When we encounter problems, need answers, or are simply looking for entertainment or amusement, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
Don't know the meaing of a word? Search for it online.
Can't decide which handphone to get? Search for reviews online.
Don't know how to get somewhere? Find bus, mrt, or even driving instructions online.
Need to buy a dress but too busy to go shopping? Buy it online.
Everything we do is centred around the world wide web, and without it, most people tend to feel a sense of loss or helplessness. This reliance on the internet has led to many societal problems in our society, and these problems are set to escalate as technology advances further and people become more dependent on the net.
In this day and age, whatever we are looking for, the first thing most would do is find a computer or laptop, and go on the internet. Information, games, shopping, friendship, and even love can be found online. Yes, the internet has brought us techonological advancements, convenience and lots of advantages. But are we getting too dependent on it?
I found a very disturbing news report which was published on the 3rd of June this year. In Phoenix, Arizona, a 15 year old boy murdered his father. And the reason for this shocking act? The teen's father had banned him from using the internet.
Hughstan Schlicker got so angry and upset that his father forbided him from using the internet that he even contemplated suicide, deciding to kill himself with his father's 12 gauge shotgun. However, he later changed his mind and decided to instead kill his father first, and then commit suicide. So when his father got home, the teenager calmly waited till his father got into the kitchen, walked up behind him, and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly.
However, the Hughstan called a female friend to confess what he had done, and to tell her he was going to commit suicide. The girl managed to talk him out of it and convinced him to call the police instead.
Hughstan Schlicker wasa charged with first degree murder and will be tried as an adult.
Oh, and this is his reason for killing his own father: Hughstan told detectives that he used the Internet to communicate with his friends and since his father took the Internet away, he was "just so depressed all the time," the report said. He often spent entire days on MySpace and couldn't cope when his father cut off his access to the site. "It felt like I was stabbed with a knife and it went straight through and … no matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't pull out the knife,"
10 comments:
That kid really deserves to go to jail for what he did, thank goodness he was tried as an adult and not given some lame community service or theraphy sentence because of his age. Do the crime, do the time!
this shows that we really should start to consider the concequences that over dependence on the internet might bring.
Well, i guess this is the consequences of fluorishing use of CMC. people get really attracted to it and depend on it in the end. Like wad the lecturer said, some of them change their identification online. scary isn't it? So we must be really careful, and the only way to guard us from all these is our onion. where beliefs and morals and religion comes in.
the kid deserves to be locked in jail for the rest of his life. fancy killing his father over such trivial matters. well, i'm glade my father doesnt ban me from using the internet or i will feel so lost. oops. this proves that i'm getting to addicted to it.
well although i really have nothing but disgust and repulse for the teen, i can kind of understand how he felt when his dad banned him from using the internet. I think that if I was ever restricted access to the internet, I would go crazy too! but certainly not to the extent of killing someone though...
hmmm the internet has definately shaped and changed the way we live and communicate. despite all the positive and good things that it has brought us, i really think that we should not rely too much on the net.
cyberspace can become a dangerous place when we get sucked into it too deep, and people are bound to be faced with negative effects of it. psychological problems, like depression and withdrawal symptoms are all on the rise as we become overdependent on the internet for everything.
the dude's psycho! but anyway i think the main point we should all take away is that although our lives depend heavily on technology and the works, we should not be overly dependent on it.
on times when i go on holiday and i don't bring my phone with me (cos i don't apply for roaming) i feel so undisturbed and free. my sub-conscious mind is not constantly bugging me to check my phone or my email for new messages and i think we don't have to wait for a holiday to free our minds from this unnecessary burden. it would be great if everyone could set aside a day or two in a week to abstain from checking smses, emails or receiving calls.
think of it as a sort of 'retreat' which is the in thing nowadays anyway!
once, i made a bet with my friends that i could live a week without using the internet. everyone was convinced that it would be impossible, but i thought, 'it's just a week, and i hardly use the internet anway, so how hard could it be?'
well, it turned out to be pretttyyyy hard. by the 2nd day i was already dying to log onto facebook and check my wall posts, i was constantly thinking about the emails piling up in my mailbox, and i was feeling totally left out from not being able to chat with my friends on messenger.
however, that was pretty predictable, i knew that with my daily usage of msn and facebook i would find it hard to live without it, but interestingly enough i never realised that aside from the trivial chatting and facebooking, i was dependent on the net for many other things. if i was doing homework, i would search for information online. if i needed directions to get to somewhere, i would check out streetdirectory.com. if i wanted to watch a movie, i would check out movie timings and book tickets online. basically, i relied on the internet so much more then i actually thought i did. thinking about, it's really quite scary.
Wow that is crazy. I've never even heard of that story!!! Seriously, I don't think anyone can blame the internet for his crime though. This is just a case of mental unstability and he has to first check his head before taking it out on internet. If we solely look at this case, I don't think i can say that the internet is a disadvantage. This boy would comit a crime regardless of whether the internet was there or not!!
cyberspace has really altered the way we live and interact with other people.. i feel that it has brought on more bad then good, like people who become addicted to online gaming or the internet. there has been countless reports of kids getting addicted to the internet, and the terrbile results that follow. psychological problems, anger, depression, all of these could be avoided if people stopped turning to the internet for everything.
Post a Comment