Smart Phone Usage among young adults in Indian Setting
I recently damaged my phone,bought a new phone…not to forget the time I had to go without phone did make me feel crippled…well the new handset reads “ Never Settle”(pun intended)
Life was much easier when Apple and Blackberry were just fruits! Ain’t it?
Our Smartphone have turned into a tool that provides short, quick, immediate satisfaction, which is very triggering. Connected as they are to the internet, they can tell you how to cure an ache, how quick fix a Thai meal, the meaning of the word “antediluvian” and directions to nearest metro .
Gaze at some facts before we go ahead:
1.Most people can’t survive even one day without phone
2. Experts say that without time away from your phone, your nervous system stays in fight-or-flight mode, making you both wired and tired all the time
3. 1 in 2 people say that if they wake up in the middle of the night without any reason, they will check their phone
4.95% of people have stated that they text, browse the web, or watch TV in the hour before finally falling asleep
5.More than 4 billion people own mobile phones. But only 3.5 billion use a toothbrush.
6.Within 3 minutes of delivery, 90% of text messages are read
Let’s look in a nutshell the pros and cons of a cordless life..
Forty years ago when Martin Coop of Motorola stood out in Midtown Manhattan the revolutionary scene, would seem comical to us now. The phone, a Motorola Dynatac, weighed over two pounds, almost a foot long, and only delivered 20 minutes of battery time.Just four decades later, smartphones, live in the pocket or purse of nearly everyone.
See how cordless techno have been both a been a boon & bane…
The good part is:
GPS- The days of the humiliating “pull-over-and-ask-for-directions” detour are over. Simply plug in the address or business name, and your GPS-enabled phone provides turn by turn directions.Wait this is not it,see short cuts,traffic snarls,food joints all along the route
App-extravaganza- Mobile apps started out as toys–ringtones, arcade games, calendars and calculators–but have since completely revolutionized cell phone technology. Apps turn our phones into pedometers, personal trainers, tuning forks, shopping guides, nutritionists, music libraries, stores, televisions and more.
Instant access to friends,entertainment,games,search engine,updates,Picutres oh so perfect….to name a few and then opens the pandoras Box….
Not So good part:
Health issues- Physical problems like “text neck” and “cell phone elbow” have also been described by the medical community in the last few years.
There are Constant distractions like pressure to reply,taking work home, changing the display picture,updating status etc.
Real world connections- are missing.Instant gratification provided by these modern toys make us misfits for the sordid world ahead.We become the REEL and No REAL ones!!
Knowing it all India has become the second-biggest smartphone market in terms of active unique smartphone users, crossing 220 million users, surpassing the US market, according to a report by Counterpoint Research. With the cellphone replacing so many gadgets (like alarm clock, radio, watch) and even things like calendars and maps, it’s no wonder that we’re increasingly dependent on this device. Smartphones are fun, but when they start detracting from our lives and our interactions with actual human beings, it’s probably time to dial it back.
Where is the hurricane?Can’t we have a day without beeps,rings and vibrations? Don’t we all have atleast one of the memories associated to waiting at the P.C.O shop or a no phone day? Were not we happy then…Is it so difficult to enjoy your morning Cuppah joe without a phone in hand?
This is the age when all of us know both the sides of the coin…You are an actual SMART smart phone user only if YOU know which side of the coin is a flip side!!! Choose yours
Transition to College Readiness
Education is one of the main factors which defines the progress and development of societies. “Education” is related to concepts of learning and teaching, is defined as “the process of raising an individual for certain purposes” in general. The far-reaching purposes of higher education mostly are democratic equality, social efficiency, and social mobility.
While many might argue the specific purposes or goals of a higher education, the idea that a college education is important has become more and more prevalent in our society. With the changing times and technology, more and more number of jobs require a post-secondary credential. It is estimated, by 2020, two-thirds of jobs will require college experience, with 30 percent of those jobs requiring at least a bachelor’s degree and 36 percent of jobs requiring at least some college or an associate degree.
Transitioning from secondary school to college is an important developmental milestone that holds the potential for personal growth and behavioral change. It involves changes in roles, additional challenges and responsibilities, be it academic or social. As students make the transition from secondary to post-secondary education, the academic, social, and emotional rigors they confront highlight the importance of support structures located in the post-secondary environment, and the need for guidance prior to matriculation.
Key stressors for college students include personal freedom, college instructors and instructions, programme structures as well as testing and grades. In addition to the stressors, students are not equipped with the skills required for successful college transition.
