BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Prof. Mariusz Jędrzejko is director of the Mazovian Centre for Addiction Prevention. He also runs the first “Addiction prevention and therapy” pedagogical specialisation in Poland, which is realised in the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW). The specialisation prepares future educators to work with people addicted to multimedia and with New Addictions.

Plenary session: Does the big WEB change a human: a little-big Digital Native

The ubiquitous nature of the Internet and its user-friendliness became the features of the 21st century. It is difficult to imagine our lives without this new communication and knowledge tool. However, as opposed to other great inventions (like print and a book, a car or a plane), Internet has enormous impact on the human behaviour model and the way humans interact socially.

The presentation will focus on a new phenomenon – Digital Native (DN) which is still little known and recognised. On the basis of authors’ original research and therapy with people addicted to the Internet, some changes in behaviour, language and social reactions, as well as consequences of cyberspace addictions will be presented. One of the visible symptoms of Internet addiction is a growing verbal aggression which turns into active aggression and a decrease of traditional social contacts (face to face).

Digital Native is characterised by a reduced need of personal contacts and changed dietary habits. Digital Native treats MultiWeb tools as an indispensable element of everyday functioning. Using multimedia is not about satisfying essential needs, but rather it becomes an integral part of functioning at every stage of life (a DN wakes up and goes to sleep with the multimedia). Web contact is the primary form of meeting other people, especially peers. DN is more impulsive and more 'open’ (i.e. more likely to expose oneself on the Internet, even if it involves transgressing aesthetic and commonly accepted cultural boundaries). Also, DN spends much more time on the Internet than his or her parents or peers.

A child with a DN syndrome has higher multimedia skills and “multifunctional abilities”, i.e. he or she can use a few multimedia tools at the same time. A DN is also quicker in “web” (internet) reading.