The Internet and its Impact on Anti-Social Youth

This analytical essay explores the negative impact of the internet on teenagers and young adults, leading to anti-social behavior and addiction. It discusses the various adverse effects of internet usage, such as cyberbullying, sexting, and addiction, and highlights the need for proper guidance and awareness to mitigate these issues. The essay emphasizes the importance of parental concern and intervention in addressing the harmful consequences of excessive internet use.

Running head: ANALYTICAL ESSAY
Analytical Essay
Name of Student:
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Author Note

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ANALYTICAL ESSAY
The internet is creating a generation of anti-social youth.
The internet is creating generation of Anti-Social Youth. The teenagers of this generation
have access to the internet for their problems and recreation. The readily availability of the
internet is leaving negative impact on the teenagers and young adults. This is happening because
sometimes they lack the ability to identify the rights and wrongs and associating themselves in ill
practices. Internet has been proved to be the gateway to good and bad things. The adverse effects
which are related to internet usage and dependability is through the employment of conscience
and awareness. Young adults and teenagers often get baffled when they get exposed to internet
and it takes shape of addiction. Sometimes they are unable to discard the aspects in life which
negatively impact them. Internet is a platform which one can use for varying purposes, ranging
from good and bad. Over usage and engagement in such practices make them detach themselves
from their associations and assess everything in a different light. Their emotions and perceptions
often are affected on the basis of what they consume and get addicted to. Manifestations of their
overwhelming emotions take ugly forms and as a result these amount in Addiction, Cyber
bullying, Sexting and so on.
The paper wishes to make the statement that over usage of internet causes several adverse
effects which have been discussed.
In the age of digitalization and social media, the millennial generation tend to be
absorbed in internet and the various doorways which it opens. Attachment with technology and
internet has taken form of obsession and addiction and disconnected these youth from the real
world. Such extreme association with internet, social media and technology are hazardous for the
mental health of the teenagers and young adults (Raquel Delevi, 2011). Young adults, on being
exposed to such powerful networks and addictive sources, are most of the time unable to identify

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the ill effects which are related to over usage. Pathological use and dependency on Internet and
Social Media is the prime reason behind the cybercrime as internet is misused and emotions get
manifested in the virtual space. According to a survey which was conducted on 263 people
showed results as 25% of the people being addicted to Internet, 39.3% were students and 31.6%
involved in risks to make newer connections (Niedory, 2018). They become anxious and
depressed which are consequential outcomes of Internet usage.
Internet has been proven to be useful in several ways such as educational practices and
help in enhancing performance as it allows access to numerous informative platforms (Moqbel &
Kock, 2018). However, the access is channelized into wrong things. Obsessive use of technology
diminishes thirst for knowledge. When they get everything readily available on the internet, they
undervalue the things they possess and have access to, in reality. They tend to wrongly utilize the
resources they get readily available on the internet for positive usage. Addiction do not allow
these teenagers and young adults to esteem education and knowledge as they should. They
neglect the power of formal education and often try to assert taking help from internet as an
excuse for surfing websites and other operations which they are addicted to. Their actions or
behavior lack moral consideration and well-being of others which tend to become disruptive for
the society and lead to conflicts with peers. They tend to become aggressive whenever there is
any difficulty. They lack the ability to make new connections which lowers their self-esteem
(Niedory, 2018). As a result, these teenagers have difficulty in learning and making connections
with people.
Young adults and teenagers who are exposed to pornography and other sites which do not
put across awareness about positive aspects of sexual association make them prone to unlawful
practices. Overtly sexual behavior becomes a part of their nature and in order to satisfy their

