Children in the TRNC ‘addicted to internet’

NEARLY two out of every three children in North Cyprus aged 11 to 17 are “addicted” to the internet, a new study has claimed.

The figure was released at a press conference to highlight the results of a government-backed “Protecting Our Children from the Virtual Enemy” research project.

The project was carried out by the Prime Ministry’s Anti-Drugs Commission as part of “prevention and educational” activities and supported by the National Education and Culture Ministry, Near East University’s Lifelong Education Centre, and municipalities.

A total of 66 parents, 271 teachers and 978 secondary and high school students took part in the research in five different regions of the TRNC.

The participants were also given information about the dangers in virtual environments and took part in “awareness-raising activities” to protect children from “virtual enemies”.

Training to raise awareness on “cyber-bullying, cyber predators, publishing confidential information, phishing, fraud, malware, information security and security breaches, personal data and personal information security, family protection software and social media network settings” was also provided.

During the first stage of the project, which began on November 3, 2020, parents were given face-to-face training and then surveys were conducted to determine their children’s internet usage levels, internet “addiction status” and the problems their children experience regarding internet use.

As of February 8, 2021, training and surveys were carried out with teachers from different branches in the second phase of the project.

According to data obtained from the parents participating in the study, 84.6 percent of the children actively use the internet, with 61.3 percent of children using the internet for three hours or more a day.

Internet use exceeding eight to 10 hours a week “indicates addiction” the report said. According to the results of the study, most children spend more than 21 hours a week on the internet.

Children use the internet for “academic study, communication, making new friends, listening to music, social media, watching movies, documentaries, videos and gaming”. However, daily internet usage of children who actively play online games exceeds three hours.

Just over half of families participating in the study said that they are “uncomfortable” with the amount of time their children spend on the internet and resort to limiting this time.

About 56 percent of parents think that their children prefer to spend time on the internet instead of with them, and 44.2 percent think that children put off their daily activities in order to access the internet.

Nearly 62 per cent of teachers believe that most of their students are “addicted to gaming”. They think that this harms students’ mental and physical health and social relationships.

Teachers participating in the study think that gaming addiction causes problems such as insomnia, distraction, forgetfulness, fatigue, an inability to communicate effectively with their peers, irritability and impatience.

The Prime Ministry’s AntiDrugs Commission president Hasan Karaokçu said that technology addiction can cause “at least as serious outcomes as substance addiction”.

“With the ‘Protecting Our Children from the Virtual

Enemy’ project, we aimed to raise awareness in families, teachers and children about the issue and present the dimensions of the problem,” he said at a press conference.

Near East University Lifelong Education Centre director Çiğdem Hürsen said: “80 per percent of teachers think that their students who are addicted to the internet and gaming behave problematically in the classroom, cannot communicate effectively with their friends and that this situation negatively affects their academic success.

“Our research reveals that families don’t have enough knowledge about their children’s internet use.”

National Education and Culture Ministry’s Educational Joint Services Department representative Süreyya Geylan Gürdal said the new data revealed “how dangerous internet addiction is among our children”.