Nowadays, even children own their personal smartphones and some of them, regardless of their ages, dedicate extensive hours each day using them. The reason for that can be attributed to many factors such as developments in technology, availability of devices and appeal of social media. Even though using the technology can be beneficial in certain situations for children,I believe that the detrimental effects of smartphones surpass the benefits.
With the increasing competition among the companies, electronic devices such as smartphones have become more accessible by every class of the society. As everyone uses them in their daily lives, they have become a necessity even for children. Parents need to call or track their kids while they are at school or outside, so in that aspect they offer a great solution thanks to some applications like GPS. Additionally, in this technology era, communication is ensured by these devices and it is important for children to stay connected with their friends. The other factor which cannot be neglected is social media which has been becoming a significant part of our lives. Children are exposed to social platforms like Instagram, X, or YouTube. As their urge to explore is stronger than ours, it is inevitable for parents to stop them from using their phones on these platforms. Unfortunately, when all these parameters come together, smartphones are used for hours by the younger generation.
However, despite the advantages of using them for communication or exploring the world, the drawbacks of these devices tend to prevail. The excessive use of smartphones may lead to negative consequences such as reduced physical activity, sleep disruption, and potential exposure to inappropriate content. Children used to play games on the street and enjoy being children in playgrounds but with the spread of phone usage, they start playing online games which reduce the physical movement as they are sitting and looking at their screens for hours. Moreover, the Internet is not the safest place for them as the contents are not controlled by an authority. There have been many games including offensive contests like war, violence and guns.When it comes to their health, phone usage has an adverse impact on them also. Their visions, quality of sleep, and attention spans are all affected negatively.
In conclusion, the reason for children spending hours with their phones can be the result of many reasons such as keeping up with the demands of age, communication and safety. However, I think that all the improvements on smartphones, and the excessive hours spent by looking at the screen not only affect their health but also expose them to potential risks, including the consumption of inappropriate content on the internet.