The Use of Cellular Devices

Tyler Cartwright
The Use of Cellular Devices
11/20/12

The use of cellular devices is slowly but surely taking over the minds of our people; particularly in American youths. Every person, young and old can be seen on their cellphones throughout his or her day. Cell phones cause distraction in people’s workplace, classroom, and domestic environments. This is due to the increasing competitive market of cell phones. Companies today are creating cell phones that are more than just call to call capable. Cell phones are now more like a pocket sized computer, game console, and music device. Cell phones have internet capabilities that link you to the World Wide Web, and can also be used as cameras capable of capturing the world and allowing people to miss the actual society around them. With these new capabilities coms serious consequences, People use these phones at all times of the day even when it is dangerous. Cell phones are a safety hazard on the road as use of them while driving is killing thousands annually. Many consumers don’t understand that a cell phone could potentially be very harmful to their health with all the radiation being passed through phones. Face to face contact is seriously decreasing especially in young people because generation Y is so absorbed in new technology that is used in cellular devices.
Many parents are providing children with cell phones at a young age. As the cellphone creates safety as the parents can be connected to their child, this exposure to technology at a young age creates significant consequences. As the new wave of smart phones has hit the shelves many young children have in their pocket not only a cell phone but a text messaging device, a music (iPod) player, and a gaming console. With the amount of distraction that the different “apps” provide, the cell phone creates multiple distraction for children who are in a peak age of their social lives. Cell phones have too much to offer. The games that are released are designed to hook their player in, especially targeting youth. With capabilities to link the phone directly to the phone’s account, kids are downloading games without consent of the parents. The marketing schemes on cell phone games to children has changed the market and providing children with access of purchase has created a fast way for the company to collect. The students have been targeted by the market to use cell phones. They are the easiest target, because they are so vulnerable. The games on all of the cell phones and the enhanced features they include have sucked in their users.
A cell phone is the biggest distraction in an educational environment. Kids are playing the games, chatting with their friends, and even updating their Facebook on these cellular devices. For example, iPhone created an app entitled, Instagram. The app is targeted teens who like to share their lives through pictures. The app has millions of users that are always uploading pictures no matter where they are. This is another distraction, which reels in more users to continue their commitment to the cell phone company. By providing apps that interest young Americans, the company is able to create a strong fan base from a young age that should pass generationally to the children of these youths.
With the capabilities offered, students have been experiencing diffidulty within the classroom setting. The lack of attention in class affects the students grade. The moretime spent in class on various apps deviates attention away from lecture and undermines the purpose of attending class. It is assumed you should be actively engages in the class room instead of engaged in the virtual world. You also can be disciplined in some schools for using your phone during class. They may send you out of class, take your phone, or bring you to the dean. Your relationship with your teacher will also be affected. If you are constantly on your cell phone it is disrespectful to the teacher and undermines student’s understanding of authority. Parents truly need to be more cautious when and where kids have their phones.
With so much to offer, cell phones are also distraction out of the classroom. As the classroom provides social access to friends, when students leave school they are able to stay in touch via text messaging and phone calls. However, this access to so much via cell phones does not stop at the youth of America. Many adults have seen domestic disputes due to the increase of cell phone capabilities. As the many apps provide outlets for distraction, many get sucked in to their cell phones. Because a phone has so much to offer, it sometimes proves it self-difficult to put down. The market is targeted towards its consumers this way. A cell phone has thousands of “apps” which are made for anyone and everybody. Furthermore, if you don’t see what you are looking for, cellphones now have the capability to create your own app. There are apps for the business world, apps for little girls, apps for fitness, linking thousands of consumers towards using their cell phones more often. Like the cellular company Blackberry said, “There is an app for everything!” From gps, to calculators, cell phones now have word document and powerpoint capabilities that create ease for users but make them use it in all facets of their daily lives. Other than distracting one from the rest of the world, cell phones can also be very unsafe. Every single day people are dying due to cell phone usage. The biggest cause of this is texting while driving. Texting while driving has boomed over the years, and the effects of using cellular devices while driving are mind boggling. In 2011, texting and driving killed about four thousand people. Ninety percent of these fatalities happened to people between the ages of sixteen and twenty five. The main culprits of this offense is within America’s youth population. It is now illegal to talk on the phone and text while driving in some states due to the potential threats that come from it. As people become more comfortable texting, and auto correct on many new phones so keen, cell phone companies make it easier than ever to text and drive. It is scary to think that if the equation is broken down, the text is more important than your life. By this I mean you are completely risking your life to send one text message. Texting and driving distracts your attention away from the road and whether your fault or another crash may have been avoided if your attention wasn’t averted to the screen in front of you. This is a factor that takes lives on the daily basis.
With this boom in cell phone usage due to its endless capabilities, we must also realize the health consequences that come with it. Studies have been conducted that holding a cell phone to your ear can pass cancer into your body. It is said that there is radiation passed from the phone into your brain. With this boom in cell phone usage, will this directly correlate to the cancer findings? With many apps targeted to youth and teens will this have a direct impact to our youth based on their high cell phone usage? As the rate of cell phone usage has only been increasing as companies enhance their business, how long will it take for society to recognize the negative health risks?
In conclusion, I may have made cell phones out to be the demon of the earth but they are truly not. The phones are becoming so unique and technologically advanced that people cannot get away from them. It is possible to set down the phone more often than less we just have to train our bodies. Phones should not be a distraction nor a safety hazard. We can use and enjoy cell phones but at the same time, enjoy life without them.

References
Burell, L. (2012, February 29). Are cell phones really so bad for your health?. Natural health news. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.naturalnews.com/035096_cell_phones_radiation_health_effects.html
How Have Cellphones Influenced Driver Safety Statistics? . (n.d.). Cell Phone Safety. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.cellphonesafety.org/vehicular/era.htm
Moon, B. (1920, September 10). Cellphones In The Classroom: Bad Idea, Inevitable, Or Both? | GeekDad | Wired.com. wired.com . Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/09/cellphones-in-the-classroom-bad-idea-inevitable-or-both/

References: Burell, L. (2012, February 29). Are cell phones really so bad for your health?. Natural health news. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.naturalnews.com/035096_cell_phones_radiation_health_effects.html How Have Cellphones Influenced Driver Safety Statistics? . (n.d.). Cell Phone Safety. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.cellphonesafety.org/vehicular/era.htm Moon, B. (1920, September 10). Cellphones In The Classroom: Bad Idea, Inevitable, Or Both? | GeekDad | Wired.com. wired.com . Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/09/cellphones-in-the-classroom-bad-idea-inevitable-or-both/