Cell phones have turned us into zombies. When you go out in public, and see a group of teens; what do you see? Do you see them all talking to each other and being social? Chances are, they’re all staring at their phones. Cell phone addiction is so common today that most of the time people don’t view it as strange. Many times, I have been in a conversation with someone, and they’ll take out their phone and send a tweet or a text while I’m talking to them. It’s become such a common act, that no one even comments on how rude it actually is. We have become so accustomed to our listeners diverting their attention to their cell phones that we don’t see anything wrong with it. Cell phone addiction is impacting our everyday lives; turning us into a generation that is forever scrolling. So this leads us to the big question: what is the consequence of all of this cell phone use?
Teens and Cell Phones
Teens, including myself, seem to miss out on so much in life. I have heard countless times, while listening to someone tell a story, someone will say “wait, what?” For the most part, this happens because the listener was doing something on their cell phone. I think the reason we act this way is because of how advanced our cell phones have become. Chances are, if you're sitting in a classroom with a group of people you don’t know; you’re probably going to end up playing with your phone instead of making conversation. It is so easy to become wrapped up in our cell phones because they have numerous abilities. It’s become a common thing to for people to do: the ‘pretend to do something on your phone’ because it’s easier to check social media sites than to strike a conversation with a stranger.
Effects of Heavy Cell Phone Usage
It seems that the presences of cell phones can actually be detrimental to our relationships. Our extreme usage of our cell phones can eventually begin to interfere with our personal lives. If we are always on our phones, we can’t possibly be interacting with those around us. In general, we have become slaves to our cell phones and social media. In fact, our heavy cell usage has actually caused a new ‘syndrome’ to appear. Phantom Vibration is a great example of how much our cell phone usage has affected us mentally and emotionally. It is a syndrome that has cropped up recently from the cell phone age. Phantom Vibration Syndrome can be read about here, but it basically tells us that we are addicted to our phones, and can even experience anxiety when separated from our phones for too long. Large amounts of cell phone usage can have numerous effects on not only our social lives, but also our health. Studies have been done to document the effects of heavy cell phone usage. Heavy cell phone usage has been linked to sleep disturbances, and even feelings of depression. It is so important to ‘unplug’ ourselves sometimes; not only to maintain our social relationships, but also to maintain our health.
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