The suicide rate among the “digital generation” has continued to climb in the past few years, with international research suggesting that Internet addiction is behind the rising risk of young people harming or killing themselves, the Taiwan Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Research Association said.
Parents and caregivers should strive to establish close relationships with their children and exercise appropriate disciplinary action when needed, association director-general Tsang Ju-fen (臧汝芬) said.
If children begin to show symptoms of online addiction, parents should seek help from licensed child and adolescent mental health professionals, and use medication when necessary, she added.
Photo: Lin Chih-i, Taipei Times
Data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed that suicide rates in 2022 climbed across all age brackets compared with a year earlier, with the suicide rate for 15-to-24-year-olds having returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
Suicide was the sixth-leading cause of death among six-to-12-year-old children in Taiwan, the data showed.
Moreover, national suicide reports among elementary-school children increased more than 10-fold in the past six years.
Worldwide, about 17 percent of young people committed self-harm, with the rate rising to between 34.2 percent and 57.5 percent among Internet-addicted adolescents, Tsang said.
This shows that Internet addiction is a hidden cause behind youth self-harm and suicide, she added.
Children’s risk of Internet addiction is closely linked to the strength of their relationship with their parents, and many children who are addicted to the Internet have parents who are addicted themselves, she said.
Children might try to hide by turning to the Internet to find a sense of belonging, but once they have built a dependency, they might shy away from face-to-face social interactions, Tsang said.
Add on the risk of encountering violent or pornographic material, and children might suffer from decreased attention span and symptoms of depression and anxiety, she added.
Parents with poor relationships with their children should assess their past behavior and seek to re-establish healthy connections, setting good examples of healthy lifestyle habits and goals while enforcing appropriate levels of discipline.
Tsang urged the Ministry of Education to carry out a study into Internet addiction to assess at-risk students and support those encountering difficulties with studying, bullying, low mood, poor grades and withdrawal from social interactions.
She also suggested the the education ministry cooperate with the health ministry to provide further medical resources and attention in counteracting Internet addiction, Tsang said.
Spending quality time together is vital to forming healthy parent-child relationships, said Chuang Ti-kai (莊迪凱), a resident physician at Taipei Medical University Shuang Ho Hospital, adding that caregivers could view it as a vital investment in their children’s development.
Parents should not substitute physical rewards or material possessions for quality time with and emotional support for their children, he said.
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