Instead of saying Internet addiction, I think “dependency” should be the more appropriate vocabulary describing my internet use. Compared with elementary and middle school, the opportunity for me to use the internet was much fewer than now. I remember when I started to learn how to use a computer at school, I was so addicted to a game that I could play it at 6 am before going to school. Thinking back to my childhood, I realize most of the time which I used interest were for entertainment; I played games, watched limited videos from apps, and chatted with friends. However, the dependency on the Internet became stronger when I was in high school, where laptops were required and phones were allowed. Similar to what we are having in college, I did most of the assignments and exams on my laptop, and the Internet has become a study tool for me since then. More seriously, due to the COVID-19 which we have been taking online courses for a year, the Internet plays the most important role in supporting my academy. In other words, I depend on my laptop and Internet to be a “student”.
In fact, the concern I have on Internet use is the time I spend on electronic devices everyday. In the past, the internet worked as an entertainment, which I would only use when I had been reading books or taking face-to-face class for a long time. However, I spend much more time now because all of my daily activities are around the internet, and I even went to the hospital last month due to the headache caused by too much screen time. Therefore, I am thinking about what strategies we can use to reduce screen time or internet use.
Going outside or doing sport is one method I am using currently. I try to walk to the gym and walk back to my house to keep myself energetic, and spending one hour on doing sports twice a day is also giving a break to my eyes. After getting all of the finals done, I will try to explore more non-internet entertainment ways, such as playing badminton with my cousin or hanging out with my grandparents. Last but not least, inspired by the article, It’s Time for a Digital Detox, I will also try to put my electronic devices away. I have bad sleeping quality, which means I always need to take a long time to fall asleep. The article mentions how our phones can mislead our brain and affect our quality of sleeping, so it is essential for everyone, especially those who have bad quality, to try to put our phones away and try not to play it too much before we go to bed.