Internet was created in 1960s. Its development over the last 2 decades had groomed it into a key component of everyday lives of trillions of users. Over the years, the Internet had transformed from a reliable work resource into a system that allows people to share personal views, photos and videos.
Despite countless had used Internet for years, not all had sufficient knowledge and maturity to demonstrate cyber wellness.
Most frequently, personal reflections and views were shared in a harsh manner, such as critics and slanders. There were many who were charged due to these comments, such as the teenagers who were sued years ago for posting comments that implied racial discrimination. Unfortunately, their immaturity did not spare them from the law. Cyber crime is another pressing matter that youngsters had committed usually through hacking or over copyright issue. These trends recognized the importance of imparting cyber wellness to the young generation before tragedy. Cyber bullying could be reduced to the minimum with the influence from cyber wellness, where users were taught to be responsible and sensible online.
As reflected in PIP report, teenagers were expected to increase their reliance on Internet. Cyber wellness is not only about acting legally, but also sensibly. Teenagers would need certain control from parents and teachers to ensure that they do not over rely on Internet. A group of primary students attempted to jump down from a building after fully convinced by a ridiculous rumour online. Despite the extreme case, many had suffered from an imbalanced social lifestyle. Most of them were too engaged in networking online than to build healthy relationships outside the screen. These had eroded their emotional and physical health gradually. Such tragedies can be prevented with knowledge of cyber wellness.
In summary, from my personal opinion, cyber wellness should be identified as a requirement in primary or secondary education system. Its impact on the youth generation will determine the future wellness of the society.

EDWARD

Labels: Cyber Wellness

Information Technology seems to be important to everyone. Even employees and students depend on technology to work and study. A form of technology is the internet. For instance, in polytechnics and junior colleges, projects are part of the curriculum. They are required to conduct researches from the internet. As a student, apart from gathering resources from the internet, I surf the internet for entertainment. The internet is also a convenient spot where people shop online e.g. blogshops. Face book, blogs, YouTube and twitter are websites that teenagers often visit.

We usually assume that it’s safe to log in to a particular website or chatting online with a stranger. Most Singaporean youths do not exercise cyber wellness. By definition, cyber wellness is the positive well-being of Internet users and a healthy cyber culture for the Internet community. They lack of understanding of the risks of harmful online behaviour, an awareness of how to protect oneself and others from such behaviour, and recognition of the power of the Internet to affect oneself and the community at large. Thus, those who lacks of understanding on cyber wellness are vulnerable to online cons such as get rich schemes and fake business opportunities.

Gaming is also an addiction that teenagers find hard to control. When gamers are focused on gaming, they neglect having meals on time and have sufficient sleep. This will affect and deteriorate their health. Internet users have abused the luxury of surfing the internet. Examples of such are spamming people’s blog with negative comments and posting racist remarks. Internet users should be mindful of what they post online or otherwise, they will bear the consequences. In schools, it is considered to be a serious offence. Students will be punished accordingly and can also be classified as a crime for posing insulting remarks.

Parents can play a role to promote cyber wellness to their children. Having consistent checks on the sites that teenagers visit is a good way to keep track on them. Parents will be well-aware of their children activities. Children are encouraged to be educated on cyber wellness when they are young. On the other hand, teenagers should refrain themselves from visiting illegal websites. Internet is not a harmful as long as the internet users do not misused the internet and visit appropriate sites.

julia.

Labels: Cyber Wellness

The world has now covered with high technology in terms of almost everything. We can see that information technology have been used in almost every aspect in our life. One of the very famous information technology is the internet. That is why there is something called Cyber Wellness to tackle problems online such as scams and know how to protect themselves in the interent.

There have been high risk harms on internet for the past few years with scams of account number or information and sometimes even hacking into accounts such as online bank accounts to make some secret transactions. In addition, viruses are now everywhere, more wicked, more powerful and more dangerous. These viruses can actually hack into computers without the owner noticing it. So there is nothing safe when we are on the internet as we do not know what the other party actually is. There is also spyware which is difficult to detect. It collects little bits of information from the owner without the acknowledgement.

Recently users online are posting remarks in the net without thinking twice. In fact, they should think thrice instead. Posting sarcastic or racist remarks online could lead them into court case. Sometimes cyber bullying can also lead to court case. Users online vent their anger or frustrations on targeted people's blogs or for example facebook to discriminate or to show him or her that they are not happy. It could also lead to further parties involved when one of the side calls for more help from other party. Therefore, users online must be responsible, respectful and rational on the things or remarks they post online.

