in stress. In order to escape the stress, Internet has become a platform for the children to vent their stress, hoping to temporarily relieve the upset mood. As a result, they gradually fall into Internet Addiction. In addition to that, if the child has a mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, or some psychological trauma, the chances of developing Internet Addiction is even higher.

Status of Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents	Impact of Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents
Passion: Does not affect your daily life, and is used to improve yourself.	Physiological: Daily routine is affected, insufficient sleep and energy, unbalanced diet etc.
Habits: Integration into daily activities, habits	Psychological: Mood swings, e.g.: Easy to get angry and irritable; Unable to concentrate on learning etc.
Addiction: Affect daily life, unable to extricate yourself	Behaviour: Parent-child relationship is affected

Given that, professionals are able to assist and improve the issues of Internet Addiction. Despite the Internet may have a negative impact on children, it can also act as a ‘good helper’ for children in learning. Hence, the main key lies in how parents guide their children for the Internet usage. In that sense, parents should rationally explore the reasons why their children go online, and do not question their children because they are too worried or only provide one-way instructions to their children (E.g.: “You cannot go online!”, “You can only go online for 30 minutes.”).

If so, it may increases a child’s rebellion, and pushes them to the path of Internet Addiction. Instead, parents should guide children to understand Internet safety, educate them about the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet, and establish rules of Internet usage in the family. Therefore, parents must step out of misunderstandings and face the issue of Internet Addiction. In the meantime, parents need to take care of their own psychological and physical health. Through promoting parent-child relationships, listen to their children and mutually understand them, it is able to help their children to break free of Internet Addiction gradually.

Please feel free to click the link below to listen to the full talk.


Note: The above content was taken from 3rd of February 2021 (Wednesday), at 8TV Living Delight titled: “Pandemic, does it cause Internet Addiction?”. If you would like to obtain more information and assistance, please contact our office. Thank you.