Back to Page
Authors: Mesfer Alharethi, Rayan Alotaibi
Keywords: mobile usage, children with electronic devices, smart phones and children, children and the digital age
Abstract: Children behavioral development are impacted through role models like parents, peers, and teachers, and from social learning through the selection of behavioral features seen in other people in one's surroundings. Children are closer to mobile devices such as phones, iPod, TV and other forms of media devices. They are using these devices without any supervision. Exposure to mobile devices content plays a significant role in shaping the personality, developing the psyche, cognition, and behavior of children. The percentage of Saudis children who are addicted to violent video games through the devices and cannot do without them is alarmingly as high as 77% as it was recorded in a recent article. According to the latest news, 47% of Saudis children were subjected to violence by other children. The era of mobile devices is a new landscape because children at a certain age have their own devices. These children can take these small devices to their bedrooms, and their parents may have some difficulties to monitor their children as they used to do before the age of mobile devices. 66% of parents have indicated that their children have cell phones and are addicted to mobile devices. Also, 36% of the parents admitted that they argue with their children because of the time their children spend on these devices. Last statistics show that when children turn 10 years old, he or she receives their first phone with full access to the Internet. Arab children, on the other hand, use mobile devices excessively, and they are exposed to all types of aggressive content throughout these devices such as cell phones and iPod which may affect their behavior. This study seeks to concentrate on the aspect of media violence such as movies, and video games, on mobile devices and children’s behavior in Saudi Arabia. A quantitative method was selected to conduct an online survey that contains different questions regarding children use of mobile devices. The population of this study involved parents of children in Saudi Arabia. A small group of families who have children was contacted through. It was difficult to determine the size of the population. The researcher chose the snowball approach because it is affordable and it is the fastest way to get responses. The researcher used WhatsApp to invite families and friends to participate in the online survey. The initial receivers of the survey invitation asked to forward the survey links to their friends who have children. The target sample size was 125 parents in Saudi Arabia with children under 18 years. The survey questionnaire was designed to examine media violence on media devices such as smartphones and iPods children behavior of Saudi Arabia. After getting the approval of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), the online survey was sent to the parents in Saudi Arabia. The online survey was written in English then, it was translated to Arabic because the official language in Saudi Arabia is Arabic. The data were collected between March 21, 2018, and April 04, 2018. The survey questionnaire included questions about different variables such as aggression, consumption, family environment, personality traits, and prenatal monitoring. The researcher borrowed measurements from different articles to measure all these variables. The findings revealed that there is a correlation between mobile devices violent consumption and aggressive behavior on children. Moreover, the findings of this study have shown that there is a correlation between family environment, less parental monitoring and personality traits on children aggressive behavior.