There is no other place in the world as convenient and informative as the Internet.  Whether you are yearning for a sports fix of your favorite team, keeping in touch with your friends, or playing an Internet game, the Internet has an infinite amount of things to do.  Shoppers have the option of picking out their favorite dress from the comfort of their own home.  Law students have the ability to research cases from online databases, avoiding a trip to the library.

It then comes at no surprise that many children around the world, especially in Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, and South Korea have developed an addiction for the Internet.  It has gotten to the point where parents are itching for some sort of evasive action plan, in order to avoid their children becoming victim to Internet addiction.

Internet addiction disorder is defined as the excessive use of a computer that eventually interferes with daily life.  The Internet can act as a deterrent to society for an individual, providing the individual with avenues out of normal social expectations.  Phone or in-person conversations are replaced by instant messengers and social networking sites.  Physical activity such as sports are replaced by Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (or MMORPGs).  Internet addiction disorder has become the topic of discussion recently, with pundits claiming its legitimacy as a psychological disorder and critics claiming that the Internet may in fact only amplify the existence of other disorders.

The problem with the idea of Internet addiction is that studies attempting to measure the amount of addiction around the world have ended up with significantly different results.  For example, a very recent study from Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital found that, out of 2300 11-year olds, 11 per cent ended up with an Internet obsession.  The problem, then, is that other studies have found the number to be under 2 per cent, and each study likely uses a different set of parameters to label Internet addiction.

So how can parents around the world know who is more susceptible to Internet addiction?  The study from Taiwan found a few predictors among the children they studied, listed below:

- They found that boys and girls had different results and predictors to Internet addiction.

- Depression was found to be a strong predictor of Internet addiction.  Children experiencing depression may turn to the anonymity of the Internet for comfort.  For example, a child scorned in his or her school may come home and play an Internet game with a group of anonymous friends to feel welcomed.

- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (or ADHD) is a disorder common among young children that affects their attention span.  It is a highly over-diagnosed disorder, however.  The safe assumption is that a lack of patience or attention span can cause a child to turn to the Internet for satisfaction, as there is an infinite amount of things to do.

- Social phobia was a strong predictor, especially to girls.  The avoidance of socially normal activities can often be attributed to time spend on the Internet.