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Disadvantages of the Internet: Useful as it is, the Internet has many disadvantages, most of which are brought by people

misusing this tool and turned it into a threat to society. The Internet is a battlefield for cyber patrols against hackers that has drained of millions dollars from the worlds economy (Tuoi Tre). These hackers spawns harmful viruses that damage personal computer or the hackers break into private security system, steal passwords, credit car codes, delete others accounts causing major disruptions( Nguoi Lao Dong). There are also deceitful web sites where just with an unintentional click, people's computers will be blocked and have to be restarted, people's private information will be detected, and worse, it can be completely damaged and have to be reformatted (Nguoi Lao Dong). Bombed mail, counter revolutionary photos, bad-content messages have multiplied and misdirected peoples outlook on life, people and society (Sai Gon Giai Phong). Nowadays, there is a more dangerous trap, even worse than a virus, for it spoils the hearts and souls of millions of people, especially the youth, with the immoral and perverse contents: the black web site. The most annoying thing for the Internet citizens when using a strange computer, aside from being easily affected by Internet viruses, is that many web sites are linked to advertisements and spam linking to pornography (porno) web sites. The availability of sexual websites and their general circulations is becoming an alarming problem. They have destroyed traditional customs and spoiled the naivety and wholesome development of many teenagers of all class and age, resulting in dangerous and unwanted consequences such as unconscious imitation or mental illness, etc. These harmful websites make teenagers fall into a decadent lifestyle. Also, people easily become inactive because they are glued to the computers all the time. In addition to sexually explicit sites, there are those that promote racism, sexism, and hatred toward homosexuals and other minorities (Magid). If these harmful websites arent eliminated completely, the society will be rife with social evils. Internet Services Providers (ISPs) and even government cant do anything to prevent their rapid development. Only self-discipline can create the perfect and safe Internet. As nice as it is to make new friends or keeping in touch with love ones living far away, chatting is

also becoming a problem for many teenagers and even children. The average time many youth now spent on chatting is about seven or eight hours a day and when they are addicted to chat, they gradually lose their communicative skill (Shore 225). Aside from wasting time, when chatting with many unknown people, these youths are engulfed in unreal relationships and they believe in all their unreal friends say without considering whether they are reliable or not. Many youngsters not only make friends, but they also find their love on the Internet. Beside the useful forums for making friends or sharing valuable information, there are many useless chatrooms which people use to criticize or insult those they do not like. In such forums or chat rooms, verbal harassment and threats are very common all of which can upset and disrupt children (Shore 226). The fact is that quite a few teenagers are not mature enough to realize that they are being swindled. The internet is a place where they are vulnerable to many evilminded people trying seduced naive young girls from rural areas who are not well educated into marrying them and then, these girls suffer from great torment or are sold into prostitution (Tuoi Tre). This case may sound extreme and unreal but unfortunately they are too real and has occurred more than once due to the lack of education and knowledge from the victims and family. The entertainment from online game is truly a treat to many, but it is becoming a hazard quite quickly. A great variety of online games make many people (both children and adults) become so addicted that they would stay at the cyber cafes refusing to go home or even stay up all night playing games. These games come in so many categories and genre, some even let the players marry on line, trade virtual things and converts them into real money, such games are very popular in Vietnam (Tuoi Tre). At present, the hottest game in Vietnam and many Asian countries is a kung fu game called Vo Lam Truyen Ky (Tuoi Tre). It was designed to entertain, yet, such is its attraction that many people can not keep it off their screens and consequently, they miss many other important things like study and work. Children would skip meals and stay up late or all night, lack of nutrition and sleep will results in their mental breakdown and distract them from their studies (Tuoi Tre). For teenagers, it is popular to go to Net rooms after school or even skip school in order to play games resulting in their poor grades at school. Adults also, are victims of this imaginary game. Working people also try to go there during their

breaks. It is more upsetting to know that some game players are using hundreds and even thousands of dollars of hard earned money to buy virtual objects online. Everyday, from morning till evening, all Net rooms are crowded with game masters; some even stay overnight or several days in a row. They snatch meals and take rests at Net rooms so that they can play without interruptions (Sai Gon Giai Phong). This adversely affects their health and can even cause death: a man in Korea died right at his seat after spending non stop days playing games online at a Net service (Thanh Nien). Such a case has never happened in Vietnam, but if game players continue that way, it is unavoidable for similar circumstances. Moreover, online games have given birth to a lot of juvenile delinquencies where kids would hook up together and commit crimes such as pick pocketing, stealing or even killing people in order to get money to play games. Recently, there was a case in Vietnam where a group of teenagers murdered the grandmother of their friend to take her money. When these delinquents are caught and questioned, they simply asked childish questions such as Why do people in the games never get busted when vandalizing or committing crimes but we do (Tuoi Tre)? Online games, if not controlled, pull the young into a virtual world and eventually become indifferent to everything around them.. They can no longer identify which is real life and which is virtual life. There was a dramatic murder that shocked everybody and made society become truly aware of the alarming problem. A boy whose game character was killed by its opponent became furious; he then walked straight to his opponent player and stabbed him (Nguoi lao dong). Of course, it is appropriate that the authorities in Vietnam purchase the copyrights of these games to serve Vietnamese peoples need of entertainment, but it seems that game players have gone too far: they are becoming more and more addicted to these haunting games. Although the Internet is an endless reservoir of information, it can also be very misleading since many documents have not been carefully checked or certified and the author of these files are not responsible for what they put online. As easy as it is to find information on the Internet it is also extremely easy to put information on the Internet. Anyone can do it and unfortunately many does it carelessly because they are not reliable for their action of the consequences that may result from their misleading information. For example, terrorists and reactionaries, for political purposes, make use

of the Internet as a means to propagandize or disseminate ideas that are against the criteria of world peace. Through Internet, they poison the young by inciting them to commit crimes such as making bombs, drugs or stealing money (Johnson 42).

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