THE EFFECT OF SMARTPHONE USAGE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: NURSING ROLE

Abstract

Smartphone has now become a communication tool which plays a significant role in daily life. It is easy to access and convenient to carry which is used for communication, photography, and documenting information. It is also internet browsing for watching television, movies, listening to music, and playing games. Moreover, Smartphone is utilized as a tool for raising children and misdirection tool in early childhood. This results in a negative impact where the growth and development of the brain have the highest growth during these important years. Many scholars indicated that using a smartphone can negatively result in physical, mental, emotional and language development. This causes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders of childhood who decreased learning ability. Therefore, nurses have a significant role to play in helping, supervising, and preventing the effects of using smart phone in early childhood. These responsibilities are 1) educating their parents about the development and basic needs of early childhood as well as taking care of them with understanding their needs. 2) a need for behavior modification and promoting early childhood development and 3) promoting the development in childhood with Eat –Hug – Play - Telling story and sleep and, 4) setting up environmental and atmospheric situations including family, school, and social factor to promote the early childhood development which in turn positively results in the development of early childhood to have a good learning and quality of life