Humans were designed to talk to one another. Imagine you’re on the bus or subway and what is the one thing that you see everyone doing. Looking down at their cell phones , Why is this now the new normal? Our generation is more attached to our devices than anything else.
A study done by Bloomberg.com found that the average home has about three or more devices. This includes laptops, tablets, televison, video game systems and so on.
Even our professor said that cellphones are having a negative effect on the way that we learn. This is becoming more common as technology continues to advance. Students are always looking at their phones instead of paying attention in class. Then they wonder why they are not getting very great scores on their tests. Even during study/homework time students are spending way too much time on Facebook and YouTube.
Our social skills seem to get worse as well. Now at the dinner table more families are paying attention to their mobile device. Instead of talking to one another.
Accroding to sleep.org, this is bad because the blue light that some devices emit make the brain think that its time to stay up. So just watching You Tube or scrolling through Instagram for quick second can turn into hours. The lack of sleep can also lead to poor concentration in school which is a really big problem . If your brain is not fully rested it will not be able to retain any information. Many people complain about not getting a good night well here is a good reason why. Sleep researchers have found a correlation between goiing to bed with a device and poor sleep paterns.
So how can we fix this problem?
Well there are few steps that you can take, first limit the amount of time you are on your device, and yes I know we as college students do the majority of our work online. This takes a lot of discipline. Think about why you came to college in the first place. The main goal is hopefully to learn. Also remember that you are paying thousands of dollars per class so it would be wise to actually pay attention.
While you’re our out with your family instead of always trying to get the perfect photo live in the moment. If you are with a groups if friends, make an agreement to it look at your phone no more than three times. Instead actually talk to one another. Ask about each other’s day. Plus, if you really think about it starting at your phone while someone is talking to you is very rude.
When it comes to sleep according to sleep.org you should turn off all electronic devices prior to going to bed. Like two hours or more. Instead pick up a really boring book (like a chemistry book).
This will take some time. Don’t try to do all this at once. Take baby steps before doing any drastic changes.
Sometimes we need to take a break from the virtual world and take a moment to pay attention to things that are happening right in front of us.
I can definitely relate to how we are always on our phones and and never really socialize anymore. I see it more in school than anywhere else, where it has now become the social norm for someones phone to go off, or for someone to not pay attention and instead mess around on their phone. But I also believe that this b=can be either placed and being to busy and relying heavily on the phone as a form of communication, or being addicted to (anti) social media. I think that this link definitely relates to this article as it talks about social media is ultimately having a negative effect and also how to kick the habit. http://www.computerworld.com/article/3014439/internet/social-media-addiction-is-a-bigger-problem-than-you-think.html
I have read a lot of blogs regarding this subject which only furthers the importance of this topic. Everyone knows this is an issue, but many people are reluctant to minimize their social media habits. Even when it comes to learning, like you mentioned in our class, many people did not give up their phones for extra credit. This attachment to cell phones and social media has not only gained control of our priorities, but our lives.
Nowadays, everyone pays more attention to their phone instead of people around them. Everything in ins or Facebook seems more important… We all know that digital technology are not really good for us, but everyone just ignore that. Here’s a website talks about the arm of digital technology. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/digital-technolgy-can-harm-your-health
This is a very relevant article. I truly did not realize just how big of an impact techonology had on the planet until I looked around one day at the hub and saw person after person on either their phone or laptop. My dad is very anti-phones, and always talks about how phones are ruining our society. He says that people no longer know how to communicate with one another in person because we are on our phones so much. As much as I hate to admit it, he is right. Phones are truly an addiction, especially to teenagers. Last summer, I had my phone taken away for two weeks, and I did not know how I was going to handle myself without it. During my time without my phone, I realized just how differently you view life without having the constant distraction that is your phone. The article linked below explains why people are so addicted to their phones.
https://www.quora.com/Why-are-people-so-addicted-to-their-cell-phones-smart-phones