The Danger of the Cell Phone Addiction in the Modern World

Addiction is a powerful word. Thinking about the topic of addiction, some people may envision alcohol, drugs, or smoking. However, there is an addiction held amongst the hands and pockets of people today and they may not even realize it at this very moment. A device that holds all the important parts of our lives, a cell phone. The development of mobile phones has brought upon advances in communication, but simultaneously has caused many negative effects as well. Becoming increasingly more advanced since its invention, people have become dangerously dependent on it. The addiction of cell phones has negatively influenced the social and health of society and its people. Since the uprising of the cell phone, interaction and communication between others has changed, affecting the social life of many people. According to recent research, the addiction to cell phones is still increasing to this day. In the works from The European Journal of Scientific Research, the authors discuss and provide data on the negative impacts of cell phones on society.

For example, The Ministry of Public Administration and Security of Korea reported that around 8.4% of cell phone users in Korea are addicted to cell phones and around 10.1% overuse social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (The European Journal). The addiction to cell phones can be described as a habit for people who want to be in constant communication even though there is no need for communication. Further evidence of this can be shown through Pew’s Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, stating that 47% of people say that cell phones have made it difficult for them to give their undivided attention to others when interacting and communicating during social conversations. Due to the overuse of cell phones, social interaction can be decreased because people prefer talking virtually through their phones through applications such as calling, texting, or email (Pew Research Center). A 23 year old man from Tunisia said that, “People meet less because of their phones; people use telephones to express themselves to avoid face-to-face discussions”. The Pew Research Center also conducted another survey in Middle Eastern and North African countries about cell phones and its negative social effects on children. In the survey, 90% of Jordanians, 86% of Lebanese and 81% of Tunisians say mobile phones have had an unhealthy influence on children in their country. For instance, a 46 year old mother from Mexico has reported that, “My kid’s always on his phone, and every time I address him he just nods while on his phone”.

Cell phones have also made it easier for people of all ages, including children, to be exposed to harmful content on the internet (Pew Research Center). More than 50% of people from countries such as Vietnam, India, and Mexico have reported this concern surrounding their own children. Cell phones open up to other social issues such as cyberbullying on the internet. Additionally, men and women have reported to experience harassment and bullying on various social media sites while using their mobile phones (Pew Research Center). For example, a 2017 Pew Research Center survey found that 70% of women in the United States said online harassment was a “major problem,” compared with 54% of men. As you can see there is a noticeable contrast of effects between the two genders. Social and learning environments for students are also impacted by the use of cell phones. Todd Starkweather, a general studies program director at South University, Richmond, notice the tendencies of cell phone addiction in many of his own students. “I see it frequently in my classes,” he says. “I make certain that students using their phones don’t disturb the learning of others, but do not make an active effort to police an individual who may not be paying attention.” Starkweather concludes that it’s up to the student whether or not they choose to listen and learn during class or to be distracted on their phone.

Authors, Muhammad Sarwar and Tariq Rahim Soomro from The European Journal of Scientific Research, argues that cell phones encourage the act of cheating in many schools. Sarwar and Tariq discuss the misuse of cell phones to cheat is made possible through the use of text messages, the Internet, the calculator and phone applications (Sarwar, 2013). Along with social issues, cell phones contribute to certain harmful effects on a person’s health. According to researchers from the National Cancer Institute, there is a direct correlation between cancer and the overuse of cell phones. Researchers have discovered that people who talk on the phone for several hours a day are 50% more likely to develop brain cancer (National Cancer Institute). This comes from the radio waves produced by mobile phones. Every minute that a person uses their phone, the human brain receives about 220 electromagnetic impulses, which contributes to the cause of brain cancer. Recent studies report the risk of two types of brain cancer, glioma and acoustic neuroma.The mental health processes of awareness and perception of others is also affected by the use of cell phones. Dr. Asoke Nath and Sneha Mukherjee from the Department of Computer Science at St. Xavier’s College report their findings of the negative impacts of cell phones on a human’s health. Dr. Nath and Mukherjee have discovered that the daily use of cell phones contribute to the under development of the human brain (Nath, 2015).

Since cell phones encourage us to carry out multiple tasks at once, it is not physiologically healthy for us because this can increase stress, harm cognitive thinking, and decrease the attention span in the human brain. These psychological effects cause people to become less responsive to their surroundings, which can put long term harmful impacts on our actions and mental thinking. Constantly scrolling and reading texts through the cell phone screen can lead to physical health effects such as blurred vision, eyestrain, and sore neck muscles. The combination of these conditions can lead to other syndromes like “Nomophobia”, ”Phantom vibrations”, “iPosture”, ”Text neck”, and ”Cell Phone Elbow”. Although the creation of cell phones has advanced communication and technology in the world today, the device has also brought along its disadvantages that simply cannot be ignored. The conflicts of cell phones on society is proven through the research and evidence provided by many organizations, researchers, and scientists. These groups of people have discovered the social and health issues that comes with the daily use of cell phones, including lack of social interaction, lack of moral conduct in the classrooms, under development of the brain, increased risk of brain cancer, physical changes in the body, and bullying.