When we navigate to different websites, we can see that there is "congratulations" message or banner at the side of the web page. Most of the time it congratulate users of winning some kind of lottery or prize. However, how do we know that they are real? Sometimes when users simply click on those banners or messages, they got struck straight away by viruses. This is how dangerous internet can be. Many users will think that it is a scam and they will choose not to click on it. However, there are also users who are curious or thinks that it really is true. In the end, they are the one who gets scammed.

Users nowadays believe that once they do not trust any scamming sites or do not reveal their personal information, they are safe. However we must be very aware that even though such precautions are taken, internet is never safe. Even if Anti Virus Software is even installed. Statistics shows that around 90% of the users downloads files online instead of buying from stores. We must be aware that sometimes files uploaded contains spyware which is purposely uploaded with the files by the user. This is one of the ways how users bring spywares to other user's computer.

Students go online to do homework, they do research and then look for information for their studies. Students tends to plagiarise informations online. This is one of the way that has harmed students in terms of effort put in in projects.Users who are shopping addicts do shopping online. However, did they think about any possible scams that is going to occur in terms of payment made but failed to get the things they are looking for. This questions users online of how well they know which is the trusted site to go make their orders on.

Pornography have also been one of the very famous negative cyber points that have affect users online negatively. Due to high technology, pornography can now be found anywhere and everywhere online. Though there are efforts in removing such sites, there are still too many to hunt down. Pornography also affects youths or teenagers to think dirty and sometimes it do affect their thinking. Online news shows many people are convicted of rape or molest mostly due to uncontrollable actions when they are way too engrossed in such stuffs.

In conclusion, we can see that these cyber problems has caused so much harms on users and may result to serious penalties. Users must not look on such cyber attacks lightly. There is nothing in this world that is safe in internet. More schools must follow the foot step of Nanyang Polytechnic which has introduce modules such as Cyber Wellness to students to teach them some internet skills to protect themselves against possible cyber attacks. I believe parents also plays a huge part in making sure that their children are on the right site which are trusted in order to make sure that they do not go untrusted site.

Er Chin

Labels: Cyber Wellness

Introduction to the Internet
As the world advances into the modern Information Technology (IT) age, the internet has become a common usage by many. In contrast to the past bulky computers decades back when Microsoft Word software was still a big hit, the internet in present appeals to the tech-savvy generation. The existence of internet connectivity has made communication easier with possible immediate responses from the other party. Information is widely available and accessible, be it coming from opposite regions of the globe. Majority of those living in the 21st century, with regards to frequent users of the internet, would have come across famous websites such as 'Friendster', 'Facebook', 'Twitter', 'Youtube' etc... Once the user logs on to the internet and visit various sites, every single information that needs to be researched on via the web can be found directly at his fingertips. To carry out online transactions such as banking, shopping and booking of tickets has become more convenient. Just by staying at home and transacting online, one can get many things done. An added advantage, the millions of sites easily surfed on the internet help to kill boredom. The happenings of world and entertainment events can be read directly from news sites. As a result of the numerous benefits the internet brings, it is much appreciated by everyone, especially heavy users. (Those who use the internet for communication/carry out transactions/gaming etc...)

Dangers of the Internet
Despite the many benefits of the internet, the fact that this includes dangers posed is also inevitable. This mostly occurs when conmen make use of the internet to create scams/ young innocent girls fall prey to love cheats whom they communicate with solely online. There are always two sides to everything. On one hand, almost any information needed can be found from the internet. Plus, casually surfing the internet and chatting with friends via MSN messenger are forms of leisure activities. However, who can see the face that lies beyond the computer screen? Who are you actually communicating with if you do not know the person? This remains unknown unless through the use of webcams or videoconferencing. The mysteriousness within the internet has yet to be revealed…

Tricks up the Sleeves
While using the internet, a message may suddenly pop-out, 'You have won 1 million dollars in lottery!' Does one have any idea who it is from? What lottery ticket are they referring to? This seems to puzzle most people in general who receive such messages especially through their own personal email accounts. Or maybe with promises of guaranteed returns if one invests money into a 'share'. Usually, lump sums of money by the 'investor' will be deposited into a particular bank account. However, the contact with the unknown party soon ceases. As a result, the money is gone just like that. Everyone knows that there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world... There is definitely a catch to such 'false' benefits. Many people have fallen into the tricks of those conmen.
Let's take students for example. MSN messenger is a common online chatting site. Thus, there is a possibility that one may end up communicating with strangers who is added under their contacts. How can one know for sure that the other party is saying the truth? Personal information can be hidden for a period. But in real life, there are previous cases whereby the exact person who claims to be a teenage boy aged 17 may turn out to be a middle-aged man.

