Searcy, AR (LP) — In today’s generation, just about every person owns a smartphone. These smartphones can be helpful to us and anyone who owns a phone knows just how large of a key role it plays in their lives.
“I use my phone a lot. In fact, according to my screen time app, I use it exactly ten hours a day,” explains Tristan Seibert, a senior at Searcy High School.
The roles they play could go either in a positive or a negative direction. While smartphones can be crucial to our day to day lives, these devices can also be harmful.
On the positive side, our phones help us stay connected. Whether it is between family, friends, co-workers, or just about anyone important in your life, smartphones are a way you can stay in touch. There are an array of ways people can communicate. With just a few taps on your phone screen, you can send a text message, email, or make a phone call. A lot of this can happen through social media applications. It doesn’t matter how far away a person is from you. A smartphone can reach anybody just as long as the two of them have connection. It is a great way for families and friends to stay in touch if they live far apart from one another. These devices can also save lives. With just three quick taps, one can call 911 and help will be sent. Smartphones are a quick and easy way to communicate.
There is not much you can’t do with a smartphone. Any smartphone user can take photos, watch high definition videos, or play music. A lot of these things happen because of applications that are available for downloading on a smartphone. Applications are commonly seen on any smartphone user’s phone. It is very simple for anyone to tap on the App store icon and browse for any type of application they need. There are over two million apps on the App Store alone, and a lot of these applications can be very useful. Of course you have your GPS applications that can find you the nearest gas station or take you to an address you are in need of. Students can download apps that allow them to write their papers on their phone or turn in their homework in if it is done online. If they are missing their calculator, they can easily pull their smartphone out instead and use the calculator that is installed on there.
“Smartphones are helpful in school. I mostly use it for calculating answers or if I don’t know an answer to a question, I can go online and try to get some help on finding it,” states Jacob Schowe, a student at Ahlf Junior High School.
These devices can also be helpful to teachers.
“Students can use their phones to access Google Drive and Google Classroom as well. I use mine to send Reminds to students about projects and tests also,” explains April Butler, a teacher at Searcy High School.
People can download apps that have to do with fitness and help them get started on a path to a healthy lifestyle. Certain banks have their own apps so people can check their bank account or even add money to it. Nowadays, it is common to see people using applications like PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo to send money to other people electronically rather than using paper money or their card. Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are just a few of the major social media sites that are frequently used among smartphone owners. Having access to these applications on one’s phone allows them to share photos or even just chat with one another through direct messaging. On these apps, people can post updates to let others know how they are doing or can share photos of an event they might have attended or places they have gone. It is a great way for people to quickly share their life updates they want to be publicly shown. While only four are mentioned, there are thousands more of social media applications being used. With that being said, this easy and quick communication through phones can also start relationships. Out of the thousands of different apps out there, over 1,500 of them are dating applications. These allow adults to meet others online and hopefully make a match.
Another amazing thing about our smartphones is that we have access to the internet right at our fingertips. People can easily search for things on the web from off their smartphone.
While smartphones can be a great help to most people, there are negative side effects to these devices. Most of the time, these negative effects can go unseen. Many of us don’t see the damaging toll our smartphones can have on our mental and physical health. It’s not very easy to spot out when smartphones are ruining our physical health. Just from looking down at a phone, a person can strain their neck. People tend to look down at their devices quite a bit, so the more they continue to do this, the more at risk they are at hurting themselves. A person can also easily ruin their eyesight. The blue light that reflects off of one’s phone screen can strain their eyes or even cause them to have retina damage.
Your mental health is also important and smartphones can be very hard on it. Many people, especially teens, have seen problems in their sleep schedule. They often tend to stay up late on their phones instead of actually getting the sleep they really need. This can cause their brains to not properly function the way it would have if they had actually gotten the rest they needed. Not getting enough sleep can also affect their physical health.
People’s phones can also cause depression or low self-esteem. As discussed earlier, smartphones are a way everyone can stay in touch, whether its from social media or texting. Sometimes hurtful things can be sent out through text messages or seen on these social media applications that can upset people. This could lead to people thinking negatively towards certain things. For example, people could start seeing themselves through a negative viewpoint. Today, it is very common for people to not like the way they look because of posts they see of other people, who to them may have something the other person doesn’t have. Texting can spread mean messages around which is a form of bullying. It isn’t healthy for people to think these kinds of thoughts or have to go through these types of situations.
Smartphones tend to distract teens or students nowadays from their school work. Grades can drop, because students are more focused on their phones than their academics.
“I have noticed problems with students because of their smartphones. They can’t focus on what they need to. It is frustrating to have to tell students to put their cell phones up,” states Butler. “I have a box in my class that I have students put their phones in during class. I put mine in there as well that way we have no distractions during instruction.”
Smartphones can negatively impact your relationships with people. In today’s society, our smartphones are a way we can stay connected with the people around us and the ones we love, but most of us don’t realize that these smartphones can actually corrupt these relationships. People paying more attention to their phones and not their significant other can really put their relationship in danger. In Lena Firestone’s article, Is Your Smartphone Ruining Your Relationship?, she quoted Dr. James A. Roberts who said, “The typical American checks his or her smartphone once every six-and-a-half minutes, or roughly 150 times each day.” People giving all of their attention to their phone and not to their partner isn’t worth putting their relationship in harm’s way. Ignoring your significant other can cause them to become upset which can eventually lead to other problems down the road.
Not only can these devices ruin love relationships but also family relationships. When people have their noses in their phones, they can’t talk or connect with anybody.
“I do think that my phone has made me into a less sociable person,” explains Jacob.
Communication is a key role in any relationship. When families can’t communicate with one another, this can cause trouble. Fights can breakout which never leaves anybody happy. To maintain a good relationship, it is important for people to not be so involved with their smartphones but more with their family members.
“Smartphones can be a blessing, because you can access so much so fast. They can also be the devil, because it can take away the personal communication that is important between families. Families don’t know how to communicate with each other anymore,” states Michelle Schowe, a first grade teacher at Westside and a mom.
For the majority of people, smartphones are very useful and do a lot of good.
“My opinion on smartphones are that they do more good than bad. It helps me stay connected with distant friends and family. If I need to know something, I can search it up on the spot,” says Seibert.
In other cases, some think the opposite about smartphones in certain situations.
“I don’t think smartphones are useful for my first grade students,” explains Michelle. “They need to learn how to communicate without text, learn how to spell without auto correction, and entertain themselves without technology. As a mother, I am concerned that my kids won’t know what to do if there was a time where they didn’t have cell service and couldn’t access their phone. Do they know the basic stuff like reading a map or using a paper book dictionary?”
Smartphones play a huge role in people’s day to day life. While it is easier to see the positive effects of these devices, there are negative effects that go unnoticed.