College readiness is the combination of core academic knowledge, skills, and habits that youth need, to be successful in a post-secondary setting without remedial coursework or training. The four elements of college readiness are cognitive strategies, content knowledge, academic behaviors, and contextual skills and awareness.
Students who are not informed and prepared for the transition from high school to college, find transitioning very difficult, as compared to informed students. Going to college is like entering a new culture and to be fully prepared for success in this new culture, students have to possess knowledge of how the post-secondary system operates and the differences between high school and college. Thus, our education culture needs to help students prepare for transition into higher education, an important step for brighter future, as for an individual and also the society as a whole. It needs to help them to decide an institution that aligns well with their needs, apply to and enroll in it.
Reason of unhealthy eating practices in India
Where?
Delhi: City of migrants – Bangalore: City of start up – Mumbai: City of dreams
Long working hours and expensive fruits and vegetables, an affinity for fast food are the leaders when one choose their food, hence drop in their healthy food consumption.
1. Online food option: where Bangalore is the front-runner in this area which comprehending 10 percent of food-ordering. And Chinese, Italian and fast food are the leading in this.
Misleading advertisement and labeling are also a cause for unhealthy eating practices. The ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has upheld complaints against very renowned healthcare companies like GSK, Kellogs, Dabur. (Ref: http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/eight-indian-advertisements-have-been-found-misleading)
2. Media: A powerful tool to destroy or to construct. But what to believe or what to avoid The ASCI should be pro active for this.
The Lancet paper revealed that India now has the greatest disease burden of any country, hastening what experts call an “epidemiological transition” from communicable to non-communicable or so-called lifestyle disease, accentuated by a collapsing public healthcare system. Healthcare expenses push an additional 39 million people back into poverty every year.
3. In addition to it Indian food is also culprit, which majorly supposed to be vegetarian but it lacks the vegetable and more of Carbohydrate / cereal (rice, wheat) based dietary pattern, which causes obesity. And if we come to vegetables then potato is the king of this.
4. Come to the Cooking Method: We boil and cook food till the nutrient value is killed. Culture is also hurdle to maintain healthy food habits like Gujrati and Punjabi foods are famous for snacking and high calorie food. Whereas Mumbai food where Vada pav is replacing meals.
5. According to Times of India Skipping breakfast when rushing to school and snacking on chips and Maggi, both reservoirs of dead calories has become a trend
Do you think we can mitigate this habit traditionally? What are your ideas to combat malnutrition problem in India?
Innovative Mental health applications to the rescue
Mental health innovation is the need of the hour. Innovations in this sector are imperative and long due because of the rampant spread of mental health issues. Although we have classifications such as the DSM (American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and ICD (World Health organization’s International Classification of Diseases) most mental health issues go undetected. Innovations are required in terms of quicker and accurate diagnoses, evidence based therapies and newer medicines.
According to the latest World Health Organization report on depression released in 2016, almost 7.5% of Indians suffer from major or minor mental disorders that require expert intervention . Innovations in the mental health sector have come in terms new diagnostic tools using mobile applications to detect illnesses, new therapies which support the working individuals’ time schedule and newer medicines which have lesser side effects. Mobile applications which give a quicker and cheaper access to mental health professionals are a boon for patients who can’t afford regular treatment in terms of time and money.
The Google play store is flooded with mental health applications, though a few actually stand out. Let’s take the example of a trending mobile application which has claimed to actually address multiple mental health issues. IntelliCare is a free, state-of-the-art suite of 13 skill-focused apps created by researchers at Northwestern University in an NIH-funded study that is poised to revolutionize how mobile apps help treat anxiety and depression. The IntelliCare apps take a multi-faceted approach to treating factors linked to anxiety and depression such as social isolation, lack of activity, sleep problems, and obsessive thinking. What sets it apart is that it’s the only smartphone app of its kind being field tested across the country by clinical psychologists in conjunction with the national institutes of health. IntelliCare is currently an ongoing national research study. The IntelliCare suite of thirteen different IntelliCare apps offers a multi-faceted approach for the treatment of anxiety and depression. It also offers fresh techniques to help make your life feel more meaningful … mantras to re-frame your explanatory style, strategies for moving your body more, sleeping better and much, much more .
Mental health care innovation is something which has a lot of scope and can target users across geographies and strata. The only question is how many people in a developing country like ours even own a smartphone to access such apps? How many people are aware of such apps? And can such apps eventually replace the physical presence of a therapist?