Media Alert!
November 2023
Blog #49
Sue Summers
MediaSavvyKids.org
“Don’t live the way this world lives. Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you. And you will agree that what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 (NIRV)
“The Stickiness of Cell Phones”
“The vast majority of Americans – 97% – now own a cellphone of some kind. Americans today are increasingly connected to the world of digital information while ‘on the go’ via smartphones and other mobile devices.” (www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile)
Are cell phones addictive? Check out these statistics from one online source and draw your own conclusion. (Stats below are from: http://www.reviews.org/mobile/cell-phone-addiction)
- Americans check their phones 144 times per day.
- 89% of Americans say they check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up.
- 75% of Americans feel uneasy leaving their phone at home.
- 75% of Americans check their phones within five minutes of receiving a notification.
- 75% use their phone on the toilet.
- 69% have texted someone in the same room as them before.
- 60% sleep with their phone at night.
- 57% consider themselves “addicted” to their phones.
- 55% say that they have never gone longer than 24 hours without their cell phone.
- 47% of people say they feel a sense of panic or anxiety when their cell phone battery goes below 20%.
- 46% use or look at their phone while on a date.
- 27% use or look at their phone while driving.
Our cell phone use patterns continue to astonish sociologists and psychologists. There are even new words to define characteristics of phone addiction. Consider the following terms:
- Nomophobia: Fear tied to going without one’s phone
- Textaphrenia: Fear of the inability to receive or send text messages
- Ringxiety: Feeling as though a notification has come through on your phone when it hasn’t
- Textiety: Feeling anxious because of receiving and responding to text messages immediately (www.verywellhealth.com/phone-addiction)
Cell phones are for more than communication. “Today, smartphones offer a plethora of features and functionalities that cater to our diverse needs and interests. From social media to productivity apps, from high-quality photography to seamless gaming experiences, smartphones have truly become versatile companions in our everyday lives.” (https://cellularnews.com/mobile-phone/what-are-the-10-uses-of-smartphone)
Consider some of the enhanced uses:
We can bank online; attend meetings or classes; shop; interact on social media; watch streaming videos and movies; take, modify, and store photos; set alarms; use navigation and geolocation features; listen to podcasts and music; play simple or complex games with others; access e-books and audiobooks; and, of course, thousands of other options using apps and built-in software.
And what about driving issues? Cell phone use in the car hinders the driver’s ability to practice safe driving habits, endangering themselves and others.
“…a nationally representative survey by Consumer Reports in October 2017 found that 41 percent of drivers with smartphones said they had used their hands to text while driving, and 8 percent admitted to watching a video on their phone while driving.” (www.consumerreports.org, “The Dangers of Driving While Distracted”)
It’s not just physical health that’s impacted. The connection between teens’ mental health and cell phone use is alarming!
“Jean Twenge’s new book iGen hasbeen front and center, insisting that we do something and do it quickly. Kids are using their cell phones way too much and putting their mental health at terrible risk. National surveys are showing that kids today are more anxious than ever before, with spiking rates of depression and suicide.” (www.psychologytoday.com, “Teens and Dangerous Levels of Cell Phone Use”, January 16, 2018)
So how can we help teens become media-savvy about the culture that surrounds them?
The reality is we are not going to lose the connection to our cell phones. It is time to realize this is an important issue for all of us in today’s culture and develop some limits. Here are some options that make sense:
• Set family rules about cell phones. As a family, set specific expectations about phone use during mealtime, homework time, restaurant visits, travel time, family time, and bedtime.
• If the adults in teens’ lives are enamored with their own cell phones, they are ineffective when setting standards for the family. Follow the same rules that have been set by the family.
• Discuss the positive and negative aspects of being hyper-connected to our phones.
• Ask about cell phone use at school, and whether there are rules in the classrooms. Are there benefits to using individual common-sense rules regardless of the setting? What would some of those be?
• Recognize there’s no going back: technology – and particularly cell phone use – is here to stay. Discuss how personal communication in the future might change.
• Discuss how our daily distractions draw us away from spending quality time with God – praying, studying God’s Word, and just being in His presence.
Note: Share this blog with your church’s youth pastor as a lesson for youth group gatherings.
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Sue Summers is a Christian media analyst, teacher, author, and speaker.
She is the Director of Media Alert!
Contact Info:
Blogs: MediaSavvyKids.org
Website: http://www.MediaAlert.org
Email: Sue@MediaAlert.org
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Media Alert! 