Problematic use of the Web among young people

Kljub temu, da sodobna tehnologija izjemno koristi najrazličnejšim potrebam današnje družbe, se med mladimi skozi leta porajajo novi izzivi, ki kažejo na posledice njene pretirane in neuravnovešene rabe. V diplomskem delu »Problematična raba spleta med mladimi« povezujem tehnološko in psihološko plat uporabe spletnih tehnologij. V tehnološkem delu naloge opišem razvoj interneta, svetovnega spleta in mehanizmov, protokolov, na katerih ta temelji, predstavim pregled trenutnega stanja družbenih omrežij, spletnih iger in razčlenim nekatere aktualne gradnike digitalnega ekosistema. V psihološkem delu naloge predstavim pogled na problematično, neuravnoteženo rabo spleta in se navežem na pojem zasvojenosti, ki se dandanes širi tudi na njene nekemične oblike, v katere spada tudi zasvojenost s spletom. V tem delu opišem biokemijo zasvojenosti in navedem rizične ter varovalne dejavnike prekomerne rabe spleta. Obenem preverim položaj problematične rabe in odvisnosti v Sloveniji in svetu, tako kot o njem poročajo nekateri strokovnjaki (pediatri, psihologi, nevrologi …). V dopolnitev sklicevanja na mnoge slovenske in tuje raziskave tudi sam izvedem raziskavo na osnovi ankete med osnovnošolci ter srednješolci na Goriškem, v kateri preverjam hipoteze o problematični rabi spleta med mladimi, natančneje med mladimi v zadnji triadi osnovne šole in med različnimi letniki srednje šole. V raziskavi me zanima, kako njihova uporaba spleta vpliva na učni uspeh, odnose in prostočasne aktivnosti, ki rabo spleta izključujejo. Podatki, razvidni iz raziskave, ne pokažejo visoke povezanosti med rezultati lestvice o problematični rabi spleta in ocenami, odnosi ter prostočasnimi aktivnostmi, ki izključujejo rabo spleta. To pomeni, da gre med anketiranci moje raziskave za skupine, ki so pod pragom problematične rabe spleta, kot jo opisujejo strokovnjaki [1]. Iz rezultatov pa so razvidne statistično pomembne razlike med dekleti in fanti, še posebej v povezanosti kakovosti odnosov in časa rabe spleta pri fantih. V zaključnem delu naloge povzemam še nekaj novih dejstev v zvezi z zdravljenjem zasvojenosti, kot ga poskusno prakticiramo pri nas in predstavim ključne preventivne programe, ki so v rabi v Sloveniji. Celotno diplomsko delo je poziv naši družbi, da tehnologijo pričnemo prepoznavati kot orodje, ki ga z visoko stopnjo zavesti upravljamo mi sami in ne obratno. Ob zavedanju pasti in nevarnosti, da se vanje ujamemo, v toku današnje civilizacije lažje krmarimo. Človeštvo potrebuje zgled za snovanje digitalnih tehnoloških inovacij in njenih uporabniških vmesnikov z visoko stopnjo etike.Despite the fact that technology serves to the most diverse needs of today\u27s society, many new challenges are emerging, especially among younger generations, which reveal the consequences of its excessive, improper use. In the present thesis »Problematic use of the Internet among adolescents«, I present the technological and psychological aspects of online technologies use. In the technological part, I describe the developmental phases of the Internet, the World Wide Web and the mechanisms, protocols on which it operates. In this part, I provide an overview of the current state of social networks, online games and analyze some current building blocks of the digital ecosystem. In the psychological part of the thesis, I present the problematic, unbalanced use of the Internet in relation to the concept of addiction, which today also extends to non-chemical addictions. I describe the biochemistry of addiction among the risk and protective factors of Internet addiction. Further more, I present the current state of problematic use of Internet and addiction in Slovenia in particular and worldwide in general by referring to different experts (pediatricians, psychologists, neurologists …). Apart from summing up different Slovenian and foreign research, I conducted a short research based on a survey of primary and secondary school students in the Goriška region, in which I tested hypotheses about the problematic use of the Internet among youngsters, more specifically among pupils in the last triad of primary school and students of the secondary school. I was interested in how their Internet use affects learning success, relationships, and free time activities that exclude the Internet use. The results from the research did not reveal any high correlations between the scores on the problematic Internet use questionnaire and grades, relationships and free time activities that exclude Internet use among the youngsters. This suggests that the participants of my research represent the groups that are below the threshold of problematic Internet use as described by experts [1]. In the final part of the thesis, I summarize some new facts related to the treatment of addiction, as they are practiced in Slovenia, and present the key prevention programs that are in use. The entire work is an appeal to our society to start recognizing technology as a tool that should serve us and not the other way around. Humanity needs to bring up the thought of designing digital innovations and its user interfaces with a high level of ethics today more than ever before