70% check
their phones in the morning within an hour of getting up.
56% check
their phones before going to bed.
48% check
their phones over the weekend.
51%
constantly check their phones during vacations.
44% said
they would feel very anxious and irritable if they didn’t interact with their
phones within a week.
(Note:
This data is from a 2012 book Sleeping with your smart phone: how to
break the 24/7 habit and change the way you work by Perlow Leslie, A. By
2019, all percentages would be closer to 100%, one assumes).
World
Health Organisation (WHO) has a directory of diseases called ICD – International
Classification of diseases. It is used by medical practitioners around the
world to diagnose conditions. In June 2019, ‘Gaming Disorder’ (the Video Game addiction) was officially added as a disease. Smart phone use is not yet part
of that directory, but will be; once sufficient evidence is gathered.
I am a teenager’s
parent. In this article, I will restrict myself to the smart phone addiction
among minors.
Indian
adolescents have one of the higher addiction rates. This is what one research paper says: Indian teens love Smart Phones. Nokia research says an average
person checks the phone every 6.30 minutes. In the 20-45 age group at least 10%
face smart phone-related injuries. Users complain of their backs stiffening up,
developing a stoop. Their necks ache. The tendons in their thumbs hurt when
they text. Tendon injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, radiation related problems,
inattention blindness and computer vision syndrome are common ailments. By
discouraging kids from physical activities, smart phones can cause obesity.
Nomophobia is
defined as “the fear of being without your phone”. This problem is quite common
in India.
*****
In terms
of their addictive power, WhatsApp, Instagram and other apps are comparable to
tobacco, alcohol or drugs. Children are hooked, their ears glistening blue,
their fingers working exceptionally rapidly on the keys. In my school days,
when friends left the house, they went home and that was that. Now the child’s
friends are in her bedroom twenty- four hours, and indeed some children
communicate round the clock. If you take
the child out for lunch, the first thing he wants to know is whether the
restaurant has WiFi.
Though the
addiction is seen, helplessly acknowledged by parents and schools; statutory
bodies have failed to act. Until 18 years of age, one can’t smoke, drink,
marry, drive, vote or be responsible for a crime, but one is absolutely free to
get addicted to a smart phone. As adults, if the 18+ wish to ruin their
education and life, it is up to them. But minors surely need some protection. I
hope the world will understand one day that smart devices can make kids dumb.
Governments will need to regulate minors’ use of smart gadgets.
I am writing
this article on my 15-inch laptop, and perhaps you are reading it on a big screen
as well. Many children and adults now read exclusively on a phone-screen. Well
written letters are becoming extinct. Articulation is restricted to a text made
of dozens of characters and a set of Smileys. After writing LOL, BTW, CUL8R,
hahaha, !!!!!!!!!!! for years, when the child appears for an exam paper, he is shocked
to see no auto-correct 0r spell-check. Emotions are expressed not with words
but emoticons.
Nobody has
time for thinking, for reflection, for enjoying the small joys of life. The new
posture is that of a bent human focused on the phone, oblivious to other
people, trees, nature or the sky. If this continues in the same vein, one
hundred years from now, humans will be born with their heads lowered.
What can
be done to combat this?
I worked
for several years in the tobacco industry. With research backed knowledge, I
can say smoking is reduced in developed countries as a result of restrictions
on where to smoke – not much else. Health warnings, anti-tobacco advertising, counseling
are of little help. But the ban – in offices, in trains, at restaurants, on
flights, in public places, has been the biggest contributor. In some nations,
home is now the only place where one can legitimately smoke.
Similar
restrictions are needed on smart phones for minors. Many schools ban use of phones
on the school premises. If teenage children can be made to hand over their
devices to parents (hopefully their parents are less addicted) by say 10 pm, it
would bring much happiness to parents, and much sleep to children. Sleep
deprivation is a recognized torture technique. Modern children have opted to
inflict it upon themselves. However, taking away phones from teenagers is not
an easy thing to enforce.
A better
idea is to force the phone manufacturers to design phones or apps specially for
the minors. Parents should be able to monitor a minor’s phone activity. After
all, parents pay for the phones, not the kids.
My
daughter has a debit card. Last year, I gave it to her as a birthday gift when
she turned 15. The Indian banking regulations allow a maximum of Rs 5000 (USD
70) spend per month on that card. Whenever my daughter withdraws cash or buys
something, I get a text message on my phone detailing the transaction.
If she wishes to buy something online, the one-time-password (OTP) comes to my
phone. She can use the card online but not without taking me into confidence.
This arrangement has worked fine. My daughter is happy she doesn’t need to ask
for pocket money. I am happy she uses the card responsibly. If she wishes to
avoid the parental control, she simply won’t have the debit card. Banking
regulations have introduced these measures to protect minors.
The same
thing can be done for smart phones - by Apple, Samsung and others. Parents
should be able to switch off their minor child’s phone. Sensible parents would
do this between 9-10 pm or at that time when the child should be in bed.
Sensible children would accept it is part of the regulations. Parents should
get the data automatically about the child’s screen time, sites accessed.
Privacy is an important element in everyone’s life, including a child’s.
However, when privacy can result into sleep deprivation, contact with
strangers, numb fingers, failing vision, stiff back and obesity; it’s time to
do something about it.
Certain
apps offering those functions exist. But due to lack of government regulations,
they can’t be enforced.
Children
below 18 are entitled to privacy. But a smart phone is like a pack of
cigarettes or a bottle of whiskey. Enjoyable but poses dangers for health. The
phone and app makers can take the first step of self-regulation by introducing
phones designed for minors.
Ravi
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