Are we a nation of smartphone junkies?

Smartphone zombies move around glued to their gadgets.

WHEN not at school, Andrew (not his real name) essentially spends all of his time on the smartphone — Internet surfing, playing video games and on Facebook.

The 14-year-old spends anywhere between six and 10 hours on the smartphone every day, frequently going to bed at 2am.

It is normally worse during weekends where he consistently chooses video games and the Internet over other activities, insisting his involvement with these activities is ‘normal’ despite significant difficulties with peer relationships and academic performance.

According to his parents, Andrew usually looked restless and anxious when he did not have Internet access or could not check his Facebook account through his smartphone.

Despite making multiple attempts and promises to decrease his time on the smartphone, he continues to incessantly be with his gadget, mostly playing video games.

The above story is an excerpt from a real case related by his parents, as Andrew seems to have become addicted to the smartphone.

Andrew’s parents, who requested anonymity, said their son gets upset easily when told of his excessive use of social networking and gaming on the smartphone.

“Before, he used to be talkative, studious and playful, but since he got addicted to his smartphone, not only he has become so quiet but also plays less, studies less.

“He seems to have lost interest in reading and studying and his school performance has dropped from bad to worse,” Andrew’s father said.

Lina (also not the real name) was full of life two years ago before she fell in love with her smartphone.

Now the 16-year-old student eats and sleeps with her smartphone, carrying it everywhere even to the washroom.

Her addiction to her smartphone worries her mother, who lamented that her daughter even has dark circles under her eyes due to lack of sleep.

“The first thing she would do after waking up or coming back from school is to check her smartphone.

“Many times, especially during weekends, she even skipped meals and refused to bathe, just stayed in her room, hooked to the Internet through her smartphone,” the mother said, adding that Lina usually sleeps after 2am.

A 24-year-old sales assistant, who requested anonymity, said he started living life online from minute-by-minute checking of messages on his smartphone about two years ago.

“After opening my Facebook account, and joining the WeChat WhatsApp and group, I started spending a lot of my time on my smartphone.

“It started out small, just a few minutes checking messages after waking up and before going to sleep, and just browsing for a few moments during commercial breaks between movies on TV.

“But soon I found myself online all the time, logging in just to check a few things without realising I had spent hours on it,” he said.

And now, he added that no matter where he was, he would be looking at his phone for a steady stream of information on Facebook, WhatsApp and email.

He said being in places without online or mobile access would make him anxious and jittery, and he could not even enjoy himself until he was re-connected.

Nowadays, it is normal to see two or more youngsters or adults around a table having a drink but not talking to each other. Instead, all have their eyes glued to their handphones, either texting or surfing.

Fingers on the smartphone screen at all times.

Smartphone addiction

This is dubbed smartphone addiction which seems to have rung in a whole host of problems.

Very often, we hear parents complaining about how the gadget has come between the family — with children “talking” more to their phones than their parents.

There have also been complaints among children about parents spending more time on their smartphone instead of listening to them.

Whether it’s real or just imagination, a heart-breaking story about a child’s wish to become a smartphone has touched the hearts of many parent-readers, especially those who have seemingly become so engrossed with their smartphones.

The story goes like this: After dinner, a teacher started checking on the homework done by her students.

Her husband was strolling around with a smartphone, playing his favourite game — Candy Crush Saga.

Upon checking the last homework, tears welled up in the teacher’s eyes. Her husband saw this and asked: “Why are you crying, my dear? What happened?”

The wife answered: “Yesterday, I gave homework to my 1st Grade students, to write something on this topic — My Wish.”

“OK, but why are you crying?” the husband asked without taking his eyes off his smartphone.

The wife said: “Reading the last note made me cry.”

The husband become curious and asked, “What’s written in the note that makes you cry?”

“Listen…,” the wife tearfully began to read the essay:

“My wish is to become a smartphone. My parents love their smartphone very much. They care about the smartphone so much that sometimes they forget to care about me.

“When my father comes from the office tired, he has time for the smartphone but not me. When my parents are doing some important work and the smartphone rings, within a single ring, they will attend to the phone, but not me … even when I am crying.

“They play games on their smartphones, not with me. When they are talking to someone on their smartphone, they never listen to me even if I am telling something important. So, my wish is to become a smartphone.”

After listening to the essay, the husband got emotional and asked: “Who wrote this?”

She looked at him and said: “Our son.”

Unfortunately, the above story is just a few of the millions cases of people of all ages globally who suffer from smartphone and Internet addiction.

Smartphone addiction is real

No comprehensive study on smartphone usage or addiction has been carried out in Sarawak but anecdotal evidence suggests smartphone addiction is a “real thing” even in Sarawak.

With the development of the Internet and related technology, people are all getting more and more reliant on smartphones.

Following this trend, a new word “phubber” has also been coined, conflating the words “phone” and “snubber” which refers to people who often lower their heads, locked into their smartphones, oblivious to the world around them.

Regardless of what others may think, smartphone addiction is becoming a big problem.

In fact, about 90 per cent of teenagers, young adults and middle-aged parents whom I met and talked to said their smartphones never leave their side, while about 85 per cent of smartphone users checked their phones within 10 minutes of waking up.

Even the destructive behavior of drivers who continue using smartphones while driving is also getting more prevalent nowadays.

The desire to swipe the smartphone screen to read or reply a WhatsApp message or check postings and comments on Facebook seems to have turned into a natural habit.

Some users could have even mastered the skills of typing long messages or emails while driving without bothering who are in front or behind them.

The scenario of parents and children staring at their smartphones while attending family dinner outside or birthday or wedding parties are also common now.

They continue to look and swipe through devices without any conversation and oblivious to their surroundings.

Thus, it cannot be denied that Sarawak is now one of the nation’s smartphone junkies.

Young people texting on smartphones.

Rampant smartphone ownership

According to the TNS-Google Global Connected Consumer Survey 2014, one in two Malaysian adults owns a smartphone. The survey involved 150,000 interviewees across 56 countries, including Malaysia.

TomiAhonen Consulting Analysis said the survey translated to some 10 million smartphone users in Malaysia as of May 2014.

Moreover, a report by GfK, published in February 2015, found smartphone sales in Malaysia peaked last year with consumers spending RM8.74 billion on 8.5 million smartphones.

Although the exact number of teenagers owning smartphones is hard to gauge, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) Handphone Users Survey 2012 indicate people aged 15 to 24 make up almost 29 per cent of mobile phone users in the country.

For 2016, the number of smartphone users in Malaysia is estimated to reach 11 million, according to a report on www.statista.com.

It also said smartphone users in Malaysia are expected to reach 13.16 million in 2019.

Clinical psychologists said over-dependence on the smartphone could cause a strain in a relationship when users were “hooked” to the gadget while with friends and loved ones.

They said such a habit also stopped one from responding to non-verbal signals — which could lead to a communication breakdown.

Are you a smartphone addict?

Experts say these are some of the early warning signs:

Constantly checking your phone for no reason.

Easily distracted by emails or smart apps.

Feeling anxious or restless at the thought of being without your phone.

Waking up in the middle of the night to check your smartphone.

A decline in academic or work performance as a result of prolonged phone activity.

Avoiding social interaction in favour of spending time on your phone.

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