Computer addicts
are the minority of computer users but there is no doubt that
more and more young people are computer literate. Computer
studies is a subject in many schools and many young people have
personal computers. About one in three hundred computer owners
spend almost all their time using computers.
Ninety six per
cent of them are males of all ages. All of them spend an average
of twenty hours per week on home computers. The majority of the
adults also use computers at work. All the computer addicts are
very intelligent. They have been interested in science and
technology from a very early age and they are usually very shy
people who like being alone.
A survey in a
school showed that fewer girls are interested in computers
because girls are less likely to have a computer. Even if they
have one, they use then less frequently than boys. Possibly it
is because we think of computers as something to do with maths
and science, which are traditionally 'male' subjects. Possibly
it is because most of the computer teachers are men, who give
the girls less attention. Possibly parents think it is less
important for girls to have computer skills.
Computer addicts
are usually very shy people. Using computers gives them
confidence. They love debugging and solving problems, develop
programs and love learning programming languages. They learnt to
communicate with other users through computer networks and the
people they met in school and work think of them as experts who
could help and advise when they had problems with their
machines. A few spend their time 'hacking' and one addict left a
message on a computer of Buckingham House. Very few computer
addicts play computer games, but many people use a computer
exclusively for games.
Some parents
worry about computer games because they think their children
won't be able to communicate with real people in the real world.
But parents do not need to worry. According to research computer
addicts usually do well after they have left school. Parents
also do not need to worry that computer addiction will make
their children become unfriendly and unable to communicate with
people.
It is not the
computer that makes them shy. In fact, what they know about
computers improves their social lives. They become experts and
others come to them for help and advice.
For most children
computer games are a craze. Like any other craze, such as
skate-boarding, the craze is short-lived. It provides harmless
fun and a chance to escape.If we didn't have
these computer addicts, we wouldn't have modern technology. They
are the inventors of tomorrow.