Phone Addicted

Humberto Colon
Professor Lee
Freshmen Composition II
07 July 2013
Phone Addicted? In today’s modern society it seems that people are becoming more phone dependent each year. According to Global Mobile statistics 694.8 million smart phone shipments were recorded worldwide and is expected in 2016 to increase by 17.9% making it 1,342.5 million shipments. Despite the huge amounts of orders for smart phones, it is still almost impossible to calculate the number of people who are addicted to cell phones. Some people might simply lie to themselves about being cell-phone addicted while others might not even realize they are addicted. In a cell phone survey I conducted with a young girl, I asked what percentage of usage is made up of Instant Messaging. She answered zero percent while, ironically, she interrupted the interview in order to send an email to her professor using her cell phone.
Clearly as time progresses technology improves. NASA stated in an article “one’s cell phone has more computing power than the computers used during the Apollo era.” Every day the global market becomes more technology dependent each year. Making humans more technology dependent causes us to look at smart phones differently. Being cell-phone dependent could cause a significant drop in a student’s grades. A study reported by The Chicago Tribune indicated that texting in class can be bad for your grades and ultimately may hurt one’s GPA, thus giving rise to a new form of addiction I term as “cell phone addiction.”
According to dictionary.com, the definition of addiction is, “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.” Based on this definition, I can definitively state that I do not suffer from cell phone addiction. I am not enslaved to my phone nor am I psychologically or physically connected to it in any form, shape, or manner.
I use my phone very reasonably and appropriately as described by Roxanne jones on a CNN report. People have to learn to use their phones for simple situations and save texting for simple stuff. I currently have the newest smart phone on the market known as the BlackBerry Z10.My phone is registered with the AT&T network, and I have unlimited everything with 4G LTE internet service, known to have the best internet coverage on the market today. If I wanted, I could trade stocks on the New York Stock Exchange with no internet lag though I have every reason to be suspected of cell phone addiction. Though in reality I use my phone reasonably and responsibly; reasonably in the sense that I never text a conversation to a friend. It is obviously much easier and less time consuming to call and tell him or her a simple few words. On the other hand, if he or she cannot answer for whatever reason then that is when text messaging comes in handy. However, the text might end up being a subject heading of what is on my mind. If the subject is bad news then I would simply text “call me back,” “call me when you read this,” or “call me a.s.a.p.” Basically I would not send a text message that could provoke the other individual into rushing and potentially causing an accident while driving or cutting a class short to read a possibly non-crucial text. This is why I do not use my phone for texting conversations which also leads me to point out why I use my phone responsibly.
I for one use my phone responsibly because when not used right others might suffer from it. We have all heard the term “drink responsibly” and we all know that drinking and driving definitely do not mix. Every day I often notice bumper stickers that say “Texting can wait. Don’t text and drive.” One can certainly understand why so much emphasis is being directed on this certain issue. On a report in the San Antonio Express, a man called in the piece “Modesette” who was texting while driving ran over a San Antonio police officer of six years. Modesette was sentenced to prison while the officer went through ten surgeries and fourteen months of recovery and has still not returned to work. This story serves as a reminder of the potential dangers of texting while driving. This is why I get myself into the habit of using my phone responsibly. Although I have texted while being at a red light, I never text while accelerating. Overall, this clearly sets the bench mark as to why driving and texting do not mix and is a good example of what can happen when one overuses his or her cell phone.
In conclusion, we all need to do what Janell Burley Hofmann, a concerned parent, did with her teenage son Gregory. We need to set limits on ourselves, or if you cannot at least let somebody else put limits on us. Especially with this new age of technology flowing towards this decade, it is important to begin adapting to the technology. Remember, computers are here to serve us, not for us to serve them. Technology is supposed to integrate and be compatible with our needs, not us adapting and evolving around it. For those who are under age, parents should put some control over their children’s cell phone use. As Janell stated to Gregory, “Learn to live without [your cell phone]. Be bigger and more powerful than FOMO- fear of missing out.” It could not have been said any better; for those who are adults and independent, they should simply set their own limits and know when to say enough is enough. With all these reasons I know once again without a doubt that I am nowhere near being addicted to my phone. I do not put other people’s lives in danger or the lives of my passengers’ while driving, nor will I ever begin a relationship with another person through technology or send terrible news via text. There truly is an appropriate time and place for things, and we need to be able to distinguish between life and technology.

Works Cited
Alvarado, Cindy. “Cell phone use survey.” Survey. 15 July 2013
“Do-it-Yourself Podcast: Rocket Evolution.” NASA, 13 July 2009. Web. 16 July 2013
“Global mobile statistics 2013 part A: Mobile subscribers; handset market share; mobile operations” mobiThinking. dotMobi, May 2013. Web. 16 July 2013.
Jones, Roxanne.-“real men talk, they don’t text.” CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, 3 July 2013. Web. 16 July 2013.
Moravec, Eva Ruth. “Texas House will eye drivers’ texting.” San Antonio Express-News. Heart Corporation, 13 April 2013. Web. 16 July 2013.
Schoenberg, Nara. “Is your smartphone hurting your GPA?” Chicago Tribune. Tribune Newspapers, Web. 6 March. 2013.

Cited: Alvarado, Cindy. “Cell phone use survey.” Survey. 15 July 2013 “Do-it-Yourself Podcast: Rocket Evolution.” NASA, 13 July 2009. Web. 16 July 2013 “Global mobile statistics 2013 part A: Mobile subscribers; handset market share; mobile operations” mobiThinking. dotMobi, May 2013. Web. 16 July 2013. Jones, Roxanne.-“real men talk, they don’t text.” CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, 3 July 2013. Web. 16 July 2013. Moravec, Eva Ruth. “Texas House will eye drivers’ texting.” San Antonio Express-News. Heart Corporation, 13 April 2013. Web. 16 July 2013. Schoenberg, Nara. “Is your smartphone hurting your GPA?” Chicago Tribune. Tribune Newspapers, Web. 6 March. 2013.