The advancement in communication technology and the Internet have made it much easier for deluded teenagers to communicate. Mobile phones are capable of providing visual communication, and the chat programs on these phones have become the center of the lives of some youngsters seeking romantic relations. The pleasure many of these young people feel while meeting online with another person often turns into an addictive behavior. Many get addicted to aimless calls based on imagination and delusion, which entail consequences in this life and the hereafter.
Most of those who take the initiative are boys, although not exclusively. Some consider it a game; some look for a mate to marry. Whatever the motive, their habit often turns into addiction before they know it, and then there is no turning back.
Educational researcher Istiqlal Al-Hulai believes the phenomenon is widespread. “A large percentage of teenagers use their computers and phones for such behaviors. Unfortunately, some of those addicted to such calls are adults and married. Weak religious restraints and the fact that some families are too occupied to monitor their offspring cause this behavior.” She said that parents play an important role in ensuring that their offspring take the right path. Some parents keep the negative, old traditions of their fathers and mothers and are shy to talk to and advise their sons and daughters on certain sensitive matters. “Teenagers must be approached and their feelings recognized by their parents, because this is how the problem is recognized. The following step would be the solution,” she stated.
Afaf Khaled, who expressed regret, had an amorous phone relationship. “I met him through the phone,” she said. “We got close, then he started telling me how much he loved me and how special I was. He promised to marry me, which made me open my heart to him. I told him all my secrets. Suddenly he changed. He screamed at me and hung up on me and insulted me. I was devastated, but after a while, I hated myself for having started the relationship in the first place.”
Talal Rashed started a relationship through Facebook. “We exchanged phone numbers. She talked to me with a beautiful and attractive voice and seemed to be attracted to me, which made me suspicious, because I only know her from the Internet. I asked my friend to call her, and she told him the same things the same way, so I knew she was looking for several relationships and I knew I was making a mistake.”
According to therapist Faisal Aal Ojaiyan, suppression is what drives young people to such behavior. There are safe ways to express oneself, like writing, he said. “In the past, one depended on imagination and dreams, but now technology provides other ways. However, expressing oneself in the wrong way could entail risks. For girls, when they express themselves in the wrong way they could be victims to blackmail and threats, and could go further in the relationship and reach the point of no turning back,” he warned.
When amorous calls become an addiction
