The vicious circle of relationship crisis – the phenomenon of smartphoneisation in the face of widespread access to terminal devices by children and young people

The aim of the research undertaken is to delineate relevant areas of media education and tasks for media literacy professionals in the face of emerging obstacles caused by technological saturation faced by 21st century children and adolescents. The literature review indicates that phenomena such as mediatisation and smartphoneisation can be a threatening factor in the process of building interpersonal closeness. The researcher postulates as a social duty to intervene against the resulting threats. The conducted analyses, supported by reports of public institutions, including the NASK and the KIM, as well as own research conducted among young people, indicate the need for recommendations for experts, organisations, institutions and entities interested in supporting children and young people in the process of properly forming social relations and creating bonds based on mutual respect, trust and empathy. The research on smartphoneisation as one of the main causes of the crisis in children and adolescents, resulting in disorders in the world of interpersonal relations, makes the article postulative. It contains a set of issues concerning the topic of digital hygiene and delineates areas for the creation of good practices for recovering from network addictions as a foundation for healthy social relationships.