Gadget Addiction Threatens Indonesian Children

Gadgets, with their online connection and various features, are like a double-edged knife: they have numerous advantageous, but may also be dangerous for children. Many have suffered from gadget addiction and related mental disorders.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Children use gadgets in Cideng area, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (18/7/2018). The use of gadgets by children requires parental supervision, guidance and restrictions to prevent negative impacts from exposure to social media and online games.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Apart from their use as a communications tool for spreading information, multi-featured gadgets also facilitate children in accessing social media, downloading materials and playing games, including age-inappropriate services. The continuous use of gadgets may potentially disrupt their growth and lead to addiction.

The phenomenon of gadget addiction among children has been on the rise in the last five years. Despite the lack of exact figures and the number of children with symptoms of gadget addiction, many researches and surveys have revealed that child gadget addiction has reached a worrying level. Apart from being victims, children have also been actively involved in cases that are categorized as crimes.

“Children with gadget addiction pose a serious challenge for us. The problem is that not many parents even realize that their kids have the addiction,” Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) chair Susanto said in Jakarta on Sunday (22/7/2018).

Mental health department head Kristiana Siste Kurniawan at the University of Indonesia’s School of Medicine (FKUI), who is a psychiatrist at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM), said not all children who played video games developed gaming addiction. Children that used gadgets more than three hours a day were prone to developing the addiction.

“[It only develops into] gaming addiction when symptoms have been going on for 12 months that disrupt daily activities. Daily activities can include school, work, relationships with others and other routine things,” said Kristiana.

Kristiana said she was currently treating an 18-year-old who was close to being expelled from university because he never attended his classes. Instead, the teenager spent his days playing online games for up to 18 hours a day. The teen took methamphetamine in order to stay awake and play the games. His personal history showed that he had owned a gadget since he was 6 and that he had played online games since he was 13. His addictive behavior emerged at 17. By the time he reached 18, he was severely addicted.

In terms of developmental age, an individual was most vulnerable to gadget addiction between 13 and 18 years old. During this period, the part of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which prevents a person from impulsive actions and helps them plan and control their behavior, is not yet fully developed. “Once this part is damaged, a person is prone to impulsive behavior, including using gadgets,” Kristiana said.

Mental disorder

Children and teenagers that use gadgets for more than three hours a day can make them prone to gadget addiction. Global awareness remains low on gadget and gaming addiction. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its 11th International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which includes gaming addiction, also called gaming disorder, as a mental disorder.

In January, Koesnadi General Hospital in Bondowoso, East Java, treated two teenagers – one a middle school student, the other a high school student – that were suffering from severe gadget addiction. One of them wanted to kill his parents after they banned him from using gadgets.

FKUI child and adolescent psychiatrist Tjhin Wiguna said the phenomenon of child gadget addiction had been on the rise in the last three years.

The number of parents requesting consultation through child protection agencies or taking their children to psychologists and psychiatrists were also rising.

Indonesian Child Protection Institute (LPAI) chair Seto Mulyadi said the organization had handled 17 cases of child gadget addiction since 2013. The National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) said it had treated 42 children and teens for gadget addiction since 2016.

The increasing prevalence of gadget addiction among children is believed to be related to increasing internet penetration in Indonesia. A 2017 survey by the Association of Indonesian Internet Providers showed that 143.26 million Indonesians – 54.68 percent of the total population – were using the internet. Internet penetration is highest among teenagers aged 13-18 years (75.50 percent), and gadgets were the most popular means to access the internet (44.16 percent).

At the “Safe Internet for Children” event in Jakarta on February 6, Communications and Informatics Minister Rudiantara said that 93.52 percent of social media use in Indonesia consisted of individuals aged 9-19 years. Meanwhile, 65.34 percent of internet use consisted of individuals in the same age bracket. Children and teenagers generally use the internet to access social media including, YouTube and online games.

A 2017 study by the University of Indonesia’s Center for Communication Studies (Puskakom) titled “A Study on Social Media Use by Children and Teenagers”, said that children and teenagers were attracted to social media to stay in touch with faraway friends and relatives and to share information with each other. They accessed online games to fulfill their desire to play in cyberspace.

Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Susana Yembise said that parents should be seriously paying attention to the many impacts of gadget addiction. “It is most severe when children are addicted to pornography, as this will require trauma therapy for life,” said Yohana.

She said that parents should be on alert following the emergence of child gadget addiction cases. Many required treatment from psychologists and psychiatrists at special rehabilitation centers, as they suffered severe psychological disruptions and mental disorders.

(E05/E15/TAN/EGI/GER/COK/ZAK/DNE/ELN/SON)