Talk about your sensational journalism. This morning I was browsing through headlines related to addiction and addiction studies like I always do. A particular headline grabbed my attention - Internet addiction plagues univ students nationwide. Sounds pretty intimidating right? After reading the article, I was a bit confused. There were a few statistics on possible negative side affects of spending too much time online, a reference to a fairly well known article entitled Is Google Making Us Stupid?, and a long, personal diatribe from the article’s author - Naomi Spector - on how the “virtual world is slowly turning us into zombies.”
However, the one important element missing is any real information that would lead me to believe that there is a “plague” of Internet addiction amongst university students nationwide. There are two relevant points:
- According to a recent Wi-Fi Alliance and Wakefield Research survey, almost three out of five students would not go to a college that does not offer free wi-fi. In fact, “nine out of 10 college students in the United States say wi-fi access is as essential to education as classrooms and computers,” says the study.
- [a different] survey states, “More than half [of the students surveyed] have checked Facebook or MySpace and sent or received e-mail while using their laptop in class.” I have seen, in my lecture classes, no shortage of high-achieving and academically motivated Brandeis students surreptitiously checking Facebook instead of taking notes. The temptation is strong. Is the Internet so addictive it prevents even the best students from concentrating in class?
and then one point that sounds like a silver lining to me:
- The survey even found that “If forced to choose, nearly half of respondents (48 percent) would give up beer before giving up Wi-fi.”
Here’s my point. I didn’t read anything that would cause me to believe there is a national epidemic of Internet addiction at universities. So what? Students want WiFi. So do I. In fact, I often choose hotels and restaurants based on their WiFi access, and have even not gone back to a hotel because the WiFi sucked. That’s just the way it goes. My livelihood is closely tied to this little black box that I carry around with me. Maybe this author should tone down the title a bit.
