10% of students use handsets for over 5 hours a day
By Yun Suh-young
Smartphone addiction among students is becoming a more serious problem than Internet addiction.
A recent survey by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education on 1.45 million elementary, middle and high school students showed 66 percent of them had smartphones and 1 out of 10 were in the high-risk group who used it for over five hours a day.
The survey was conducted from Sept. 3 through 21 on 536,000 elementary school students from grades 3 to 6 and 915,000 middle and high school students.
According to the survey, 47.6 percent of elementary school, 75.9 percent of middle school, and 77.2 percent of high school students had smartphones.
Of them, 45 percent of students answered they used the device for one to three hours a day and 27 percent used it for less than one hour. Eighteen percent said they used it for three to five hours and 10 percent said they used it for over five hours.
The number of students who used smartphones for over five hours a day increased by grade, posing a serious addiction problem when they should be spending more time on their studies.
The percentage of elementary school students spending over five hours on their smartphones was 3 percent but increased to 10 percent in middle schools and 15 percent in high schools.
The major purpose of using the handsets was to chat via instant messengers (74 percent). Making calls and sending text messages was at 67 percent followed by listening to music at 64 percent and looking up information on the Internet at 54 percent. Fifty-two percent played games.
The high-risk group stood at 2.2 percent of the total respondents and 5.7 percent were categorized as potential addicts.
The percentage of students in the high-risk group was highest among middle school students at 2.81 percent followed by high school students at 2.42 percent and elementary school students at 1.04 percent.
Students in the high-risk group showed withdrawal symptoms and difficulty in normal daily life. They had problems in their academic life or retaining personal relationships. Some only communicate through smartphones and others showed anxiety if they did not have the electronic device.
There were found to be twice as many students addicted to smartphones compared to those addicted to the Internet (1.01 percent).
To try and prevent smartphone addiction in students, the educational office has decided to take action.
It will educate students on proper cell phone usage and provide counseling for those in the high-risk group.
“We will publish a casebook on smartphone usage in education so that students can use the handsets for healthy educational purposes. We will also encourage students to engage in clubs campaigning for healthy cyberspace activities. A video contest to promote healthy smartphone use will also be held,” said an official from the education office.
“Moreover, those in the high-risk group will receive counseling from their schools and if they show serious problems, they will receive counseling from the Korean Association of Youth Counseling and Support Center.”
The education office plans to conduct a survey on student smartphone addiction every year.
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