Role of Cell Phones in our Life

Cell phones have started to effect teen's day to day life, and are causing unhealthy habits and lifestyles. Teens in this day and age, are so addicted to their smart phones. Smart phones have started to become a distraction for everyday tasks, like driving, studying, class time, and in the work place. As technology improves and advances, society is only becoming more and more dependent on it. According to the article Statista, there are estimated 224.3 million smart phone users in the United States (Numbers). With such a high number of smart phone users, its only time until teens become addicted to this new way of communication and modern day technology. So why are teens these days so glued to their phone anyway?

Well, as technology has advanced, so has ways of communication. There is a couple reasons that keep teens tied to their smart phone, one being that our brain actually releases a chemical hormone called Dopamine, this neurotransmitter is released when you feel a sense of happiness or pleasure, like getting a notification on your phone from someone you are excited to talk to. When this happens, it causes us to desire the feeling even more, therefore, constantly checking our phones. Communication via text or social networking is the fastest way to socialize in the 21st century. Social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram are the most common form of communication between teens, except the occasional phone call or text, of course. An outstanding 75% teens between the ages 15-17, use Snapchat in the United States alone (Percentage). That's a rough estimate of over 243 million teenagers. Teens receive the feeling of acceptance by way of likes, comments, messages. Leading them to check the cell phone again and again to gain a sense of belonging, recognition, or satisfaction.

Now, although this new way of communication can seem almost harmless, or almost more convenient, it can also be very destructive to your well-being. Having a poppin' Instagram feed is all some teenage girls seem to care about. Some people can even make a living off their Instagram page. Some girls are often referred to as Instagram models and can be paid for brand deals to promote some bogus hair and nail vitamin, or some social media famous people, known for their YouTube videos, are also referred to as Social Media Influencers. They can also be paid large quantities of money for just mentioning their brand or product in a video. Canady goes into her article about how Researchers of a new study examining the association between screen based activities and depressive symptoms have found that greater amounts of screen time activity were associated with more insomnia symptoms and shorter sleep duration (increased).

With social media, playing more into effect into society more than ever before, teens have suffered not only from sleep deprivation, but increased stress, depression, and anxiety. It is pretty fair to assume this is an accurate claim, because now teens have the added stress of constantly looking like they are living this great, awesome life on the internet, while also juggling all their regular responsibilities. With social media, it is easy to feel like you need to live your life to an extravagant standard. Which can lead to depression and a feeling of unsatisfactory or disappointment. Another issue that arises from the overuse of smartphones is sleep deprivation and the potential risk of their mental health. It has been proven that cellphone usage leads to poor quality of sleep. With a study conducted among 90 students, it was shown that Many teens are using technology within the hour before trying to fall asleep or using cell phones in bed, which interferes with the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night. Functionally, cellular phone use shortly before bed has been linked to a number of negative outcomes too such daytime fatigue, restlessness, and lethargy which also directly affect the academics and mental health of the students (Preety).

Preety suggests that sleep deprivation generates fatigue and mentally troubled minds amongst teenagers. To achieve better sleep and will power, not using your phone before bed is the best way to prevent bad quality sleep. As much as our elders make it out to seem, there is actually a lot of good things that have come from smart phones. You can do almost anything on your phone, check emails, check grades, order food, order a taxi, buy clothes, or FaceTime someone on the other side of the world. They are also very good when in a serious situation and are in danger. A cell phone can also be a touchstone in times of crisis. If a questionable situation arises at a child's school, parents are able to reach their children via the cell phone. Or, if children feel they are in a dangerous situation, the cell phone can be a lifeline, too(Niche). David Dobrik is an excellent example of a social media influencer. He started social media in high school, and eventually his YouTube page blew up, didn't go to college, now makes YouTube videos for a living and has a net worth of 4 million dollars.

All in all, social media is a great way to stay up to date with current events and trends, and communicate with almost anyone. Although phones are great and super convenient, a phone detox isn't a bad idea, disconnecting from technology takes away any added stress of keeping up to date 24/7, and will allow you to enjoy day to day activities a little more. Exercise has been scientifically proven to decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety, It also helps to ease stress. Constantly being on your phone can hinder your actual mental health, and removing it from your life can help you to feel emotions on a more sentimental level, The effects were radicalising. The first, most immediate change was an acute widening of my emotional register. I felt emotions in a deeper, more wholesome sense than I had in years. Both ups and downs, there were happinesses and sadnesses that felt overwhelming, and substantively human (Goulding). We can conclude that although smartphones are very convenient, they can be easily used to often and become an underlying common denominator for a lot of problems we didn't even know we had.

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