Internet addiction among university students A field study of a sample of students from the internal departments of the University of Kufa

Abstract

This study dealt with a sample of (50) university students living in the internal departments of the University of Kufa. They were administered the Young Addiction Test (Ibrahim, 2019), through which the researcher aimed to know the level of Internet addiction among the sample members, and to work on developing a counseling program for students who have symptoms of addiction. For the Internet, where 34% of the students had symptoms of excessive Internet use at times, and 6% had Internet addiction. The study also showed some behavioral manifestations that appeared among the sample members, represented by frequent staying up late among the sample members due to Internet use, at a rate of 98% of them. There are also feelings that push students to use the Internet as a safe haven for them to get away from their boring lives, at a rate of 60%, in addition to the inability to regulate time while using the Internet, at a rate of 66%. While the study showed that the sample members’ opinions regarding their use of the Internet did not affect their academic achievement at a rate of 56%, and that their colleagues are not bothered by their use of the Internet at any time, with a very small percentage of 2% being bothered by them, in addition to the lack of interest and complaints on the part of others regarding the level of use. Of the sample’s Internet users, 58% of whom were not followed up while using the Internet, and therefore there is a lack of follow-up and oversight by community institutions on these students. Hence, the study recommended that there is an urgent need to develop guidance programs to get rid of Internet addiction among young people, especially university students, including those residing in the departments Interior.