- Feb 19, 2017
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I saw someone on here talking about how "Smartphones are making Teenagers Unhappy" and I wanted to put my two cents into the conversation as well. However, I didn't want to dominate the thread, so I decided to make my own.
I'm going to start of by saying, to the creator of that post, I'm going to assume that you are absolutely right about the claim that your thread's title makes. It sounds completely feasible to me that smartphones would be making our youth miserable, and here's why:
When I was younger, around the time that YouTube came into existence, I started to explore the internet a lot more than I did in the past. Before, I would just play games on Barbie.com and Postopia, and the Polly Pocket website, among other things. But yeah, when my dad introduced me to YouTube, that's part of where my internet problems began. It started off innocently enough, but there was also the matter of my mother's domineering over my life. When I was at her house, she would micromanage my life to an unhealthy extent and it really got to me, especially when I was put into homeschooling as I entered middle school. It felt like the only place where I could truly be free was on the internet, and the only place I could use the internet without any kinds of boundaries was at my dad's house. I'm sure if my dad knew what I was doing, he would have put some kind of a stop to it, but I was sneaky, so he never caught on.
Anyways, as I was on the internet, looking at different things, I ended up deciding to play on one of those dress up games one day. Again, the search started innocently enough, but I ended up coming across a very particular dress up game online. It had a favorite superhero character of mine in it and so, not knowing any better, I clicked on the link to play the game. In the past, I did play other dress up games and most of the ones I've played had the character's private parts covered up. This particular game didn't and I remember that, when I was playing this game, some very odd feelings started to come up for me and it was just... not good at all. And after that, although I didn't know what that weird feeling was, I kept wanting to feel it, and so I would actually search the internet for more material to make that same feeling come back. And, sparing you the graphic details of my internet history, that was my second introduction to inappropriate contentography (the first happened when I was even younger, but that was something I had long since forgotten at that point).
As time went on, I just fell deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is the internet and it was very unhealthy for me. Every waking moment at my dad's house was spent on the internet, and I would stay up so late that I would sleep in until crazy hours OR I'd only get 3 hours of sleep sometimes and I'd wake up feeling really sick because of the lack of sleep. The internet was absolutely dominating my life, and it only got worse once I discovered social media. That's when a few people started targeting me for sexual conversations, and I fell for it more times than I care to admit.
Thankfully, there came wonderful times when the computers I used in my dad's house would break down. When that happened, I had to fast from the internet for awhile (especially if I had to share it with my sister) and, you know, something amazing happened when I wasn't on the internet. When I wasn't on the internet, I actually felt free. That was the thought that went through my head: "I'm free. I'm finally free!" But, sadly, that wouldn't last too long as I'd just fall right back into my addiction when I got accustomed to being online regularly again. I fell in and out of this cycle for many many years and it was just awful.
Then I got my first smartphone at the age of 19 or 20 (pretty late for a late millennial, I know) and that made it even worse! Now I could do all sorts of garbage on the internet with a portable device, plus now I was never away from the internet ever. It was always available to me with just the press of a button and that's not good at all. I'd be on my phone ALL DAY with no breaks, I pushed my family away, I didn't associate with people in real life most of the times, and it was just not worth it. Thankfully, these days, with the discovery of Catholicism and the eventual acceptance of it in my heart, I've been limiting my internet usage to only things that are good. I'm avoiding inappropriate contentography now, I've started a fresh social media path and am now following blogs that only have clean content on them or promote God's way. It, once again, feels so freeing to be doing this. I must be careful, though, as I am liable to fall back into using my phone or the internet all the time again.
If I could go back in time and stop myself from discovering these things, I really would do it. And so, if I could lend any advice to someone who is struggling with internet addiction, my advice would be the following things:
I'm going to start of by saying, to the creator of that post, I'm going to assume that you are absolutely right about the claim that your thread's title makes. It sounds completely feasible to me that smartphones would be making our youth miserable, and here's why:
When I was younger, around the time that YouTube came into existence, I started to explore the internet a lot more than I did in the past. Before, I would just play games on Barbie.com and Postopia, and the Polly Pocket website, among other things. But yeah, when my dad introduced me to YouTube, that's part of where my internet problems began. It started off innocently enough, but there was also the matter of my mother's domineering over my life. When I was at her house, she would micromanage my life to an unhealthy extent and it really got to me, especially when I was put into homeschooling as I entered middle school. It felt like the only place where I could truly be free was on the internet, and the only place I could use the internet without any kinds of boundaries was at my dad's house. I'm sure if my dad knew what I was doing, he would have put some kind of a stop to it, but I was sneaky, so he never caught on.
