Childrens Injurious Use of the Smartphone

With smartphone use so widespread, it's not surprising to hear so much talk about the digital world, and what it is doing to society. There is much good from the advances in technology and the abuses are many, and yet we need to remember the old adage: abuse does not take away use.

However, the  abuses of the smartphone are numerous, and need to acknowledge the reality society faces. Often, the very person we speak  to intimately is interrupted because of a call received. We become blind to those with whom we live and associate. The real world ceases to exist, and we become lost in the digital world. Not surprising to hear about the number of people with attention deficit disorders, and people who have difficulty distinguishing the real from the false.

A series of articles in the Catholic Times notes problems associated with the sexual culture that continues to grow with aid from the digital world. The article shows readers the many ways children and young people are being bombarded with lewd telephone calls and lewd pictures; exposed to an understanding of sex that is far from the holiness and beautiful encounter of husband and wife in the sexual embrace.

The article mentions a number of aberrations that  are pervasive in the culture. One of these are lewd telephone dating. Companies fostering this kind of interchange are springing up like mushrooms after rainfall. You are charged so much for every ten minutes of time with the person you are talking, and  not difficult to see the addictive attraction of this for some, and abuses that follow.

One of the deceptions is to have the women over the telephone suggest talking in the nude. This phishing acquires sensitive information, which is used to blackmail the person and threaten to notify parents and make known what transpired during the encounter, and asking for money. 

Young people have no way of protecting themselves from these schemes and malicious intentions of these efforts to make money from sex. The number of the young people with smart phones is close to 4 million: only 26.4 percent have the possibility of intercepting these lewd calls and pictures. Many started with the means to intercept lewd information but discontinued.

Government requires phones have the possibility of intercepting these lewd pictures and telephone calls. Companies selling these mobile phones are to notify the children and the guardians of the responsibility, and need to check to see if this is being done.

In 2015, a government survey determined 90.2 % of high-school students have smartphones, 86.6%  of  middle school children, and 59.3 % of elementary school children, Since this is the case it is easy to see how the children have access to adult content. One of the studies showed 38.3% among  children, and young people viewed sexting positively. The article concludes with hope parents will be more concerned in educating children to have a healthy understanding of sex.