Sometime when you are out and about, take a moment to look around. I can assure you will find more than one person on their cell phone. There have been many times walking on campus that someone has ran into me because they were not paying attention, and most times it was because they were too busy looking at their phone. I would be lying if I said I was not guilty of this because it does happen. However, one day I glanced around and saw so many people on their phone. I decided to count how many people were on their phone while I walked from class to the library, which happened to be about two blocks away from each other. I lost count. It boggled my mind how many people were using their phone. Most walking with their eyes glued to their phone, probably checking up on their social media accounts or texting their friends.
It seems like so long ago that to communicate with others you had to see them in person or talk to them on your house phone. As technology progresses, people are able to communicate with others without having to see them face-to-face or call them when they were at home. Today people can communicate in various ways such as social media (Facebook, Twitter), text message, e-mail and so on. There are many ways to communicate it is hard to keep track.All these ways of communicating can all easily be done on a cell phone. It makes it easy to keep in touch, but also takes away from the people right in front of you.
Are we addicted to our cell phones? Sometimes when my husband and I go out to eat with a group of people, he likes to point out when everyone is on their phone at the same time. Even at times when our friends are right in front of our face, it seems like we have trouble putting down our phones. There have been numerous studies done on the effects of cell phone use. A study conducted by Walsh et al. investigated whether problematic cell phone use can be cause addiction-like behavior by holding focus groups with 32 Australians ages 16-24 (as cited in Sansone R.A, & Sansone,L.A, 2013). Results showed that some participants were very attached to their cell phones and shared symptoms that may suggest an addictive behavior. These addictive behaviors may meet criteria that suggest dependence which also cause many problems, but it still remains unclear whether over using cell phones is a mere misuse or if people are actually becoming dependent and addicted to their cell phones (Sansone R.A, & Sansone,L.A, 2013).
Cell phones give us the opportunity to connect with others in various different ways. We can use them to log on to our social media accounts, call, text and e-mail others. They are used on a daily basis and are often overused which can cause risk factors such as dependency and addictive behaviors. People shouldn’t necessarily get rid of their cell phones all together, but I believe it is important for them to be aware of how often they are using them. We tend to get wrapped up in using our phones and it takes away from the people around us. Put the phone down for a little, you can do it!
Reference
Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2013). Cell phones: The psychosocial risks. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 10.1, 33-37. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/psycinfo/docview/1364719673/A7AF9D4E906A4A97PQ/8?accountid=13158