Smartphone Addiction Among Teens
Smartphones are advanced technological devices which have the capability of processing large information as compared to the ordinary mobile phones. The smartphones have various advanced features such as access to the internet, navigation to various communication use, a and multimedia settings (Akgul, p.1). Technological advancement is rapidly fueling the use of smartphones in running everyday life. According to Haug (p.2), there has been an indispensable use of the smartphone as they offer a wide range of mobile applications used in communicating, entertainment, and education purposes.
Teens have various ways of spending their leisure time both in developing and developed nations. The issue is not on getting sufficient time for spending one’s leisure time but on how well one spends it. Poor spending of leisure time has social, economic, and political disadvantages thus the need to encourage teens to spend their leisure time constructively. According to Akgul (p.2), Smartphones are one of the ways that teens are using is spending their leisure time. Just like technology, smartphones are a double-edged sword meaning their usage can be either positive or negative depending on how they are used. Bad usage of leisure time results for both behavioral and physical addictions. Smartphones are among the popular and difficult to control addictions among teenagers. Smartphone addictions have effects that resemble those of internet addiction in various ways. However, the two also differs in some ways such as in portability, direct and easy communication, and real-time access to the internet (Akgul, p.3). This essay seeks to explore the issue of Smartphone addiction among teens by exploring how this form of addiction negatively impacts on adolescents.
Smartphone addiction among teens can reflect itself in various ways. These include; anxiety, depression neglect to crucial activities and constant use of the cellphone, sore neck, phantom vibration syndrome, headaches and anxiety when not with the phone, cell phone usage while carrying out other activities such as driving, or when walking in the streets among others (Ungar p.3). One of the key difference between Smartphones and ordinary mobile phones is that through the use of Smartphone one can easily, and conveniently access the internet as well as other popular applications which are downloadable from the internet. As a result, Pontes et al (p. Smartphones are widely used among adolescents.
Besides, following the reduction in playing grounds in most of the places, teens have resorted to using this platform during their leisure time. According to Kwon et al. (p.8), young kids in primary and secondary schools gave up the traditional playground playing culture paving a way to computer games. As a result, this has resulted in the emergence of high addiction towards Smartphone as teens can easily access games on them. One of the major concerns for most people is the excessive time that adolescents spend on the Smartphones as well as the inclination they get towards playing games that consist of violent content (Akgul, p.6).
According to Ungar (p.3), Smartphones have several positive impacts among teenagers. However, too much of something is bad thus with the extensive usage Smartphones have become addictive to teenagers. Smartphone addiction leads to high-level distraction among adolescents both in their academic and leisure activity. Ungar (p.3) highlights that Smartphone addiction results to a change in a child’s brain chemistry which then drives them to compulsion towards addiction. Teenagers who are addicted to Smartphones engage their brains to different activities as compared to those without the addiction. According to Pontes et al. (p.97), addiction makes these teens distances themselves from others and can also become socially disengaged, thus distancing them from their peers.
Teenagers who suffer from Smartphone addiction have a high likelihood of developing brain development problems. These problems include; high harm avoidance making them worrisome, pessimistic, fearful, and shy (Pontes et al, p.96). Besides, teens can develop low self-esteem, and low cooperation and also get alterations in their reward dependence. By altered reward dependence, it means that the teen becomes highly dependent on the rewards that relate to the Smartphones in contrast to natural rewards including spending time with family or friends, working on attaining good grades, or engaging in their hobbies.
Moreover, Hong et al (p.13) note that addiction to cell phone closely relates to social media addiction that is a form of an impulse-control addiction. Teenagers who are addicted to the cellphones tend to suffer from; reduced brain connectivity for the sections of the brain that regulates their decision-making, emotions, and impulse-control, high chances of using drugs and alcohol, have poor diets, and a rise in their levels of social loneliness (Akgul, p.3). These are all issues that can in the long-run lead to psychological problems among teenagers which if not resolved early enough can lead to lasting psychological issues to the teens.
Additionally, Smartphone addiction can also lead to harmful physical problems and ramifications. Such ramifications include text neck which is a form of neck pain that results from facing down at the phone for longer period’ digital eye strain, which is a digital itchy and burning of the teen’s eyes as well as having a blurred vision by which results to looking at the phone’s screen for more than two hours. Finally, as Akgul (p.5) notes teens who drive and are Smartphone addicts are at higher risks of causing car accidents as they are normally tempted to use their phones while driving which is as dangerous as drunk driving. Teens who are addicted to Smartphones exhibit high chances of performing poorly in class due to the fact that they are less likely to pay attention to their teachers during classes and in doing their personal studies. As a result, Akgul (p.5) notes that smartphone addiction can have a negative impact of the entire life of a teen if not resolved early enough as it can mess with their studies and with their social lives.
Smartphone addiction is an emerging behavioural trend which has not yet been included as a diagnosed mental disorder, yet there is a great need to help teens with this form of addiction get over it. Ungar (p.3) explains that parents can help the teenagers get over Smartphone addiction especially in its early stages. This can be done in various ways such as limiting the access to Smartphones for their children by cutting off the phone use by their children. Parents should try and let their children own a cell phone at the age where they can afford it as at this stage it is likely that they will be responsible for how they use them. Parents should let the adolescent know that they are responsible for buying their own phones, gaming systems, and data packages as this can help lower their addiction rates.
Additionally, as Ungar (p.3) suggests if the teens must have cellphones parents need to limit their routine by setting routines and structure for the usage, For instance, there should be no cell phone use at bedtime or when taking meals among other such activities. Third, teens are subjected to less physical activities than it was traditionally, Consequently, smartphones have become an alternative to the traditional physical activities. According to Ungar (p.3), parents should, therefore, introduce alternative physical activities for their children to keep them busy and lower the time they are likely to be on their Smartphones.
In conclusion, kids are increasingly learning how to operate cellphones as well as on their own at such a tender age that it was in the past. This is due to the fact that teenagers are growing up at a time when Smartphones have gained indispensable use in everyday activities. Consequently, teenagers are at high risk of developing a strong addiction to Smartphones. Smartphone addiction is risky for teens a sit can lead to brain development problems considering that at their age their brain is still premature thus has not stopped developing. Smartphone addiction in teens reveals itself in various ways such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, lack of focus on other activities as one keeps checking their phones, and using the phones while driving among others. In addition to brain development problems, teens can also develop other behavioural and psychological problems following an addiction to Smartphones. The addiction, for instance, leads to high distraction levels to teenagers both to their academic and leisure activities. Finally, Smartphone addiction can as well lead to serious physical problems such as eye strains, and neck pains in the long run. Consequently, the findings of this research show that although Smartphones are highly celebrated for their positive impacts on the lives of community members, just like social media and the internet, Smartphone addiction comes along a series of drawbacks which can lead to serious problems in the long run. Parents, teachers, and guardians have a role to play in ensuring that they regulate the use of Smartphones among the teens as a way of fighting the growing trend in Smartphone addiction