Too much smart phone use hurts family bond

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some families believe that smart phones and internet have made some users addicted and taken away cordialness and love from among family members besides being a huge facility in terms of communication.

According to information from the Ministry of Information Technology over 34 million people had telephone sets and used them in 2020, with 13 million of them used internet.

Pajhwok Afghan News conducted interviews with residents in Kabul city about the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile sets and internet.

Some believed smart phones and internet created many facilities for them and changed their lives while others expressed their anger about the disadvantages of smart phones.

Some believed that smart phone users have been addicted to the use of phone and used them in inhuman and un-Islamic manner and that these devices were also used to harass girls.

Smart phones addiction

Farid Erfan, an employee of a non-governmental organization, said: “Unfortunately, my little son Erfan has been addicted to smart phone to the extreme level. He is busy playing gams all the night, he never listened to my advice, he get himself isolated in a home ad play games on smart phone.”

As being addicted to playing games, he said, Erfan’s eyesight has weakened and he has to use glasses.

He said in order to remove his addiction, he planned to disappear all mobiles from his house because according to him this addiction has other negative impacts such as being strange to his school books and studies.

Jameela, the resident of Qala-e-Zaman Khan, while referring to the bad impact of excessive use of smart phone, said her eight year old son who study in third class has become addicted to smart phone.

“When he wakes up from sleep he gets smart phone and plays games, we tried hard to do away with his addiction.”

Before his addiction to phone her son was more interested in school studies. He was firs position holder in school but now he had lost interest with school and studies.

Fraud cases

Mohibullah, not a real name, worked in one of government institutions, said mobile phone has some disadvantages besides being a good communication tool.

He said one year back he got in touch with a girl on phone and talked for three months and become really close.

“She was first to telephone me and introduced her as Marwat and said she lived in Qasaba locality and was a student of 12^th class.

“She would speak politely and in good manner and had a sweet voice. Contact with Marwat became regular and without calling her I could not sleep.”

He said with the passage of time she got aware of all his personal things and some secrets, including his job, which he never publically disclosed.

“I told her everything, because I trusted her, and loved her but she deceived me and her only purpose was to get secret information from me,” he said.

“Once she phoned me and said that I have to meet her, I informed office that I cannot come and went to see Marwat, I had important documents with myself and went to see Mrwat in a restaurant. During lunch she hid some important files from me and replaced them with other documents, when I reached office and gave documents to my boss, I noted that some important documents were missing.”

“When I was taken for investigation I noticed that she was a fraud, her name was not real and her friendship was fake.”

This is not only Mohib that got surprised due to the wrong use of phone but Shagofa, 24, from Shakardara district of Kabul, said through facebook she was introduced to a man and became close friends and the purpose of that man was to pass time.

She said she lived in a family with restricted rules, she created a facebook page and through that she had many friends with whom she spoke through messenger daily.

She said her family stopped her from higher education and thus she was angry with the decision and always thought that how she would get herself out of this situation.

Referring to the deceit she said: “We were friends for six months every night we had chat and he promised to marry me and always said he loves me too much, our chat led to our meeting but ultimately his purpose was to spend time with me because he was married and had no plan to marry me.”

“Once his wife called me and warned me saying if I continued being friend with her husband she will share my photos with my family and would introduce me to NDS.”

ShahaLala, the resident of Kabul’s Cement Khana area, said: “I got engaged to a girl and remained engaged for six months but finally I quit her due to her wrong use of mobile.”

He said: “Once I went to my fiancé house I saw her phone and noticed some messages that she had exchanged with strange people, at that time I did not say anything to her but for few more times I noticed similar things and finally I decided to quit her.”

Mobile phones and internet affected intimacy among families

Roqia, 85, a resident of Hisa-i-AwalKhairKhana area of Kabul, said that mobile phones and the Internet had destroyed kindness and intimacy, as many young people, children and even the middle-aged, were wasting their time on smartphones.

“My sons and daughters work all the day, I miss them a lot, but when they come, everyone becomes busy on their phone and they always stick to it, I do not know what is in that as their heart never detaches from it,” she said.

“Phones have robbed love and intimacy from families,” she said, adding that the problem is not limited to her family, but to most other people including her relatives and friends also faced with the same issues.

The telephone and the internet made life easy

Shafiqa, a resident of Kabul and a mother of seven children, said: “I think the right use of telephone and internet by youths depends on their parents, all parents should be careful, because if they are used positively it will be effective in training of youths and can increase their knowledge in religion and science.”

She said that all her children used mobile phones and the Internet, but they are not allowed to use it negatively.

Dr. Saleh, an ophthalmologist, says that those who use computers and smartphones on a regular basis, it could cause burning, itching and even vision loss in the long run.

“When using a computer and mobile phone, you should wear automatic goggles and take breaks each half an hour,” he said. “Use voice messages instead of text messages,” he added.

Meanwhile, HafizullahAkhundzadahAhadi, a religious scholar, told Pajhwok that smartphones and the Internet are among the best human inventions. However, what is important is to use it positively, in a positive and lawful way, they should not be used excessively, he said.

He added: “If it is used in a positive way and based on necessity, it is the greatest gifts, but when it is overused, it is extremely harmful. The telephone and the internet occupy three main human senses. When a person’s eyes, ears and mind are excessively busy without a need, it will waste that human. God gave us eyes, ears and mind to think, they are deposits of God and he will question us about the nature of their use. They should not be used unjustly and unnecessarily…”

Nh/mds/ma