Life on a Screen
Technology is a problem that can cause many issues in our life and we don’t even notice it yet. They can cause anger, anxiety, and much more. Many studies have been taken and their data points to us having a problem. A sort of addiction.
If you walk down the street, down the bus aisle, or through Talawanda High School’s cafeteria you will constantly see people on their phone. We pretty much live on our phone and tablets, and sadly, we have a problem. I have seen many of these issues first hand, including at a seminar in Mrs. Webbs English III Honors class at Talawanda High School last year where we were talking about phones not being allowed in school or in classrooms and many of my fellow classmates were upset. Many claimed not having their phone in their pocket can cause anxiety and makes them feel scared. Then I was at the falls sports award ceremony and saw a whole team sitting at one table, not talking , all looking down at their phones. We also often hear stories of families going out to restaurants and all of them sitting on their phones, not talking and we can see this every time we walk into one.
In ABC News article Excessive Cellphone Use May Cause Anxiety, Experts Warn, Dr. Nancy Cheever who was in charge said “The more people use their phone, the more anxious they are about using their phones.” She also said that “If you’re constantly connected, you’re going to feel anxiety, and the more people feel anxiety, that can lead to other things like mental health and physical ailments.” I saw people experiencing this in my English III Honors class last year. According to a study by The Drum “51 per cent of the 1,245 UK residents questioned said that they suffer from ‘extreme tech anxiety’ when separated from their device, with only 35 percent saying that they were not brothers at being away from their communications.” We become attached to our technological devices, emotionally detached. We are seeing more cases of kids throwing fits and having fits of rage (throwing things, yelling, etc.) when their devices are taken away or when they are told to get off their devices.
There is even now a name for being scared of being away from your phone, your phone running out of battery and having no signal. That word is Nomophobia which is short for “no-mobile-phone phobia” and according to a study by YouGov, 58% of men and 47% of women suffer from Nomophobia.
If technology causes these emotions when we are away from it, doesn’t that mean we have a problem? Many people would say that having anxiety while away from your phone is completely normal, and I hate to say it but it’s not; it shows that you are dependent on you device.
