A Study to Assess the Prevalence of Nomophobia among School Going Children

Abstract

Our lives have been drastically altered by smart phones. Nowadays, we can't do anything without our phones. We must analyse ourselves or think clearly in order to determine whether a cell phone is a boon or a curse. We are all a part of technoculture. Schoolchildren have also been immersed in this aspect of techno-culture during the previous two years. We must properly prepare technology because each technology has both positive and negative elements. Overuse of mobile phones is extremely dangerous to one's health. Students need to have mobile phone to attend classes from the comforts of their home. Smart phone has become the basic necessity of school children daily life and students are slowly coping with this new method of technology for their academic progress.  Over usage of mobile phone leads to such an extent that children comes across a situation where they cannot live without the use of mobile phone. Such a situation when students start to have fear when they cannot access their smart phones is known has nomophobia. The present study was carried among the school going children in the Surendernagar district of Gujarat. The findings of the study reveal that overall 52.58 % of the study subjects had moderate level of Nomophobia. Around 32.58 % of the study subjects had mild level of nomophobia. 14.40 of the school children had severe level of nomophobia, while only 0.44% had no signs and symptoms of Nomophobia. Mobile phones have lead to disturbance in the family relationship.