The impact of mobile phones on children, teenagers

People can now get as much information as they desire just within minutes or even seconds with the manipulation of gadgets like the mobile phone which now comes with internet facilities.No doubt, with what is presently feasible, one can envisage that more breakthroughs are yet to be made in the world of science and technology.The […]

People can now get as much information as they desire just within minutes or even seconds with the manipulation of gadgets like the mobile phone which now comes with internet facilities.
No doubt, with what is presently feasible, one can envisage that more breakthroughs are yet to be made in the world of science and technology.
The progress made in this line has now made life much more meaningful and worthwhile to most people in our societies. It is evident upon this as one could rarely find a household without one type of mobile phone or the other for communication purposes which is its major use.
But noticeably today the mobile phone is not only used by parents or matured adults alone, but amongst children and teenagers, some of whom do not understand its conventional use.
Well, to some groups in the society, especially the business moguls and other professionals, the invention of handsets as a tool for communication has deeply improved their business life within and outside country, which in turn also has positive impact on the country`s economy.
Also, the security of lives and properties has been improved upon as security operations are now made easy with mobile phones when compared to less than two decades ago in a developing nation like Nigeria.  Mobile phones with internet facilities are now an alternative library to students and other researchers as they now get information online through search engines such as Google, Wikipedia among others at their fingertips.
Now the big question is; Should children and teenagers be allowed to use mobile phones? If yes, could it be attached to love, hatred or even ignorance from their parents?
According to Mrs. Abdulkareem Zainab, a graduate of Guidance and Counseling from Ekiti State University, and who is also a corp member serving with North-South Power Station, Shiroro Business Unit in Niger State , the use of mobile phones among children and teenagers could be dangerous considering the age range of these groups. “This period in children and teenagers’ life is quite fragile and hence adequate monitoring from their parents is of utmost need. Most time, children and teenagers’ that are found using mobile phones actually have support and encouragement from their parents which is not supposed to be.”
Hence, she said she terms this as being ignorant on the part of parents as they lack knowledge of the kinds of havocs it could have on their wards.
She said: “Children and teenagers who are exposed to using mobile phones could begin to indulge in an unhealthy relationships that may  lead to having pre-marital sex because most of the contents found in their phones are pictures that expose vital parts of the human body and even pornographic movies which they are being exposed to by their friends and chat mates.
“Again, the rate of indecent dressing among teenagers who want to explore their world is 90% copied from some of the social media sites such as facebook, 2go, to mention a few as being portrayed by some users.  I would advise that, parents should be educated first on the dangers of mobile phones usage by under age and thereafter advise their own wards on seeing reasons why they should not use phones until they at least attain the age of 18years.”
Care and adequate measures should be put in place to discourage children and teenagers because it could be another way of destroying the potentials of these groups and consequently putting them on the wrong track in life.
However, other reasons why the use of mobile phones should be discouraged amongst children and teenagers are;
Poor performance in school- the decline in academic performance is increasingly at an alarming rate due to many factors, one of which is the use of mobile phones amongst adolescents. This is because when teenagers and children engage a whole lot of their time in operating this device instead of reading or academic exercises they would definitely have little or no time for further studies after classroom hours which then leads to failure.
Another negative implication it could have on children and teenagers is encouraging them to tell lies. With mobile device, it is true that physical contacts between and among people in thrashing out issues is no longer common as it used to be.
This is simply because with little airtime and data plan, people can now communicate much more easily. On the part of children and teenagers, it promotes lies as they could go out to meet strange friends whom their parents may not have idea of. This is done when for example; a girl child goes out to meet someone of the opposite sex and informs the parents that he or she is going to meet a friend of the same sex. This may even lead to unsafe sex that could even result into pregnancy or contracting sexual diseases.
Finally, the mobile phone has its advantages and disadvantages. But it is advisable that parents and guardians should discourage their children and teenagers from using this until they attain a minimum age of 18 when they can make rational decisions on their own.

Friday is a Higher National Diploma (HND) Student in the Department of Mass Communication, Federal Polytechnic, Bida.