Assessment of the dynamics of the children mental and emotional state in conditions of banning mobile phones at schools
The article provides reports concerning the long-term use of mobile communication devices having an adverse effect on the mental and emotional state of children, as well as information on the frequency and purpose of mobile phone use by modern children and adolescents in different countries. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of restrictions imposed in general education organizations on the use of personal mobile communication devices on the mental and emotional state of schoolchildren. The control group was presented by students of the school who could use their mobile phones as they want to. The study was conducted through testing; its results assessed the well-being, mood, activity and the level of psychic and emotional stress of the test subjects. The study also relied upon a questioning identifying the frequency and purpose of the mobile phone use by the students. The study found out that if a school had no restrictions, the students used their gadgets excessively and they noted the signs of addiction. If the mobile phones were banned, the proportion of children studied with high activity increased by the end of the day, while in a school with no restrictions, this rate decreased, and it might indicate the positive effect of prohibition of device use in schools. Statistically reliable differences in quantity of children with high levels of anxiety, as well as an increase in the proportion of children with poor mood by the end of the day at schools where the mobile phones are completely banned may indicate an emerging dependence on smartphones and negative emotions arising against this background