Cyber-bullying
On the surface, the internet may seem to be harmless tool. One just sits front of the computer, clicking and typing away. How can it possibly be a ‘danger’? However, forums and blogs are created on internet sites, whereby the public can share their views with others. In addition, there are many online games such as MapleSea/Audition/GetAmped etc... which many young teens fancy and enjoy. With all the interaction going on with one another, regardless of whether friends or strangers, this may lead to cyber-bullying of a targeted person. Such as a group of teens gather together using their virtual identities and pick up a fight or tease another vulnerable character. This may lead to severe consequences. There have been recent articles published in newspapers regarding blog quarrels and via Facebook. The internet is a free speech arena. In forums, one can post anything he wants, be it criticisms/vulgarities/voicing out his anger and so on.

Cyber Wellness
Cyber Wellness comprises of knowing how to protect oneself from dangers posed by the internet, abiding by the internet safety rules and maintaining the positive well-being of users by developing a healthy cyber culture. Therefore, it is essential that one uses the internet wisely. Sometimes, there are people who illegally download songs from the internet. In their opinion, this is simply what everyone has been doing. Since the songs are uploaded onto the website, which is meant to be downloaded, how could it be considered illegal?

Education Curriculum
Schools have implemented Civics/Moral Education lessons to inculcate values into students. One of the modules under such lessons is cyber wellness, which aims to educate the students on cyber awareness. They learn to be careful while using the internet, refrain from chatting with strangers and falling into scams. Being taught from young, the students will have a better idea of how to protect themselves and be a healthy cyber well-being.

Conclusion
Overall, everyone should have a clear understanding of the meanings behind cyber wellness. With added awareness, they can be cautious while using the internet. This prevents scams and cheats from succeeding. Also, people will ensure that whatever activities they commit using the internet is legal. To lead a safe cyber lifestyle starts from individuals themselves.

-Pearlyn :D-

Labels: Cyber Wellness

Cyber wellness in which encompasses safety and security online, but also considers people's psychological and emotional well being. This day’s many young children may be affected along with the range of issue regarding use of new mobile and internet technology.

Therefore, when people become an internet addiction, they do not regard the internet as an information or communication tool, nor do they use it only for enjoyment. Instead they use the internet as a means to escape from their problems while they spend time online.

• Spend most of the time online, ignored their family and friends, normal daily tasks are affected too
• Feeling anxiety and discomfort when disconnected from the practical world
• Inability to gaming activity and to differentiate between the real world and the fantasy world

Some signs of symptom include:

• Feeling restless, moodiness
• Preoccupation with the internet
• Increase the amount of time spends on internet to achieve satisfaction
• Depression or irritability when attempting to reduce internet time

Strategies to prevent internet addiction:

• The computer should be place accessible by all, where monitoring internet usage is easy
• Consent to time limit for internet use outside school hours
• Parents can spend more quality time with them so as to let them stay away from the internet
• Keeping record of all the sites visited and installs filters

Example: South Korea’s gaming addicts (2002)

24 - year old Kim Kyung - Jae collapsed and died after playing computer games non-stop for 86 hours. Kim played from 8am until midnight over 4 months, gained 5kg, on one meal a day of instant noodles.

Consistently games are addictive because of several reasons: Games are designed such that they are not intended to complete in one session. Within the games, there are sub-plots and mini-games.

• Motivated to complete the levels of games and each level is achieved with increasing difficulty
• Exciting and elaborate plots that evolve over time
• Some games are on-going, played by gamers all over the world in real-time
• Mentality of players is to be the winner of the game who dislikes to be defeated by other opponents

Some symptom of game addiction:

• Trouble with school attendance and encountering difficulty in coping with school work
• Sitting at the computer and typing on the keyboard for long hours may resulting in physiological problems such as neck and back aches
• Suffering sleep disturbances and or eating problems
• Neglecting personal hygiene

In conclusion, cyber wellness is very important for us to be known about the severe consequences of the continuous indulging in using the computer for long hours.


JAS :D

Labels: Cyber Wellness

EDWARD
ER CHIN
JASMINE
JULIA
PEARLYN

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