PGIHS-RC 2019

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https://ir.lib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/20.500.14444/4073

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Browsing PGIHS-RC 2019 by Subject "Aggression"

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    Impact of smart devices on social isolation and aggression among teenagers
    (University of Peradeniya, 2019-03-29) Rajapakse, R.P.A.L.; Jayasinghe, A.
    Smart devices are developed to help people complete their tasks more effectively and efficiently in a shorter period of time. The same devices can cause harm to people if used inappropriately or misused. Using smart devices as pacifiers for children has become common in today‘s society, and this has brought a sense of uneasiness among children. Addiction to smart devices has increased drastically over the past decade. Conditioning theories hold that addiction is the cumulative result of the reinforcement. Parents have a tendency to use these devices to control their children, to keep them in one place or to make them silent. The level of environmental stimuli is a contributing factor here. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the use of smart devices among teenage children. The focus of the study was to evaluate the level of social isolation and aggression. The study included a focused individual interview with 20 teenagers of the ages between 12 and 18 years, who have had complaints regarding their behavior in class. The analysis revealed a high level of virtual friendships and relationships compared to mutual social relationships. There was little social interaction with parents and siblings. Emotional negligence of parents was discovered. Poor social interaction and a high level of virtual living was found. A Likert scale with 11 questions were used to measure aggression. Social aggression was high among the sample. The analysis shows antisocial behavioral traits when the situation was not in favour of their view. The results showed a tendency to carry out violent acts both verbally and physically. Contrary to their behavior, 98% of the sample indicated that they miss the care and love of parents and that they try to make up for it by engaging themselves in mobile games and other methods of virtual social interaction. The addiction to mobile games and smart devices has a direct impact on the social isolation of the teenagers and the aggressive behavior of the same. As a statement, addiction to smart devices will become more harmful than drug addiction if not addressed in a proper manner, and the time has come to pay attention to build a mutual society instead of a virtual society.