The effect of Internet usage on Children and Teens

Pre-School Teaching Student Club which is affiliated to the European University of Lefke (EUL) Office of Students’ Dean organized a conference themed “Popular Culture’s Place in our :The effect of Internet usage on Children and Teens”. Social Service Expert Barış Başel attended the conference as a speaker.

Çağanağa: The teachers have a great responsibility on reducing the effect of violence on children and teens.

The conference started after the opening speech of the Head of Department of Pre-School Teaching and Advisor of the Pre-School Teaching Student Club Assist. Prof. Dr. Çağda Kıvanç Çağanağa. Pointing out that the teachers have a great responsibility on reducing the effect of violence on children and teens, Çağanağa emphasized the fact that instead of raising children and teens who are similar to each other, raising them as individuals who think, question, read and use the internet to make life easier would not only have an effect on the children and teens but have an effect on the society in the long run.

Başel: Popular culture includes the general taste, interest and lifestyle of the majority of society

Başel started his presentation with an introduction to the popular culture and said that popular culture includes the general taste, interest and lifestyle of the majority of society. He describe the popular culture as a great balloon which serves to create the standard person whose tastes, feelings, thoughts are the same and emphasized that popular culture is a tool that makes people to follow the same sequence, put the shirt in the same way in their trousers as their bosses, cut their dye their hair in the same way and added that it creates the same type of human masses that respond to the same events in the same way.

Başel: Over time, buying brand products may turn into an addiction

Başel said that consuming behaviors and decisions of the people in this process as choosing brand products may be described as an effort to add value to the lives of people and added that “Individuals may prefer brand products by considering that the product they receive affects their life status”. Pointing out that over time, buying brand products may turn into an addiction, Başel said that “There may be many reasons why people prefer brand products. These reasons can be classified as, family, environment, media and advertisements. These are very effective in the consumption process”.

Başel also touched upon matters such as violence, brand addiction, shopping addiction, corruption of language, history of internet and the reasons for intensification of internet usage today and answered the questions of the students. He finally advised students to raise themselves as individuals who use make use of the freedom of choice.