Munaza Kazmi
Smartphones are one of the most innovative and communicative tools in the present world and it has become a very important and wonderful communicative tools among young generation. The first Smartphone was invented by IBM in 1992 known as a Simon Smartphone. This was a big breakthrough in the field of technology and for the requirements of people.
The impact of smartphones is visible in almost all sectors like Education, Business and entertainment sector. Likewise, it has created miseries.
In the contemporary world, it has been observed that, people complain about having busy schedule, ironically, they can use smartphones at least 5 hours a day. Usage of useless Apps increases significantly, with the result of degradation in Physical Social interaction, Distraction, Addiction, health problems etc.
Smartphone use has become a serious addiction phenomenon in our youth, it has been found that college students use phones on an average of ten hours a day. Three out of five smart phone users can’t go more than 60 minutes without checking their phones. A new phobia has been developed known as NOMOPHOBIA (fear of being without a phone) another health-related issues like Nerve problem, Back problem, Anxiety and Depression are seriously concerned. Likewise, smartphone addiction among the university students found that 35.9 % of students feel tired during daytime and 38.1% have decreased sleep quality as they remain addicted with smartphones till late nights.
There was time when people were seen in libraries, now only it’s the dust that seems to settle on those precious books, when reading on smartphones is worse for learning and comprehension. Moreover, these devices create ADHD –like symptoms in users, thus diminish the happiness between social settings due to the constant flow of information to their phones and also disconnect the relation between parent and children. Once can observe it quite often: visit some restaurant or even a park, you would experience that instead of talking to one another, people would be busy in using mobile phones, uploading the stories, while ignoring the beauty of present and the surroundings. Moreover, children would be seen handling smartphones regularly for long hours playing games. Here I felt an urge to remind their busy looking parents that, you people are destroying the generation, and the future.
Similarly, from the medical perspective, excessive use of smartphone can exacerbate thumb arthritis by excessive texting on mobile phones. At the same time shorter wavelength blue lights emitted by smartphones causes Health hazards like Nerve pain, back pain shoulder pain. Cell phones give off Radiations and affect our brain cells and thus mutating existing cells, causes Cancerous cells like brain cancer. Likewise, its overuse may lead to psychological and physiological complication. Besides, an increase in the number of accidents have been reported due to attention paid to the cell phones during driving. Hence, continued use and exposure can lead harmful effects viz: -Tumor (radiation effects), Disturbed brain activity, Inappropriate Media and Academic Malpractice.
Also, it may lead to the exposure of financial and security risk.
Therefore, it can be concluded that smartphone addiction has developed an unavoidable place in one’s life. People are so much dependent upon it that they feel life cannot run smoothly without smartphone. With the result, numerous negative ill effects have been identified so far and much more are to be known in coming days.