A mobile phone is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. It provides the users with all kinds of information at just one touch, whether it is global or local news, weather forecast, finding the routes to reach some place, culture of the places, cuisine, etc.
Mobile phones are also used for learning subjects taught in schools like science, mathematics, history, politics, economics, and many more with the help of the different apps and websites which are available on the internet. Various languages can also be learnt by the users using mobiles. Businesses also make use of mobile phones as a means to connect with prospective clients, employees and other stakeholders. Some of the school management software accessible via mobile phones helps children in keeping a track of their academic as well as non-academic activities. These are a few productive uses of mobile phones.
Nowadays, children are as much addicted to mobile phones as adults. This is because they tend to get fascinated by the various means of entertainment that mobile phones offer. In other words, most of the children use mobile phones for unproductive purposes like watching videos, playing games, chatting with friends on social media and messaging apps, etc.
Mobile phone usage may result in unforeseen consequences among children like poor academic performance, non-socialization with people in the real world, health problems, changes in behavioural pattern, and doing malpractice in exams. The harmful effects of mobile phones on children are discussed in detail below:-
Poor academic performance
– Children who spend more time on mobile phones doing non-useful activities like playing games, instant messaging their friends, watching inappropriate content, etc. may result in their paying less attention to their studies, thereby resulting in poor academic performance.
Health complications
– There are many health complications which are associated with the excessive use of mobile phones. Research says that using mobile phones for a very long time brings about more health risks in children as compared to adults. Dangerous diseases like cancer might happen because of the radiations emitted from the mobile phones which are dangerous and affects the normal functioning of the brain.
Other health problems include back, neck and hand sprains; risk of developing myopia due to prolonged exposure of the eyes to the mobile’s bright screens; hearing problems as a result of using earphones for listening purposes and sleeping disorders may also happen due to usage of mobiles for a longer period, especially during night time. Children tend to pay lesser attention to what is being taught in school due to their getting distracted because of the increased use of mobiles, which makes them feel lethargic and also blocks the outflow of creative thoughts from the brain.
Non- socialization
– Spending more time on mobile phones socializing with friends by interacting with them on social media platforms like Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and not meeting them in person makes the children non-social, that is, they refuse to go out, talk or socialize with their friends in person.
Changes in the behavioural pattern
– Children often get exposed to unwanted content and dangerous suicidal games which are provided by various websites and apps. The exposure to such things brings about a change in the children’s normal behaviour. They might tend to disobey parents, focus less on studies, and show signs of doing weird things which they normally never used to do; all of which will surely be visible to the parents.
Malpractice during exams
– Nowadays children carry along mobile phones with them to their schools. Some children might use mobile phones to do various malpractices during exams, which is not at all a good sign and hence teachers should do a thorough check of the students before they enter the exam hall and also advise the students of the dire consequences of doing malpractices using mobile phones discreetly.
Mobile phones have both advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages have been particularly highlighted because parents need to keep an eye on the child’s mobile phone usage and also advise them to use mobile phones for productive purposes.
