A smartphone (or smart phone) is a mobile phone with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than basic feature phones. Smartphones typically include the features of a phone with those of another popular consumer device, such as a personal digital assistant, a media player, a digital camera, and/or a GPS navigation unit. Later smartphones include all of those plus the features of a touchscreen computer, including web browsing, Wi-Fi, 3rd-party apps, motion sensor, mobile payment and 3G.
Everything should be taken in moderation. So should be the use of smartphones especially for children, a study suggested. A survey conducted by Japan’s education ministry revealed that schoolchildren who spend more than four hours a day on their mobile phone perform significantly worse on school tests. A report by Japanese local media said that nearly half of third graders at junior high schools in the country spend one hour or more per day using smartphones, with over 10-percent spending four hours or more.
The survey also found that over half of sixth graders at elementary schools have mobile phones. Students who spend more time on mobile phone use, such as e-mailing and browsing Internet sites, tend to have poorer results in terms of academic performance, according to the survey. Meanwhile according to a report by an Asia-based cable news agency, among the nearly one-in-nine 14 and 15-year-olds who use their handheld device for at least four hours daily, grade scores suffer an average of 14 percentage points across all subjects. The deficit rises to more than 18 points in mathematics, figures from the study showed. The report also noted nearly half of all third-year junior high school students questioned spend more than an hour a day on their phones, browsing websites, sending e-mails and playing games. Less than a quarter of those in the age group do not have a mobile. Smartphone use is also prevalent among 11-year-olds, the survey found, with 54 per cent of those in their final year of elementary school having a phone of their own. Fifteen per cent of them spend at least one hour on their device every day. On the other hand, students who spent more hours playing videogames also scored lower on a national academic test in Japan.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, the Department of Education reiterated the ban on the use of cellphones during class hours through its three orders, namely: Order No. 83, series of 2003; Order No. 26, series of 2000; and Order No. 70, series of 1999. Child development specialist Clarissa Reyes stressed that more time spent by children in using their smartphones could lessen the time allotted supposedly for their studies and daily interactions. She suggested the following for parents to guide their children on smartphone use and studies: (1) Teach them that the time spent on smartphone use on one day should be added to their study time on another. (2) Teach them to set their goals so they have the ability to plan what to do to achieve them. (3) Discipline is according to the management of time and the priorities of the children.
By: LOLLY B. RAVAGO | Teacher III | Bonifacio Camacho National High School – Abucay, Bataan
