You attended a talk organised by your school on World Health Day.

During the talk, the

statement made by the guest speaker, who is a counsellor, caught your attention:
Mobile phones have become such powerful and versatile tools that for many
people, particularly youngsters, they feel literally indispensable. One major sign of
mobile phone addiction that serves as a warning is the owners feel the constant
compulsion of checking their phone for calls or messages when their phone did not
ring or vibrate. Addiction to mobile phone can result in a number of different effects
such as stress and anxiety, sleep disturbances, loneliness, and depression, that may
cause permanent damage or be difficult to treat. Therefore, it is advisable to switch
off unnecessary notifications on our phone, remove unnecessary apps and limit our
phone checks in order to overcome our addiction to the mobile phone.

The most effective and instant way to control mobile phone usage is to turn off
notifications. Many people get distracted by the endless notifications they receive
from Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Shopee and other apps. We do not need
immediate updates of who has 'liked' us, 'followed' us or sent us a message. It is
because the more often we check our phone, the more it becomes an ingrained
habit. So switching off notifications will help us feel less compelled to use our phone
and thus prevent us from getting addicted to it.

Another effective measure to deal with mobile phone addiction would be to

uninstall unnecessary apps. Take the time to go through the tons of apps on our
mobile phone and decide which ones are actually enslaving us to the device. An app
that notifies us of new comments on social media, for instance, may be one of those
to let go. This will help us remove the clutter from our phone, and reduce the time
we spend "exploring" our apps. As such, we will be that much closer to overcoming
mobile phone addiction.

Last but not least, limiting our checks of phone is an impactful measure to take. If
our habit is to check our phone every few minutes, we need to wean ourselves off by
limiting our checks to once every 15 minutes. Then once every 30 minutes, then
once an hour. The urge to check our phone comes in waves. When we feel like we
just have to check our phone, we can close our eyes and take a deep breath. Inhale
for three seconds and exhale for three seconds. The urge will usually disappear. If
the urge is still there, take another deep breath. We should then have the willpower
to return to our original task. This is a simple but powerful technique to help us
break our smartphone addiction by reducing the time and frequency of using our
mobile phone.

To conclude, by controlling the notifications we receive, reducing the number of

apps, and limiting our checks of mobile phones, we are taking a strong step to
overcome the addiction to our mobile phone. Mobile phones can be a beneficial
device and a damaging tool at the same time. Hence, we should provide a balance
between phone usage and our personal lives without devices.

Mobile phone addiction among the youth is a serious problem.

Write an essay expressing your suggestions to deal with the problem. Write at least 250
words.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can

use to change the world.” --Nelson Mandela--