Cell phones, also known as mobile phones, may seem appealing and useful at first, but with time, can become addicting. We humans use our phones for about everything! Texting, emailing, calling, surfing the internet, posting things on social media platforms… 95% of teens (ages 13-17) in the US have a cell phone, or have access to one. The average screen time for these teens is 8 hours and 39 minutes. Eight hours staring at a phone screen is a long, long time. This number rose by 29.75% since 2015. Because of the high percentage of teens having a phone and the 8 hours of screen time, many people these days are becoming addicted to their phones. Remember, though our phones may have many fun and exciting features, we mustn’t let the screen take control over our brain.
Flashy colors, moving characters, exciting noises ---- all part of the assortment of games that are available in the App store on the phone makes it addicting to many people. Many people download games on their phone to play when they’re “bored”. Playing these games for a short amount of time each day or once in a while isn’t a bad thing, but playing it for a long period of time every day can become addicting. 48% of teens who have phones use it to play games. The average time teens spend online playing games is 1 hour 46 minutes ---- nearly 2 hours. Excessive gaming not only can addict one to their phone, it can also create health problems. Excessive gaming can lead to the brain being revved up in a constant state of hyperarousal. Gaming can be fun if you learn to have self control. Often when you game, you can lose control of time. Learning to know when to stop is important when playing mobile games. Gaming for too long on the phone can lead to both cell phone addiction and gaming addiction.
Social media can be useful and can benefit some people, but at the same time, have a social cost too. Phones come with many texting/social media apps such as iMessages, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and more. Texting can sometimes be quick: “Ok” or “Cya”, however, texting can also go on and on. According to research, teens receive on average 100+ texts per day and send over 100 text messages. As people become more and more glued to their phones, it becomes harder and harder for them to connect with people in person. We rely more and more on online chatting platforms to maintain and nurture social relationships. According to the article, "'Women use their phones more for maintaining and nurturing social relationships,'" (12). Though this statement is specifically for women, it is similar with men also, as according to the research, apps such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram also correlated with risk of addiction. Social media, though it can be useful at times, can lead to cell phone addiction for people of all ages.
The unlimited content available on a cell phone is one of the many causes of cell phone addiction. Have you ever clicked on the search bar and a suggestion called a “trending search” comes up? These are typically the type of searches that could go on forever and get one “addicted” to their phones. Let’s say if I search sunscreen up on Google. First, there will be many different websites selling sunscreen or talking about sunscreen. Say I were to click Amazon. I would see many different types of sunscreen. If I click a certain sunscreen, say the innisfree SPF 30 sunscreen, there would be many more links and recommendations to other types of sunscreen and/or skincare recommendations. Clicking one link can lead you to clicking many more links which can, once again, lead to cell phone addiction. When we are surfing the internet, we must learn to know our purpose and control ourselves and manage our time. We must not let the internet take control over us. Cell phones offer millions of different websites with different contents that can lead to cell phone addiction.
Cell phone addiction may not be as serious as drug addiction, but can still impact people in many ways. For one, staring at a screen for a long time isn’t healthy for your eyes and can lead to poor vision. Using the cell phone for gaming for too long not only damages eyesight, but can affect one’s motor skills and brain. People can be addicted to cell phones in other ways too, such as social media and surfing the internet. One way or another, cell phones can be addictive and can lead one into being a cell phone addict. All in all, overusing our cell phones can ultimately lead to cell phone addiction.
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