The Prevalence of Mobile Phone Use in The School Going Children in North Al Batinah Region of Oman: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

The use of mobile phones has become increasingly common among general population, but how much has it increased among the young school going population remains to be seen.Our objective was to investigate the prevalence of mobile phone use, during and after school hours, and its ownership in the primary and secondary section students in Oman.We surveyed 414 students in Cycle 1 and 1438 students in Cycle 2 in the city of Sohar, North Al Batinah region of Oman. Students completed a paper-based questionnaire about mobile phone use, the apps they use and whether their parents keep a check on their cell phone use. 86% of primary section students reported using a mobile phone whereas 91% of students in secondary section reported use of mobile phone. Most popular mobile use among the primary section students were playing games on mobile phones whereas, secondary section students mostly used their phones to access internet. 86.7% of primary section students said that their parents were aware of how they used their mobile phones compared to 83.4% students in secondary section. Smart phone ownership and its use in school going students in Oman have increased from the past and is now almost the same in the students of primary and secondary sections. Students now start using mobile at a much younger age;however, the parents are well aware of the contents on their children’s mobile devices and sometimes even take away their mobile phone as punishment.

Mobile phones and children: exposure and pattern of usage of mobile phones among children - a descriptive cross-sectional study

“…91% of students from secondary section whose average age was 14±2.16 years actively used mobile phones. 10 In our study out of 248 children 45 of them owned a mobile phone. No significant difference was noted in mobile phone usage across socio economic status, unlike the study by Byun who reported that more children belonging to lower socio economic position communities owned a mobile phone compared to those of higher socioeconomic position.…”

“…Not only in Oman but also all over the world the mobile phone ownership among children and also the duration of time utilized on internet has increased exponentially during the recent few years. 10 The excessive mobile phone usage by the parents in home environment influences the behavior of the children. More often than not the caregivers are engrossed by the mobile phone to such an extent that it hinders their responsiveness to the child.…”

Impact of Excessive Usage of Smartphone in Kids

“…The share of family circle with access to the Internet similarly increased from 18% in 2005 to 46% in 2015. [22,21]. Smartphones can process many data and information than other mobile phones, it includes many apps like sports, internet and social media access, messaging, video, multimedia and travel, about using them meant for communication.…”