Globally, the use of smartphones has brought tremendous convenience to modern society. The phone has evolved from basic communicative functions–calls only–to being a computer-replacement device, used for web browsing, games, instant communication on social media platforms, and work-related productivity tools.
Humans have become increasingly dependent on the smartphone because of its advantages of convenience. At the same time, there is a concern that the rising use of smartphones is fuelling addiction, not only in adults but children as well.
There are 5.22 billion mobile phone users in the world today and it has grown by 93 million in the past 12 months owing to the pandemic. In India, over 50 crore Indians are now using smartphones out of which around 66 million children aged 5-11 years are active internet users. Around half of the teens (13-19 years) and preteens (9-12 years) in urban areas own a mobile phone. Urban Indian kids spend around 7 hours daily on gadgets, including mobiles, TV, and gaming consoles.
Smartphone Addiction in Young Children
Smartphone addiction has been defined as ‘‘a psychological state, in which mental and emotional states are altered and scholastic, occupational, and social interactions are impaired by the overuse of the smartphone’’.
The risk of addiction is particularly concerning for children because the rational part of the teen’s brain is not fully developed until 25 years old, and behavioral addiction to a mobile phone could potentially have negative implications for brain development.
Toddlers exposed to mobiles from an early age have delayed speech development. They can have reading and writing difficulties as they are exposed to learning through videos at an early age. It’s detrimental to their cognitive function like working memory (basic mental skill), visual-spatial search (purposeful use of your mind's eye to develop mental pictures or images), and attention span.
Television, mobile games, and videogames have taken the place of playing outside and in groups for many kids today. They do not realize how fun it is to go outside, explore and play. This not just deprives them of physical activity, but also drains them out of their creative ability and the ability to share and play in groups.
Guidelines for appropriate screen times for young children state that until 18 months of age, it should be limited to video chatting with an adult relative. Between 18-24 months, watching educational programmes with a caregiver; between 2-5 years, non-educational screen time is limited to 1 hour per weekday, and 3 hours on weekends.
Smartphone Addiction in Adolescents (Children Between 10 to 19 Years)
Smartphone addiction varies by gender and age, with females and younger children more likely to be affected. While females tended to favor the smartphone for chatting, sending messages, blogging, and updating personal homepages; males mainly used it for gaming.
High school students who overused smartphones have poor interpersonal skills; difficulty reading nonverbal language cues, such as facial expressions; experienced bullying, and exhibited lower concentration in class.
In addition, 20% of adolescents were in contact with pornography (portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal). Furthermore, mobile phone use beyond their bedtime was related to increased tiredness, delayed sleep, poor sleep quality, mood changes, and depression.
Teenagers have also been known to be viewing the screens of their smartphones when crossing the street, putting themselves and others in danger. Adolescents suffering from internet addiction might be at a higher risk of suicidal tendencies, delinquency (minor crimes committed by young people.), and aggressiveness. The internet provides a psychological escape mechanism to avoid real or perceived problems.
Most teenagers believe that the internet is the only place where they feel good about themselves and the world around them. “Facebook” addiction correlated positively with narcissism and negatively with self-esteem. “Internet surfing without any purpose”, reflects depression, anxiety, gloom, or spirit lessness.
The presence of a cell phone may have detrimental effects on learning and memory as well. Research has shown that a mobile phone left next to the participant while completing a task, is a powerful distractor even when not in use. Feelings of anxiety when one is separated from their smartphones can interfere with the ability to attend to information.
Smartphone addiction also causes impaired parent-child relationships; impaired school relationships; behavioral addiction like compulsive buying and pathological gambling, low mood, tension and anxiety, leisure boredom, hyperactivity, conduct problems, and emotional symptoms.
Adolescents with excessive mobile phone use have health complaints such as headache, trouble concentrating, memory loss, hearing loss, and fatigue. They complain of their backs stiffening up, developing a stoop and text neck besides the tendons in their thumbs hurting when they text.
Text neck is not an official medical diagnosis, but rather a term commonly used for a repetitive stress injury where excessive texting or mobile device use is involved.
Tendon injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, radiation-related problems, inattentional blindness, and computer vision syndrome are common ailments that stem from unrelenting mobile usage.
Studies have seen that heavy and moderate mobile phone users reported increased anxiety when their mobile phone was taken away as early as 10 minutes into the experiment. They noted that high mobile phone usage was associated with a higher risk of experiencing ‘nomophobia’ (no mobile phone phobia), a form of anxiety characterized by constantly thinking about one’s own mobile phones and the desire to stay in contact with the device with increasing attachment to one’s phone. Students’ usage of social networking services (SNS) is common and the fear of missing out (FOMO) may fuel the SNS addiction.
Role of Parents in Helping Children Cope With Smartphone Addiction
It is an uphill task for today’s parents to keep their children away from devices. It has been found that control-oriented management of children’s use of a smartphone by parents is not very effective and exacerbates smartphone addiction. So parents should try to talk and explain to their children, especially adolescents, regarding judicious use of mobile phones.
For smaller kids or younger children, parents can employ the following techniques to keep their kids away from gadgets:
Set the right examples. Adults/parents should leave their mobile, tablet, and laptop aside for a few hours every day. Engage in alternative forms of entertainment or hobby classes. Use this time to spend time with your family and kids.
Change the routine. Involving children in activities that require them to leave mobile phones and other gadgets aside, is the need of the hour.
Plan your child’s day to accommodate DIY (do-it-yourself) activities that will help sharpen your child’s brain and memory, and increase playtime or exercises that will contribute to improved physical health.
Outdoor activities will help your child mingle with other kids and build his/her gross motor skills (movements and actions of the muscles).
Kids tend to enjoy pretend play, and that is the best way to engage kids in fun learning.
Do not keep gadgets accessible, keep them out of easy reach. Don’t make learning from videos a habit. Don’t use screens as pacifiers or babysitters.
Indulge in activity-based learning. Kids tend to switch to gadgets as a resort for fun and entertainment. The toys you get lose their charm in a few days. Instead, what you could do is to subscribe to activity boxes that will be delivered to them every month. They can then engage for hours in activity-based learning.
In summary, the current evidence indicates that smartphone addiction is becoming a serious social problem with psychological and physiological consequences. You, as parents and society have a moral duty to guide the new generation to judiciously use smartphones so that they can benefit from the technology and not be harmed by it.
Disclaimer: This article is written by the Practitioner for informational and educational purposes only. The content presented on this page should not be considered as a substitute for medical expertise. Please "DO NOT SELF-MEDICATE" and seek professional help regarding any health conditions or concerns. Practo will not be responsible for any act or omission arising from the interpretation of the content present on this page.