Cell Phones Being Bad

Cell Phones Being Bad
As time passed and society grew larger and larger, so did the way we communicate to each other. We went from face to face interaction, to handwritten letters, to typed letters, to phone calls, to email. Now in the twenty-first century most of society has cell phones. With cell phones they have two different functions. One is to call and actually talk and the other one is to type what you want to say and send it to another person who also has a cell phone and receive it as a text. As the years pass younger and younger children start to get there first cell phone. When someone gets a cell phone at any age may be susceptible to cancer, when it comes time to start driving become a hazard, and have a lack of social skills.
As someone grows up they are constantly around radiation. Natural radiation from the sun and unnatural radiation from practically anything human made. When you add having a cell phone, they are just putting radiation close to the body. Cell phones emit radio waves, a form of non-ionizing radiation. Tissue nearest to the cell phone can absorb the energy given off by it (Larjavaara). So when holding a call with a cell phone it is basically holding radiation next to the brain. Therefore, the brain is absorbing direct contact with radiation. The other place that gets the full blast of this would be either side of your thigh, depending on which pocket the phone is held in. Although we do not know whether cancer can be directly related to cell phone use yet, scientists are still doing studies to make sure whether it is or is not. One of the studies known as “COSMOS,” which has participants record their lifestyle before and after cell phone use for 20 years (National).
Now that cell phones have gotten to be a common item to have with you when you are driving, people are becoming more careless. When driving any vehicle, that should have your undivided attention so a mishap does not happen. In the couple years since cell phones have become popular there have been more people using them while driving. This in itself is a hazard just as bad as drunk driving because it is splitting your attention in two. From the National Safety Council Report it states, “that in simulated driving tests, those subjects that were asked to carry on a cell phone conversation were so distracted that they went unaware of some traffic signals (Cellphone)”. There are two different ways to use the phone when driving. One way is a hands on way, which consists of dialing, answering, text messaging, etc (Cellphone). The other way is by hands free use of your phone. Although there is no involvement with the phone directly, it still preoccupies the thought process and distracts from driving. As it shows in the graph, the relation between the total deaths with cell phone users “wireless subscribers” are significantly high. Also, the graph shows the relation with the cell phone users and the amount of motor vehicle fatalities (Philip).
People use cell phones all the time. Since the cell phone was created, it has made it less of a hassle to get ahold of someone. “Never again will you miss that interview call back or message that your friend came through surgery safely. As long as it’s charged, your cellphone provides immediate communication with your world (Buczynski).” When Technology advanced and cell phones became more slim and capable of installing apps on it, it revolutionized how we used the phone.
App-stravaganza. Mobile apps started out as toys–ringtones, arcade games, calendars and calculators–but have since completely revolutionized cell phone technology. Apps turn our phones into pedometers, personal trainers, tuning forks, shopping guides, nutritionists, music libraries, stores, televisions and more (Buczynski).
However, Thanks to mobile phones, the landline phone has become obsolete. Since that has gone obsolete, it is nearly impossible to say they missed the call. Also since new phone are coming out each year or even every couple months that make about one hundred million cell phones obsolete as well (Buczynski). With the newer batteries that are made from lithium-ion the batteries are susceptible to exploding from overheating. More importantly now cell Phones have become a necessity instead of a luxury in a daily life. In an American teen the preferred social tool to communicate is to text. There was a poll done by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project that shows, “75 percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 now have cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004. And the number who say they text-message daily has shot up to 54 percent from 38 percent in just the past 18 months (Ludden)”. When using a cell phone as young as 12 and growing up only using this form the most the person grows up feeling uncomfortable using Face to face interaction. Without being able to confront another person they usually become an outcast in school. Some schools have made it a rule to have the S\students cell phone turned off or on silent so they do not use it during the school day, however, “fifty-eight percent of students with mobile phones say they've sent a text message during class (Ludden)”. It has been my experiences that some teachers do not care if the student has a cell phone out during class as long as the get their work done. Other students with phones use their phone not to text but to entertain themselves not because they are bored but because they have developed a social anxiety from not being able to talk face to face with another. “It can seem so unbearable that they might feel too nervous to give answers in class, be unable to make eye contact with classmates in the hallway, or avoid chatting with others at the lunch table (Lyness)”.
The way we communicate has sure come a long way. From direct contact, to hand written sentiment, to wireless communication through cell phones email etc. As the society moves forward to more advanced technology let’s make sure to not let things like cell phones control us and not let it diminish our self being. Always remember that these things are for to make life easier not to run our life for us.