Lately, the Department of Education and Training in Ho Chi Minh City has organized a Science and Technology contest for high school students, two students Huynh Duong Phi Yen and Nguyen Dang Tuyet Nhi of Tran Khai Nguyen High School excellently grasped the first prize with the project named Nomophobia of high schoolers in HCMC: Reality and Measures.
Student Phi Yen said her classmates secretly using smartphone in classrooms get uneasily insecure and anxious if their smartphones are seized by teachers and they will bend over backwards to take it back.
A group of student from Tran Van Giau High School in Binh Thanh District conducted a survey on use of smartphones amongst students in Tran Van Giau, Gia Dinh in Binh Thanh District, Nguyen Van Tang in district 9, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in district 3 and Hung Vuong and Nguyen Dinh High Schools for the Gifted in the southern province of Binh Duong.
The survey found that up to 90 percent of students are addicted to smartphones. Noticeably, 37.7 percent of students in Ho Chi Minh City and 41.2 percent of their peers in Binh Duong Province spend about five to six hours a day staring at its screen, according to Tran Thi Ha My, one of writers of the survey.
Ha My said the survey result pointed out mobile phones are not purely normal device but inseparable item of students. Huynh Tan Phat, another writer of the survey, said that fear of lacking information, feeling of left behind the world and disconnection to the world are the culprit of mobile phone addiction amongst students.
The Nomophobia, a rising trend in students, not only makes an impact on students’ spirit but on their behaviors.
Another group of student of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted in district 1 comprising of student Nguyen Ngoc Tram An and Tran Doan Khanh Van compiled a handbook for social network users.
The handbook’s five major themes include the purpose of using social networks, guidance on the proper amount of time surfing in internet and harm caused by using too much social networks.
At present, the handbook is being issued gratis in many junior high schools in district 1. More than 65 percent of students said the handbook sends easy-to-understand messages while 51.9 percent of students said the handbook is more effective than popularizing by posters, bulletins or leaflets.
Tran Van Giau high schoolers have found their own way that is “Facebook orients Facebook users”. They set up a Facebook named “Share everyday” to organize interactive activities such as a drawing contest on Nomophobia.
Currently, the fanpage has attracted more than 8,000 followers. Additionally, they worked with Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to organize extra-activities outside the school for their peers. All activities were recorded and posted in Youtube.
Also Mac Dinh Chi high schoolers Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu and Nguyen Minh Quang proposed to provide students with all social skill activities in the form of game. Moreover, they have built an application that could check the accuracy of information on social networks, select information sources and provide links to new information with the aim to help users evaluate online sources.
According to writers of handbook and surveys, the ability to select information carefully and to control their emotions are two key factors which help students avoid being enticed by untrustworthy sources on social networks.
