It’s the first thing you wake up to and the last thing you see before sleeping. You go into panic mode when you lose it and feel safe when it’s in your back pocket.
Cell phones have become a part of most of the world’s everyday necessity in the past 15 years. Technology has boomed into such a norm that even children as young as eight have a cell phone in their possession. But, is this mobile device sensation addicting?
Walking around Oswego’s campus, there is not a person walking by without their cell phone in their hand or pocket no matter where they are. While eating in the dining halls, groups at each table rarely talk to one another because they are texting away.
According to trendwatching.com, a survey done on U.S. adult phone owners found that 68% of respondents don’t go an hour without checking their phone.
“I check my phone probably 100 times a day,” Christina Mead said. She explains that thanks to technology people can now access things easier and faster than ever before just from a hand-sized square, but it’s also a disadvantage because everyone is dependent on them. “People can’t talk to each other face to face. There is no more human interaction anymore.”
Kaylin Lowther understands that when people need their phone to make a call or organize an event, that makes sense, but hanging out with others with their phones out is just annoying. She says as the younger they are, they will be more reliant on their phones.
“My dance teacher just bought both [of] her daughters’ iPhone’s and they’re in third grade.”
Cell phones are interrupting our social skills. People are ignoring others and now even instead of calling, we text. Our human interaction is decreasing by the minute. Being constantly on your phone and checking each second is not healthy, especially in a world where interaction is an important part of life.
Cell phones have become such an integral part of life that when people don’t have it, they have a piece of them missing. Experts say constant use of mobile devices hasn’t been diagnosed as an addiction–yet. But some contend that it’s fast on its way to being classified as a disease similar to drug addiction, alcoholism or gambling.