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sexual impulses. These people are characterized by their impulses and they get desperate about
their desires and wants and engage in sexual behavior which are risky. Substance use becomes an
alternative practice for these people. However, their actions get driven by impulse and
desperateness to explore and assert their desires in virtual spaces. Such behavior is caused due to
hyperactivity, impulsive nature, development issues and other disorders which limit them to deal
with situations of crisis with reasoning and rationality. A survey showed that 11.4% of the
people out of 835 people received hurtful and mean messages while 45.6% were bullied in
school (Robin et al., 2010). However, it is also to be noted that positive attitude towards sexting
is also witnessed in people with consent, within or without relationship. Whereas, the extreme
cases also lead to legal problems for their attempt at criminal activities. All of these can be
avoided with the help of proper guidance and positive attitude from educators and parents
(Raquel Delevi, 2011).
The antisocial practices which can be associated with Internet Addiction include cyber
bullying, fraudulence, gambling, selling offensive and fake materials which interest others.
Physical, mental and However, they exploit internet as a resource and misuse it for immoral and
antisocial purposes. Cyber bullying is a practice which is increasing rapidly and is a crime which
is reported hugely (Palermiti et al., 2017). It has effected children and adults alike for they have
been bullied and disrespected on social platforms by others. The people who take part in such
practices do not understand how seriously it can effect someone mentally. Adolescents face it at
their level which decrease their self-esteem. Teenagers who play video games have been found
to have lesser self-esteem than the ones who do not play (Palermiti et al., 2017). The extreme of
cases demonstrate traits of Psychopathic or Sociopathic behavior (Niedory, 2018). When
someone criticizes or points out mistakes and unusual behavior, the responses tend to in the form

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of resistance which are aggressive in nature. Victims of cyber bullying go through emotional
distress and low self confidence in many instances.
Internet is a doorway to social networking which allow them to build connections with
people and often trade things like drugs and other addictive products. They tend to manipulate
others to get done with their motives or get manipulated into such practices by others. Internet
becomes a tool for their perusal, from where they acquire negative perceptions of things as well
as be part of these practices. Young adults often become gamblers and come under the influence
of substance abuse. Drugs and Alcohol become easy escapes for them as well as become the
primary way of having fun. They addicts become aggressive and anxious about what they want.
If they are denied access to anything they want they are unable to accept refusal. These sites and
networks which they become part of, become catalysts for criminal and offensive activities
which they commit.
It can be concluded by saying that the internet id creating generations of antisocial as
they it misleads towards unfair practices. It has been the reason behind indifference and
withdrawal in young people in most cases. In extreme of situations, it has also been found that
internet addiction has been the reason behind alienation and development of perceptions which
are distorted. They seek acceptance and attention in this vast virtual world they create and often
manipulate the people they come across on the internet to assert their wants and desires.
Offensive acts are committed by these teenagers and young adults because they fail to
understand the magnitude of the practices such as cyber bullying and sexting. However,
addiction has only resulted in negative outcomes and youths of this generations are turning out to
the more inclined towards antisocial activities. Therefore, parental concern is effective in

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making corrective changes and ensuring that there is less involvement of such practices which
are harmful for the teenagers.

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References
D'Antona, Robin, Kevorkian, Meline & Russom, Ashley, 2010. ‘Sexting, texting, cyberbullying
and keeping youth safe online’. Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 523–528,
viewed 30 August 2019
Moqbel, M & Kock, N 2018, ‘Unveiling the dark side of social networking sites: Personal and
work-related consequences of social networking site addiction’, Journal of Information &
Management, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 109-119, viewed 30 August 2019, DOI
10.1016/j.im.2017.05.001.
Niedory, B 2018. The degree of the Internet addiction and the psycho-social functioning of
young people. Journal of Education, Health and Sport, vol. 8, no. 12, pp.275–284. DOI:
10.5281/zenodo.2223906
Palermiti, A, Servidio, R, Bartolo, M, Costabile 2017. ‘Cyberbullying and self-esteem: An
Italian study’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 69, pp. 136-141, viewed on 30 August
2019, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.026
Raquel Delevi, S.W., 2011. “Sexting” and adult romantic attachment. Computers in human
behavior., 27(5), pp.1697–1701.