Anyways, as I was on the internet, looking at different things, I ended up deciding to play on one of those dress up games one day. Again, the search started innocently enough, but I ended up coming across a very particular dress up game online. It had a favorite superhero character of mine in it and so, not knowing any better, I clicked on the link to play the game. In the past, I did play other dress up games and most of the ones I've played had the character's private parts covered up. This particular game didn't and I remember that, when I was playing this game, some very odd feelings started to come up for me and it was just... not good at all. And after that, although I didn't know what that weird feeling was, I kept wanting to feel it, and so I would actually search the internet for more material to make that same feeling come back. And, sparing you the graphic details of my internet history, that was my second introduction to inappropriate contentography (the first happened when I was even younger, but that was something I had long since forgotten at that point).
As time went on, I just fell deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is the internet and it was very unhealthy for me. Every waking moment at my dad's house was spent on the internet, and I would stay up so late that I would sleep in until crazy hours OR I'd only get 3 hours of sleep sometimes and I'd wake up feeling really sick because of the lack of sleep. The internet was absolutely dominating my life, and it only got worse once I discovered social media. That's when a few people started targeting me for sexual conversations, and I fell for it more times than I care to admit.
Thankfully, there came wonderful times when the computers I used in my dad's house would break down. When that happened, I had to fast from the internet for awhile (especially if I had to share it with my sister) and, you know, something amazing happened when I wasn't on the internet. When I wasn't on the internet, I actually felt free. That was the thought that went through my head: "I'm free. I'm finally free!" But, sadly, that wouldn't last too long as I'd just fall right back into my addiction when I got accustomed to being online regularly again. I fell in and out of this cycle for many many years and it was just awful.
Then I got my first smartphone at the age of 19 or 20 (pretty late for a late millennial, I know) and that made it even worse! Now I could do all sorts of garbage on the internet with a portable device, plus now I was never away from the internet ever. It was always available to me with just the press of a button and that's not good at all. I'd be on my phone ALL DAY with no breaks, I pushed my family away, I didn't associate with people in real life most of the times, and it was just not worth it. Thankfully, these days, with the discovery of Catholicism and the eventual acceptance of it in my heart, I've been limiting my internet usage to only things that are good. I'm avoiding inappropriate contentography now, I've started a fresh social media path and am now following blogs that only have clean content on them or promote God's way. It, once again, feels so freeing to be doing this. I must be careful, though, as I am liable to fall back into using my phone or the internet all the time again.
If I could go back in time and stop myself from discovering these things, I really would do it. And so, if I could lend any advice to someone who is struggling with internet addiction, my advice would be the following things:
- Find out why you are using the internet as much as you are. Is there something lacking in your life? Something bothering you, perhaps? If there is, maybe solicit help from others (like a therapist, supportive friends, or family members) to help you fix those problems in your life instead of using the internet to cover up what the problem is.
- Have someone put content blockers on your computer or phone so it's harder for you to access inappropriate contentography. Alternatively, sign up for a website that sends your internet history or screenshots of your device to a trusted person of your choosing who will hold you accountable for what you do online. Remember, sin THRIVES in secrets.
- Limit your internet usage. Don't let it consume your life like I let it do to me, please. You'll surely regret it.
- Find other hobbies or past-times that you'll enjoy doing. It's very hard to quit addictions cold-turkey, and I've found that if you have other hobbies or past-times to do instead of being on the internet, you'll be less likely to get bored and automatically turn to the phone or computer for comfort.
- Maybe delete some of the more addictive apps off of your phone?
- Establish a routine for yourself to follow every day. It can really help in the long run to make you feel like you have more control over your life. I'd start with a morning and bedtime routine, personally. There's lots of resources online with how to create one.
). We had our own currency and laws and even a little museum of artifacts we'd dug up from an abandoned farm nearby. I created our flag and hung it from a tall tree. 
