WAKE UP WORLD!!!
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teen internet addiction isn’t just gaming obsession alone. more attention, please, on the real-life horrors of teen internet addiction in ALL the forms it takes.

i fight with teens daily addicted to darker aspects of online living — 24/7 chat rooms, “baiting” sexual preditors, and outright pornography as well as all-consuming video gaming. and while i’m at it, pornography is still porn even if you’re studying anatomy or biology.

too many times, my teens post too much personal info displayed in online places like facebook, beebo, myspace, etc. pics posted include close family & friends. my teen likes to post pics in swimwear, underwear, skimpy clothing etc. just to look “hot”. don’t forget my two of my personal faves, the “peace out” sign,or the f*** you finger. and we’re not even going there about the written postings using swear words that would make any sailor or marine cringe.

life for us parents is a nightmare! we suffer social isolation and outright condemnation from the “fallout” over teenage indiscretion. my teen keeps (password protected) accounts of online postings of MY personal info, MY face, other members of MY family & friends. these are done withOUT our consent into accounts WE can’t access. changing info is pointless since webspaces are routinely updated by my teen.

best of all, my “battles” to save my teen are documented online. i’m the “witch” regularly featured in my teen’s outrageous blog entries. you can imagine the legal implications there when i receive a friendly call for the local child protection agency.

i must keep all my phones locked up or in my possesion at all times. if i don’t — creepy internet ADULTS call at all hours of the day & nite looking for my teen. before “lockdown” my teen would leave me paying huge phone bills. this included international calls to canada, europe, africa, etc.

like any other “drug”, my junkie will do WHATEVER it takes (and i do mean ANYTHING!) to get that daily fix. and just to say how i view things PHONE SEX IS STILL SEX. and with an underage teen, NOT OKAY!! okay? my teen will use other computers, sneak around at nite, use cell phone internet access, skip school. and like any addict, withdrawl can be frightening and gruesome.

for the moment, my only solution is 100% adult supervision 24/7. that means the offending teen stays within eyesight of an adult constantly. we parents must split our lives apart, one working days while the other works nites just to keep up “guard duty”.

few counsellors or doctors treat this as the serious mental health illness it ought to be. it is not a problem of poor parenting, overindulgence, or simple depression. call this what it really is LIFE THREATENING, DEVISTATING ADDICTION no less dangerous than illicit drugs, alcohol, and underage smoking.

100% adult supervision 24/7 for our children is impossible, cause we are not always with them. To prevent my children from spending all spare time on the Internet, I use internet filtering software Ez Internet Timer: http://www.internettimer.net/ It helps me control, schedule and filter Internet activity on the kids PC.

Thank you Maggy. I just downloaded Ez Internet Timer from their web site http://www.internettimer.net, that is exactly what I was looking for a long time. This internet filtering software is perfect and it’s user user friendly. It has really good security and my child can’t uninstall it or log on and change the settings. Once again thanks!

If I were to block the gaming sites that my son uses on his computer then we would seriously have a problem. He has become agressive and verbally disrespectful; unauthorized use of my debit card(s); I had to close his account because of overdrafts and last night he threatened me because I would not give him my debit card which I have to lock up. He has made a $300 + transaction and tried to make another $300 + transaction last night. What would you suggest I do?

Wow…this article means a lot to me.

I am a 15, almost 16 year old girl. I used to be intelligent, happy, social, and adventurous. Until last year. A year ago today, a horrible event crashed down on my life. I was devastated. My life was overpretty much, and I didn’t see it coming. Since this event I’ve found a world online, that has helped me cope. The internet keeps me unaware of the reality of my life. It has games, music, videos, and nice people to talk to. It seemed like that was everything I needed to comfort me. Since the incident one year ago, I’ve developed so many issues. I have these horrid trust issues, self-destructive behaviors, and many fears. Before today I didn’t want to acknowledge these problems, I was fine living my life in a blur of misery. Now, I understand I’m in a rut. What I’ve been experiencing for this whole year is not “normal teenage problems.” I’m not in school, and I haven’t felt the touch of the sun on my face in months.

I find comfort in knowing that anyone I speak with online is not permanent. They can’t see how much pain I feel, they don’t judge me for my problems. I’m not sure if the internet is saving me, or slowly killing me. Anyways, I had to get that out of my system. I needed a reality check.

Now, I’m not sure what to do. But eventually I will get out of this. I hope…

Wow.. this is so true. I am now a jr, but my eighth grade, and ninth grade and sophomore year, all I did was stay on the computer. I guess it didn’t help that my ‘boyfriend’ lived in Michigan and that was the only way we could talk. Sophomore year, the addiction started dying down, and now i on,y really get online about once a day just to check my myspace, or to see if anyone is on MSN. My parents were so worried, I wouldn’t eat, I hardly slept, I wouldn’t hang out with my friends. They threatned to put me in the hospital multiple times, but it didn’t matter as long as I had internet. Now, the only reason I’m online right now is becuase I’m doing a report about Teenage internet addiction. But if anyone needs to talk feel free to IM me on yahoo, or email me. mizz_hello.kitty_lovarr_x@yahoo.com

Thanks.

I’m now 19 and experiencing being a dad. I must say although it feels good it’s still hard. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but to be honest, the hard part is having to balance time. My daughter is great and makes managing her never dreadful. -Teen dad