Introduction
Cell phones have proven to be a very important tool for communication, and all age groups use them, especially the young generation. They have become the need of the hour, and people feel incomplete without them. The impact of cell phones is visible in businesses, education, marketing, and health. According to Rather and Rather (2019), finding information resources has brought a lot of ease and has closed the communication gap through social networking sites. Despite its many positive impacts, it has a negative side. Research shows that it may cause some serious health problems. Furthermore, it has reduced our connectedness to people because people are often glued to their screens. This paper seeks to discuss our complicated relationship with smartphones.
Most young people admit that they text while driving and continue to say they cannot stop. They believe they have to keep up with what is being posted or what is going on on social media. Some even say they have to know who is calling or texting, even if the caller ID says unknown. Several also admit they get into accidents while walking because they are tethered to their phones. According to Turkle (2013), these are the ways in which they express the need to connect with others. Today’s young people take it as power since they risk their lives checking messages. However, they also view smartphones as being taken for granted, enjoyed, and sometimes endured and endured in the sense that it takes energy to keep up with all the performances and trends.
She also argues that the smartphone has made it nearly impossible for young people to discover themselves. Like the previous generation, they need to discover themselves, think about their values and have time to think. The text-driven world of rapid responses does little to cultivate self-reflection Turkle (2013). Furthermore, they need to learn how to mark out what is theirs alone. They share anything and everything. You often see people sharing and comparing photos and messages only to wonder if the people who sent these are aware of what is happening. This reinvents what privacy meant traditionally because it required intimacy.
Traditionally, adolescents were pressured to develop their independence. They had to make their own moral decisions rather than following what others believed. According to Fleming (2005), autonomy is a crucial developmental task for an adolescent to form individuation and identity. This is when the youth separate from their parents and start to think independently. According to Turkle (2013), in a traditional sense, smartphone technology has reduced adolescent autonomy. By having everyone important on speed dial, today’s adolescents tag along with their parents in their intermediate space, and they get to help in making decisions. Unlike youth in the past, who had to make the decisions themselves, they do not have the pressure to make decisions.
Adolescents need to separate from their parents, but they want their children to answer their calls. Most parents give their children cell phones with the condition that they don’t miss any of their calls. The youth even argue when one has the right to be alone if they are always able to stay in touch. They continue to say that it should be their decision whether or not to answer the phone. The autonomy is not just about separation from parents but also from their peers. It can be hard to escape group demands even though online life provides plenty of time for individual life.
Specific anxieties about loss and separation can be managed by digital connectivity, especially texting. A lot of young people are not able to feel their feelings until they continually text. The validation of a feeling becomes part of establishing it, a sensibility encouraged by technology. Additionally, youth also count on their friends to finish their thoughts. Some become restless until they get feedback from their friend, and if one does not get it, they proceed to seek the opinion of another. According to Turkle (2013), young people living away from their parents often text and call them to cope with the loneliness.
The present generation has grown with the web available in their lives at hand at all times. From the nature of their social interactions to their mental health, smartphone use has greatly changed teenagers’ lives. The changes have affected teenagers all around. According to Twenge (2017), teens live on their smartphones wherever there are cell towers. The rates of teen suicide and depression have skyrocketed over the years. It is safe to say that in decades, the iGen is on the brink of the worst mental health crisis Twenge (2017). This deterioration can be accredited to their phones. She argues that the devices placed in their hands profoundly affect teenagers’ lives, making them seriously unhappy.
Despite today’s generation spending much time under the same roof, parents can hardly say they know their children. They are not closer to their families than the generations before. According to Twenge (2017), teenagers do not pay attention to their families, and others are even experts at tuning out their parents so that they can concentrate on their phones. The physical interactions with one another have decreased over the years. Teenagers spend most of their time with friends, but it is over text or Snapchat Twenge (2017). Some even admit they have been with people way less than they have been on their phones. Fewer kids spend time with each other, even if they hang out, which is something most young people used to do. You would expect them to spend time at places like the basketball court, the roller kink or the town pool. However, virtual spaces accessed through apps have replaced these places.
Research has proven that teenagers who take time to participate in non-screen activities are likelier to be happy. This is not the case for those who spend their leisure time tethered to their screens. They are more likely to be unhappy. Unhappiness is linked to all screen activities. According to Twenge (2017), teenagers who are likely to say they are unhappy spend more than 10 hours a week on their phones compared to those who devote less time. However, there are those who are less likely to say they are unhappy because they spend above-average amounts of time with their friends. A portrait of a lonely, dislocated generation emerged from today’s teenagers’ data. Teenagers who see their friends in person less frequently but visit social media often are likelier to admit they are lonely or wish they had better friends.
Social media has its bad effects but also has its many benefits. It would be wrong to rule out cell phones as bad or destructive. It has brought about an array of options for communication with each other. This provides an easy way to stay in touch and be productive with people, especially those far away. The phone helps teenagers to make and maintain relationships that are beneficial even in the future. That is why people need their phones with them all the time.
Information that would otherwise be unavailable can now be easily accessed on a smartphone, enhancing well-being. The phone can do just about anything from GPS to accessing the internet just at the tap of a fingertip. It also provides information about what is happening in the present-day world. That is why everyone wants to own one, so they know what is happening around them. It also benefits students because they easily access online learning platforms, educational apps and even videos that are quite educative Singh and Samah (2018). If used appropriately, these tools that smartphones grant teens access to are great for improving their learning.
Conclusion
In conclusion, smartphones have positively and negatively impacted today’s generation. It facilitates the world of information just at the tap of a button. They are also great and convenient navigational tools. It also increases people’s connectivity and productivity, making communication easier and faster. They have also made access to crucial learning tools for students very easy. However, smartphones have cons, like delaying and reducing adolescent autonomy. It also makes teenagers more unhappy and disconnected from society. Our relationship with the smartphone can be beneficial despite its effects.
References
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https://www.postgrowth.ca/uploads/8/4/9/4/84946882/have_smartphones_destroyed_a_generation.pdf
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