Protect Your Children from Using Smartphones

Abstract: The aim of this study is to shed light on the phenomenon of children under the age of five using smartphones in the area of Bethlehem, and to study its negative impacts on them from the perspective of parents. A programmed application has also been downloaded on parents’ phones to help them solve this problem. The study population consists of 94 individuals who filled questionnaires and 30% of them downloaded the researcher application and filled an evaluation form. The results indicated that this phenomenon is very prevalent in the region and most children spend more than two hours on the phone daily. Besides, most of the parents are worried and not satisfied with their children’s behavior and agreed that this phenomenon has negative effects on the physical, social and mental aspects of the children and that many of their children have reached the point of addiction. The application prepared faced a noticeable acceptance from the parents. This study recommends that parents need to limit children’s extensive use of mobiles and should be more assertive in this matter. Background: Several studies have tried to reveal the extent of this phenomenon and its negative effects on children. Some studies have found that many children spend long hours on smartphones and tablets to the point of reaching addiction, so it becomes difficult to keep them away from phones. Objectives: The aim of this study is to shed light on the phenomenon of children using smart phones in Bethlehem, and to study the extent of its negative impacts on them. Methods: The descriptive analytical method was followed; 94 questionnaires were filled by the parents to study the extent of this phenomenon in and its effects.A programmed application was downloaded on 30 devices of the participants and has been tried for about two weeks. Another questionnaire was filled to evaluate application success in solving the problem, the two forms were analyzed using the SPSS . Results: 1-The studied phenomenon is very prevalent, and most children spend more than two hours on devices. Most of the parents are not satisfied with this and they wish but unable to solve it. 2- the parents agreed that this phenomenon has physical effects on the child, including sight problems, lethargy, laziness, insufficient sleep, etc. also it has social, psychological and moral problems such as isolation, lack of play with children, as it can teach the child violence, bullying, aggression, earning him nervousness, and selfishness. 3 - The prepared application has succeeded Conclusions: The studied phenomenon is very prevalent in the region, and many children have reached the point of addiction. This phenomenon has negative effects on the physical, social and mental aspects of the child. The prepared application has succeeded in solving this problem relatively, but it needs more future improvements