Nomophobia is a colloquial term that means ‘fear of being without a mobile phone’. Nowadays nomophobia is a very popular term for netizens as it is predominantly related to the unusual addiction to the mobile phone. We know that from a toddler to geriatric people are vastly dependent on mobile phones. Without a mobile phone, it is almost impossible to lead a life as modern technology has wrapped up our daily activities. But the matter of worry is that our young generation is totally clinging to the mobile. They only see the world through their smartphone. Almost all the time they use smartphones to scroll Facebook or watch videos. They cannot even pass a single moment without a mobile phone. That’s why smartphones have become an integral part of their life. As a result, they are no longer controlling their smartphones, instead smartphones are controlling them. Excess use of smartphones or fear of without being a smartphone is impacting their physical, mental, cognitive, and psychosocial development.
While they are using smartphones, they only connect to virtual people, not real-life people. That’s why their psychosocial development is impaired. On the other hand, they feel stressed and anxious most of the time as they live almost alone. Their cognitive development is also impaired as they only think and work with smartphones. The excessive use of smartphones may cause different types of physiological problems such as headaches, bone deformation, and spinal problems. So it is crystal clear that our young generation is decaying in many ways due to the excessive use of mobile phones. In the light of future perspective, it can be pointed out that excessive mobile phone use is engulfing our youth’s future.
Md. Billal Hossen, a Lecturer, Department of Food Engineering and Technology, State University of Bangladesh
