Four out five parents think their children could get addicted to Facebook, and a third think the internet is a danger, new research suggests
A third of all UK parents believe that their children are in danger from the internet and 80 per cent think it is possible to become addicted to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, a new study suggests. It also found that a third of parents even believe that the web can “rewire” a person’s brain.
Internet charity the Nominet Trust, who commissioned the research, say there is no evidence that social networks are harmful in themselves, and that there is no neurological evidence of the web changing brains.
Facebook and Twitter, they suggested, usually in fact reinforce existing friendships, while even playing video games has been show to improve coordination and ‘visual processing skills’.
Critics such as Baroness Susan Greenfield have called in the past for more rigorous examination of the effect growing up with the internet can have on children, but not studies have yet provided conclusive evidence of any harmful side effects. Treatments for so-called internet addiction are now also offered around the world, although they are not specifically connected to social networks
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