TMCnet News
Is Britain incubating a child internet addiction?May 02, 2013 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- A survey of British children and their parents reveals that typically children start using the internet from the age of three. But a leading IT entrepreneur and former child addict - says we should be harnessing their enthusiasm. The internet wasnt around when I was three but I was certainly an online addict by my middle teens, said Gary David Smith the co-founder of Prism Total IT Solutions. As with all things, parents have to guide their off-spring but a childs enthusiasm for all things digital certainly doesnt have to be a negative thing, he said. Gary David Smith generated his original interest in computing while playing with his ZX Spectrum as a child. The ZX was Britains best selling computer in the 1980s and boasted 16 kilobytes of RAM for 125! I loved my ZX as a kid and it certainly got me involved and excited about the whole computing sector. Along with the BBC Micro it created a culture among young people in Britain that programming could be both fun and creative, said Mr Smith. The report was compiled by a poll by Netmums and discovered that many children are spending four hours or more every day on smartphones and computers. Netmums is worried that youngsters are risking their normal physical development by neglecting physical activities and spending hours infront of screens. A third of the child internet users questioned said that they struggled to concentrate on activites like reading books and a fifth admitted to interacting more with a virtual world than with real people. Most worryingly, 5% of children admitted that they had met someone who they had first encountered online and well over half admitted to seeing content like pornography, eating disorder sites and self-harm images. Parents have a responsibility to talk to their children about their internet surfing and have a responsibility to keep them safe. The internet makes all information redily available; both good and bad, said Mr Smith. But as a nation we are still reaping the benefits of the wave of IT innovation that began in Britain in the seventies and eighties. My chief concern is that we are not doing enough to channel our childrens enthusiasm for computing. I have campaigned for many years that children should be introduced to coding and programming at an early age certainly at junior school. The web has democratised business opportunities. If we can instil in every child a basic understanding of programming we will give them a huge advantage, he said. ABOUT PRISM TOTAL IT SOLUTIONS MANAGED AND CLOUD PROVIDER Since their formation in 2001, the Prism team have worked hard to build an enviable reputation as one of the UKs premier outsourced IT providers. The very essence of their business is to provide personal installation and technical support solutions for hardware and software systems to our clients throughout the UK, all of which being delivered using our own skilled and dedicated team. With numerous award wins and professional accreditations, they believe in long term relationships with all clients, team members and suppliers, taking ownership of your IT requirements to exacting standards. Whether you are a growing business who requires telephone support for your existing Microsoft Windows desktop infrastructure, a publicly listed company who needs a strategic technology deployment partner or a mid-market solutions provider who require VPN connectivity between branch offices, Prism will have or develop a product that perfectly fits your needs. Working with best of breed suppliers ensures that they can meet and exceed your expectations, which is why they strive to achieve the highest levels of professional certification from leading vendors such as Microsoft, PGP and Hewlett Packard to ensure that they can deliver the best solutions in the best possible way. Prism is not the local PC shop or the IT guy; we are your strategic technology partner. ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.com on the world wide web. Inquiries to [email protected]. |