TBK Tells everyone about rising mobile phone usage in the Philippines

 

When I left Bahrain my former colleagues bought me a mobile phone - see above! It was a long standing joke that I hated listening to people talking loudly on their mobiles , especially in public places, and leaving their phone ringing on their desk with an annoying ring tone when they were elsewhere ( Hi Daniel!) 

Back in Bahrain , my colleague, Dr Syed Raza from Awali hospital and I did several talks at the Oil & Gas academy for our 17 year old Diploma students about the dangers of mobiles.

 

Looking back, I think it was one of my Diploma presentations. The 17 year old boys were addicted to their phones and would frequently ask to go to the CR ( toilet) during class and take their mobile with them so they could check their messages. One day I saw a boy pick his phone up as he asked to leave class and asked why he needed his phone to have a pee, “do you need to take a photo of it?” . He got very embarrassed and left his phone on the desk.

 
Dr Raza called this FOMO- Fear of Missing Out which is why people constantly check their phones and have a panic attack if they leave their phone somewhere.

He looked at the problems of constantly checking your phone from several angles like Mental health, the highs you get if your post is liked and the lows when no one reads your blog! 

Syed explained that psychologists liken cell phones to slot machines. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that induces happiness. It is released every time we receive a message, alert, notification, etc., on our phones.

He talked about cyber bullying and asked how often people properly sanitise their phone.  His presentation was all pictures and this one always sticks in my mind.

Everyone in class admitted to Multi-tasking on the CR including Syed and me! He then asked which had more germs- your phone or a public toilet seat

The average mobile phone has 18 x more germs than a public CR seat!

I just cleaned mine and took the case off and it was filthy- and yet we hold our phone all day, sleep with it, eat with it ( to take photos of our food) and take it to the CR!

Another of my students picked up on the multitasking theme with more senior managers in the Oil and Gas industry with his “ breaking the myths” presentation on the ILM 3 programme that I ran. I hope you do not mind Uday if I share your slides again:

I thought in the Philippines this might be less of a problem- the average wage is lower, less people have cars, the phone signals are poor ( especially in Islands like Palawan with many mountains and limestone cliffs)  .

        You can see more of these old pictures by clicking the link below:

https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2021/05/pinoy-nostalgia-childhood-street-games.html

 The old pictures show the kids free of mobiles entertaining themselves with traditional games. When COV19 struck and F2F (Face to face) school teaching was halted online learning was very problematic as students here did not have laptops, headphones, Microphones, fast internet connections and Brown outs ( Power cuts) were frequent ( we have one in Puerto Princesa as I write this!).

My office, where I write my blogs, faces the road with big windows and as I see the kids walk to school many are on their mobiles playing games ( Mobile legends is very popular here) . The same applies to the elder ( 17 or 18 year old) kids who ride to school on a trike or the back of a moped or motorbike. I am surprised more phones do not get dropped or stolen and there are not more distracted driving accidents.

The other week a man ran off with a woman's mobile and some money from her florist shop- luckily he was filmed by a delivery driver and later arrested.

There are a few food delivery drivers who have their phones fixed to their bikes and protected with a small umbrella!

I read this on Facebook the other day about Mobile phone usage in USA:

That is why people say they read my blog but when I ask them questions about content they cannot answer. 26 seconds to read something that took me 10 hours to research and write!

Addiction is clearly evident here in the Philippines- if you go to any restaurant, you will hear silence as people photograph their food and post shots to Instagram and Facebook. In the Malls, school playing grounds and even my bedroom (not me, a visitor) people practice and record their TikTok moves. My scholars tell me how busy they are (updating their Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook accounts) and load ( topping up the credit on their phone) features highly on their list of money from me every 6 months!

“Ok Mr P , enough stories, do the facts back up what you say?”

“ What, you want me to quote from the web rather than tell stories, Mr G?!”

In a piece called " Factors associated with smartphone addiction prevalence and its predictive capacity for health-related quality of life (HRQoL.)  among Filipino adolescents" they report that :

• " The prevalence rate of smartphone addiction among Filipino adolescents ( 16 to 18 years old)  is 62.6%.  (males = 66.2%; females = 60.2%).

•

Smartphone addiction and HRQoL have significant negative correlation.

•

Adolescents with and without smartphone addiction significantly differs in HRQoL.

•

Smartphone addiction significantly predicts HRQoL."

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740919312241#:~:text=The%20prevalence%20rate%20of%20smartphone%20addiction%20among%20Filipino%20adolescents%20is%2062.6%25.&text=Smartphone%20addiction%20and%20HRQoL%20have%20significant%20negative%20correlation.&text=Adolescents%20with%20and%20without%20smartphone%20addiction%20significantly%20differs%20in%20HRQoL.&text=Smartphone%20addiction%20significantly%20predicts%20HRQoL. ( accessed 17.02.23) 

More scarily they report that it is on the rise ( their research was in 2020). 

The data was taken from the data obtained from 1,447 Filipino junior and senior high school students (males, n = 580; females, n = 867) through a Google forms online survey. So that's 16 to 18 yr olds. Mia is 16 and Frythy is 18 and each time I drive Noel and Frythy home they spend the whole time scrolling through the apps on their phone and showing each other things of interest.

Joven , who is 18 and works for me on a Saturday , spends his whole time taking selfies and posting them or checking his messages.

The conclusion of the survey was:

"This calls for full awareness among parents as well as community educators and counselors regarding this issue and for the development of both community-based and school-based intervention programs to lessen the risk of smartphone addiction and its impact on the HRQoL of students."

Hence my blog!

My friends will know that the use of mobiles is prohibited in my house- when we have a mean we talk rather than text. I also have complained to my landlady before about former neighbours having lengthy business calls in Tagalog outside their apartments and the Brown house next door. If you want to talk loudly on the phone go inside. That is why I choose remote hotels with poor signal ( Microtel in Puerto and Surya beach for example) so I don's have to listen to other peoples conversations. I have even hired boats to take my friends and their kids island hopping on condition that they do not use their phones! ( you can read more about this by clicking the link below:

https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2022/04/tbk-gives-bagets-on-board.html

                       JP and Kobe on our Island hopping trip from Sibaltan

"Any more recent research, Mr P?"

"yes , Mr G, I just found this":

"Studies have proven that teens who spend too much of their time with their cell phones are more prone to stress, anxiety, and depression. Research has also found that excessive use of smartphones may result in an increased risk of mental health problems "

Source: https://www.momjunction.com/articles/side-effects-of-mobile-phones-on-teenagers_00352682/#:~:text=Studies%20have%20proven%20that%20teens,mental%20health%20problems%20(3). ( accessed 17.02.23) 

The article also has steps that parents can take to combat the effects of excessive phone usage on Obesity, Tiredness , stress and so on

"Tell us more , Mr P"

Sorry Phil , I have been on line long enough today so I am going to take Chester for a walk and get some fresh air!

Some of you may have seen the kid in USA who realised the school bus driver had a medical emergency, Jumped up, pulled the bus to a stop and asked someone to call the emergency services. Eventually people asked why no one else saw the driver collapse at the wheel. Apparently they were all too busy playing on their phones!