I let the Internet get in the way of my normal life

Jacob's family got a computer when he was 13 years old so that he could use it for homework. His parents installed monitoring software on the computer, so they felt safe letting Jacob keep the computer in his bedroom, and they were fine with him using it for other things besides homework. "I loved being online; I couldn't wait to get home from school every day so I could get on the computer," says Jacob.

However, when Jacob got his report card several months later, his grades had gone down. Jacob's parents had also noticed a change in his mood; while he used to be a happy child, he was now cranky and tired most of the time. To find out what was going on, they looked at the monitoring software's log of how much time Jacob was spending on the Internet and what he was doing. It turned out that he was spending up to six hours a day - often late into the night - surfing the Web, instant messaging his friends, and playing online games.

Jacob's parents immediately took the computer out of his bedroom. He was no longer allowed to be online when they were not home, and they used a timer to gradually limit the time he spent online to one hour a day. Jacob's grades started to pick up since he was actually doing his homework, and he became much more pleasant to be around. "I sometimes miss hanging out on the Internet all day," Jacob said, "but it is good to have my old life back."

Refer to the Encyclopedia of Risks and Threats entry for more information about creating and maintaining an online identity responsibly.