New York, March 12 (IANS): While the cases of selfie and gaming addiction leading to tragic ends of adult lives have become increasingly common, a self-harming incident involving an 11-year-old-boy from China shows that smartphone addiction is catching up with kids -- consequences of which are unlikely to please parents.

Following arguments with his parents for asking to keep his hands off a phone, the boy cut of his own index finger apparently as a mark of protest, Geek.com reported.

"In the case of this kid, he woke up and instantly grabbed his phone, which resulted in an argument with his mother when he wouldn’t put it down. This was followed by a later argument with his father over the same problem,” the report said.

Arguments with his parents over the phone left the boy so upset, the boy went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and sliced off the end of his own index finger. 

The boy was rushed to hospital along with the severed part of his finger and surgeons spent three hours reattaching it, according to the report

Although index fingers are not essential to smartphone use, they are heavily used digits when it comes to interacting with a touchscreen. 

If the surgery is unsuccessful it shouldn’t stop the boy from using his smartphone, but it could make playing games or using multitouch for anything a bit more difficult, the report added.