Media competence as an important element of health prevention activities in the prevention of phonoholism

Abstract

The development of modern technologies has enabled unlimited possibilities for contemporary people in the sphere of education, information, communication or entertainment. There have been significant progress and development in many areas of human life. However, the positive changes which contributed to the improvement of the social life quality, at the same time, brought many behaviors threatening health. The long list of risks is constantly growing and it is not expected to decrease. The problem of cellular addiction occurs more often and gains in power. Excessive and improper use of mobile phones poses many threats to physical, cognitive, emotional or social development and may lead to a phonoholism - i.e. a phenomenon that may result in withdrawal from social life, loss of contact with the family or persistent sleep disorders. As the mobile phone is today the basic subject, which is used by people of all ages, increasingly also the youngest, several-year-old children should become an educational challenge for parents and teachers. Therefore, there is a great need for extensive prevention of health and promotion of media competences for the digital society in order to make conscious, safe, responsible and critical use of tools that facilitate communication, learning and playing.