Convenient but troublesome
Written by: | 10 Nov 2008
With the times being what they are, almost everyone, from the young and impressionable elementary school student to the grandmother in the kitchen, has a cell phone.
According to usatoday.com, “Forty-five percent of Americans ages 12-19 have a cell phone… 37 percent of teen cell users also use text messaging.” That was over five years ago in 2003 and the numbers have surely risen since then.
Our lives are becoming increasingly busy, so in order to maximize productivity, people are turning more and more to ways they can work on the run. Cell phones have become an all but essential part of who we are as a species.
Cell phones connect businessmen to clients and employees to their superiors across the globe. They give celebrities instant access to their managers and single parents to their children. Cell phones even allow people to vote for the next American Idol.
Cell phones and text messaging appear to be the epitome of convenience and style in today’s fast paced youth culture. But are they really helping us?
Are they helping?
According to Denise Woolsey, a communications instructor at Yavapai College, the answer is “no.” “It provides for a greater distraction,” says Woolsey. “It increases the chance for communication breakdown…you can see the deterioration within a family.”
According to Woolsey not everything is expressed or can be expressed with the spoken word, or written, typed or texted words, for that matter. Body language, gesture and facial expressions convey much of the meaning in human communication.
“Most of the message is non-verbal, so you have miscommunication problems when texting or e-mailing.”
“Most of the message is non-verbal, so you have miscommunication problems when texting or e-mailing,” she says. “How many times have you read an e-mail and thought, ‘are they mad at me?’” says Woolsey.
According to car-accidents.com, over $230 billion dollars a year is spent on vehicle damage and cell phones are quickly becoming one of the leading causes in automobile accidents.
Automobile accidents
Cell phones cause over 200 automobile deaths per year with a half million more in injuries. Drivers using cell phones are four times more likely to be engaged in a mishap, according to car-accidents.com.
Aside from accidents, prolonged texting may have other damaging side effects. Studies have shown that excessive texting may lead to acute tendonitis and even mood swings, according to reflector-online.com.
What about cell phone usage in a classroom setting? “I think it takes away the whole goal for being in class,” says Woolsey. “It’s another outside distraction and makes it difficult to multitask.”
According to Woolsey cell phone usage in class is a constant problem. “It’s ongoing in every class…[it's] really gotten bad in the last two to three years… it inhibits the ability to listen.”
Woolsey sees cheating as another problem exacerbated by texting. “Cheating happens,” she says. “I had a couple students that were texting answers back and forth.”
In regard to wider problems Woolsey says, “Interpersonal communication suffers…to facilitate communication you have to have face-to-face interaction.”
Other side effects of excessive cell phone usage may include bullying. According to txt2nite.com, due to the non-intimate form of communication texting provides, people become emboldened and threats escalate.
Weapon of choice
“Mobile phones have become the new weapon of choice for bullies. With three-quarters of children now owning a mobile phone, the anonymity, sluggishness of telecommunications service providers and the weakness of law provide bullies with the perfect means of taunting their target with little fear of being caught,” says bullyonline.org.
According to bbc.co.uk, a survey of 770 people found that “Fourteen percent of 11 to 19-year-olds had been threatened or harassed using text messages.”
Furthermore, “Twenty-six percent of digital bullying victims did not know the identity of their tormentor.” Due to mobile pay-as-you-go phones, which rarely require a form of identification to purchase, these threats are virtually untraceable.
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