Smartphones
have become the centre of all the love and attention for all
teenagers and youth today. Youngsters are often heard saying that
they can kill for their phones. Can they, really? Well, a 22-year-old
from Bengaluru recently
proved this
statement to be true. About
a week ago,
the boy
assaulted his grandmother with a
wooden object because she
accidentally broke his new smartphone. The grandmother later
succumbed to her injuries. As cruel and enraging as
we might find
this
gruesome
incident, it also leads us to another alarming situation that is
grabbing attention these days:
smartphone obsession.
Today’s
generation is getting more and more tech-savvy with each passing day.
The
smartphone
obsession has become a part and parcel of the urbanised world.
Charlene Farell, a guidance counsellor,
states, “Today’s parents don’t have enough time for their kids.
Thus the children satisfy their need for attention through
smartphones. Introduced to kids at a very young age, excessive use of
smatphones soon becomes
a habit to them.” According to Charlene,
one of the most dangerous consequences of excessive use of
smartphones is the loss of social contact. She feels that these
gadgets with alluring social media apps and easy access to the
internet are
making kids forget the art of making and maintaining relations, thus
promoting a materialistic lifestyle. Being possessive about
smartphones, she feels, is what is responsible for the aggression
teens today have about their smartphones. Apart from losing social
contact, parents also complain that kids are also losing their focus
on studies and career due to smartphones.
Rui
Da Gama, main counsellor at Asha Counselling Centre, Mapusa opines,
“Today, smartphones are taking up all the prime time of the kids.
The gadgets are used just as toys and they are turning into an
addiction. Smartphone obsession would lead to a fall in
productivity.”
It’s
the parents who are the most worried about the growing passion of
kids towards these gadgets. “I think smartphone obsession in
teenagers is pretty worrisome. Kids are so much into their phones,
they have no personal interaction even with parents,” says Sonia
Puri, mother of a teenage girl. “This issue has to be handled very
sensibly. Taking their phones away cannot be the solution. Spending
more time with them, discussing with them about their life, engaging
them in other activities can help change the situation for better,”
Sonia adds.
Very
surprisingly, it’s not just the counsellors and parents who feel
smartphones are turning into an addiction. Teenagers and youngsters
who themselves are using these gadgets obsessively feel the same.
Katyayani Puri, 16,
a student of Sharda Mandir School, Miramar,
says, “I have seen my friends getting competitive over buying
phones. Everybody wants to own a better phone than their friends.”
When asked about whether social media is hampering social interaction
among
teenagers, Katyayani replies, “Even when we are together and go
out, everyone’s
busy with their phones.
Recently,
when I went out with a group of family friends, one of my friends
started texting me sitting right across the room,
saying that he was bored. We are surely losing our social contact.”
Another teenager, Diksha Apte, who has answered her
Std XII exam,
also has similar opinions. “We are on smartphones even when we meet
up with friends. Even when we talk, all we discuss are smartphones
and social media. Our friend circles are getting smaller and smaller
and our interaction with friends is getting shorter due to
smartphones,” shares Diksha.
According
to Fr Andrew
Silveira,
Principal of Fr
Agnel Higher
Secondary School,
Pilar, “For
the kids of this generation, smartphones are like the only medium of
communication. They don’t even understand how to interact openly
with their parents or companions.” He feels that teachers can help
kids get over this obsession by constantly reminding them not to
overuse their phones. “Kids need to be taught how to balance all
their activities and use the phone only during leisure time.They need
to be educated that phones are not everything. One must also cope up
with studies and pursue other activities and hobbies.”
Finally,
Charlene Farell concludes,
saying, “Today, because of smartphones, kids don’t realise the
importance of personal relations. Friends are judged on the basis of
what phones they have. Even those kids who can’t afford them
want to own
expensive phones because of peer pressure. They can go to the
lengths of lying and engaging themselves in illicit activities just
to get a good phone. It’s very disturbing.” She thinks that if we
educate the children, we can help change this situation. “We should
make our kids start appreciating human contact more. We should make
them realise that smartphones cannot bring a quality life,”
she asserts.
