Minors and internet: obsession becomes addiction. How to fight it?

The relationship between children and the Internet has always worried and alarmed, beyond the family, even various bodies ranging from schools to associations for the protection of juvenile rights.

Everyone, by now, is aware of the connotation of dependence that this relationship has taken over the last few years; in this sense, meetings and training courses are organized to increase knowledge and awareness. The aim is to stir up consciences, leading to a correct management of the problem by those directly involved, families and teachers in all respects.

The use or abuse of internet and social media by minors is increasingly obsessive and addictive, since they seem to have no other entertainment, distractions or moments of escape from reality except those offered by places-not places virtual and from platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Not having concrete ways to escape from an increasingly oppressive and demanding reality, characterized by a thousand commitments and increasingly demanding parents, children feel a weight that they feel they can not manage. This feeling translates into a need to share their spaces, even intimate, with peers and friends, but often turning into a tendency to exaggeration and exasperation and then addiction.

On this trail is the new survey, "Safety of minors on the web", of Massere - an agency that deals with the safety of minors at 360 degrees, dealing with the issue both from a purely informatic aspect and from a psychological point of view - that involved a sample of more than 2000 boys between 10 and 15 years in a period of 6 years. The results of the study seem to be upsetting.

Specifically, the collected data show that most of the boys receive the first mobile phone between 10 and 12 years and 96% of them say they have a non-stop connection. A growing trend: if in 2010 children aged 10 to 12 who owned a mobile phone were about 48%, in 2013 the percentage rose to 59%, to reach a dizzying figure: 69% in 2016. From the opposite side However, there is a reduction in the percentage of minors who have smartphones and connections in the 13-15 age range: in fact, from 28% in 2010 to 21% in 2013, up to the surprising 6% in 2016.

Although it should be noted that the number of minors in possession of an internet connection has increased, if not more than tenfold: if in 2010 only 8% connected, in 2013 the percentage rose to 67%, while currently, the percentage of minors to connect are 96%. In addition, minors who almost totally use mobile devices - smartphones and tablets -, to the detriment of traditional devices such as notebooks and PCs, seem hopelessly increased: today 62% are connected by mobile, compared to 42% in 2013 and 2% of 2010.

Another aspect to analyze is the most used social: the tendency to post photos and selfie on the Instagram profile is raging; the percentage has rapidly risen from 5% in 2014 and from 55% in 2015 to 61% in 2016. At the same time, WhatsApp seems to have replaced the good old Facebook in the hearts of minors that, in fact, have gone from 15% in 2014 and 45% in 2015 to 96% in 2016. The use of Zuckerberg's social network went from 55% in 2014 to 50% in 2015, to reach 42% in 2016.

Finally, the findings made on rules and knowledge of the use of the instrument are ambiguous. In fact, the range of minors is extended, whose parents allow a maximum time of use: from 15% in 2010, they reached 25% in 2013, up to 33% in 2016.

At the same time, the youngsters who say they have "no rules" are reduced: from 70% in 2010, 63% were reached in 2013 up to today's 61%. It also decreases the range of those who claim to have learned to surf: from 55% in 2014 to 48% in 2016; on the other hand, the number of parents who declare to engage in teaching their children a correct use of the Internet grows: from 14% in 2014 to 24% in 2016.

These data show a high need for training and information on this type of dependence of minors.

From this emerges the awareness that thanks to knowledge and training we can change the direction of things, leaving far more than a mere opening open to the hope of change.

And you, abuse your social accounts or are you a moderator? Leave your advice below to avoid becoming addicted!