Dalluge 1

Hayden Dalluge
Professor D. Watkins
Comp 1 MWF 9:30
7th Nov. 2018
Effects of smart devices

Smartphone addiction is an epidemic across the world, affecting how we think, act or

function on a daily basis. These days everywhere I go I see people whose lives revolve around

their smartphone. Even at the dinner table in my own home I catch us sometimes not even paying

any attention to each other the whole time just glued to our phones. Smartphones run our lives

and change the way that we think about our everyday occurrences.

Smartphones affect how we think or act very heavily in our everyday lives. Many people

these days rely on their smartphone for their work, and they use them to make a living while

others just have them for a form of entertainment you could say. Even at times I catch myself

throughout the day checking my phone and also getting “phantom vibrations” which is a

common occurrence among people today. We are so addicted to our phones that we can’t

function without them. When we don’t have our devices we go into a state of panic, not being

able to scroll through the media feed or play that game causes those of us who are addicted to not

be able to function properly. Which is major problem because we have become so addicted that

we even get on our devices while driving down the road. Which we all know does not end well

in some cases. Why should someone have to go through a tragic loss just because someone

decided to send a text on their phone while driving. We always have to have the most new and

biggest phone out there it seems like. Every time a new phone is released someone has to get rid
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of their old one even if there is nothing wrong with it. Its almost as if we try to one up each other

and its getting out of hand even to the point of breaking an older phone just to get a new one.

Tablets are no better than smartphones affecting our lives as well as our children’s.

Instead of entertaining the kids ourselves we just give them a device. That one simple action in

my opinion can ruin a kid, it makes them angry when you take it away so in other words you are

basically spoiling them in a way. This causes more problems later in life. Children think that it’s

just okay to play on their devices constantly and they become unsociable throughout life. In an

article that is posted on the Huffington Post it says. “Real connections and real conversations

require real “presence.” This doesn’t mean physical proximity - although that’s often ideal. One

of the benefits of technology is it lets us connect with people near and far. “Real presence”

happens in conversations when we are fully engaged.” ( Alison A. Quirk , Contributor) In

another article that was produced from the Huffington Post Amy Hasinoff says that, “each new

communication technology is met with a lot of panic and concern.” (Kevin Healy, Contributor,

Huffington Post). When I was fifteen years old I got my first smartphone before that all I had

ever used was a flip phone. And I can honestly say that now I couldn’t do without a smartphone

because I have become addicted myself. But these days I see kids that are ten years old with a

smartphone and I wonder how I would be today if I would’ve had one when I was that age. But

at this rate tablets still aren’t any better because you can do pretty much all the same actions or

programs on them except making phone calls or sending a text message. Personally I don’t think

that people should let their kids have very much screen time at all if any at all because I think

that it affects the child very harshly.

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Smartphones affect our younger generation in a bad way. In a CNN article its says that.

Millennials are the worst offenders. Fifty-nine percent of people between the ages of 18 and 33

reported texting while driving, compared with 50% of Gen Xers (age 34 to 45) and only 29% of

baby boomers(Sandee LaMotte, CNN). In my opinion devices affect us very hard judging from

the data that I just listed. A 2013 study found a tenfold increase in injuries related to pedestrians

using cell phones from 2005 to 2010.The younger generation has no self-control over when they

want to be on their phone and in turn they cause accidents that hurt other people, including

themselves of course. A few ways that the article on CNN describes to wean yourself from your

devices is by first, turning off your phone at certain times of the day, remove social media apps,

from your phone, and only check-in from your laptop. Try to wean yourself to fifteen minute

intervals at set times of the day when it won't affect work or family life. Don't bring your cell

phone to bed; instead use an old fashioned alarm to wake you. And lastly, try to replace your

smart device time with healthier activities such as interacting with real people or engaging in

activities that involve being outside or exercising.

Our Smart devices control our lives we cannot leave the house or go anywhere without

them. Have you ever noticed that every time there is a new device out we have to get it just for

the feeling that we are “better equipped than the next person” Even at times regardless of where

we go we have to have a charger with us so that we can stay connected with our devices. To me

at times we have a little bit of what I call F.O.M.O. which is Fear Of Missing Out. F.O.M.O.

,which was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013, refers to the feeling of "anxiety that

an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere."( Rebecca Strong,

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Contributor, Huffington Post.) Our devices control our lives by allowing us to access our social

networks, work and even our school work. By being able to do such things we let these devices

run our lives and we have to have them to “survive” daily life.

Smartphones and tablets have their good sides but overall they are affecting our lives and

how we think, act, and feel towards each other. The younger generation is becoming unsociable.

Together but not together is what we are, even when we are as close to each other as we can be.

Smart devices play a huge role in brain development and they affect how we function greatly. If

we can slowly wean ourselves from them we could and will become better people, instead of

being so immersed in technology.

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Works Cited

Healey, Kevin. “Is Your Child a Smartphone Basket Case? Probably Not.” The
Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/is-your-
child-a-smartphon_b_10279886.

LaMotte, Sandee. “Smartphone Addiction Could Be Changing Your Brain.” CNN, Cable
News Network, 1 Dec. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/11/30/health/smartphone-addiction-
study/index.html.

Quirk, Alison A. “The Plugged-in Paradox: Why Always Being Connected Makes It
Harder to Connect.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Oct. 2016,
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-pluggedin-paradox-why_b_8363356.

Strong, Rebecca. “Social Media, FOMO and the Perfect Storm for the Quarter-Life
Crisis.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 10 May 2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/social-media-fomo-and-
the_b_9880170.