In the Internet era, college students have become the most active group of Internet users. The network has had a significant impact on interpersonal communication among college students. The Internet expands the scope of communication among college students for it breaks through the constraints in space and time, enabling them to communicate fully and freely. However, with the existence of this model of communication, college students begin to alienate themselves from their friends and parents as they pay more attention to the network and consequently ignore interpersonal relationships in real life. Here are some measures to deal with this alienation caused by indulging in the Internet.
First of all, it is necessary for college students to increase face-to-face conversation with their parents while reducing the time spent online. They are expected to be more active in contacting with their parents such as asking their parents for advice on how to choose their future career, or confiding in their parents about the troubles they have encountered in school, or telling their parents interesting things happening on campus, or informing their parents of their latest development in college, which will definitely strengthen their relationship with their parents and thus dispel the sense of alienation caused by the lack of communication.
Then, try to be positive and confident. College students face various interpersonal relationships. A positive attitude and great confidence will help them to fit in quickly in the initial interpersonal interactions. College students may want to build good relationships with roommates and classmates, yet they may feel alienated by their inappropriate ways to deal with these relationships, such as avoiding group activities, getting used to thinking about their own interests and not putting themselves in others' shoes. With a positive attitude and a sense of self-confidence, they will be more likely to actively take part in campus activities, which will help to leave a favorable impression on others and in time win them popularity and respect. They can practice how to get along with teammates and classmates in every activity so as to forge a closer relationship, an atmosphere of rapport, which, in turn, makes them feel more confident and positive. This will certainly help to alleviate their sense of alienation.
When college students do experience psychological distress as a result of alienation, they had better seek help from a mental health professional, who may advise them to work hard by setting short-term and long-term goals, such as competing for a class leadership position, since gaining a sense of power can also help them fight alienation. Besides, focusing on study will leave them with little time and energy to worry about their feelings of alienation.
In conclusion, by reducing the amount of time spent online, communicating with their parents more frequently, adopting a positive attitude in building campus relationships, and striving for the goals set, college students may be able to overcome the sense of alienation caused by the Internet.