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The main point of this essay is that even if smartphones have many desirable and positive qualities, it also has negative qualities that can harm its users. Smartphones, for instance, significantly changed how people exchange information and communicate with each other. These technologies have influenced their social and personal life, including their work, education and personal relationships. The prevalence of smartphones is phenomenal. Statistics have shown that almost all people in the United States have smartphones and that almost 70% of these people access the internet through their cell phones for work, personal and recreational purposes. But despite the fact that smartphones offer conveniences to society, sometimes the use of smartphones can also have negative impacts. Smartphones, for instance, are blamed because they are associated with mental and behavioral issues. Others blame the use of smartphones to the increased ability of criminal and terrorists to communicate with each other. Smartphones, for instance, are used to access as well as spread pornographic materials online. It is also blamed for many traffic accidents and is even associated with health problems such as exposure to radiation. Apparently, smartphones may offer many advantages, but it can also harm society.
Despite the many advantages that smartphones offer, its use has been associated with many adverse impacts. Smartphones, for instance, have been attributed to several mental, psychological and emotional concerns. According to studies conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, the extended use of smartphones when utilized for its computer functionality, can negatively impact a person’s brain and mental capacity. The use of computer and the internet, for example, is found by scholars to cause poor memory and attention. Researchers in the University of Michigan, for instance, tried to mimic the effect of the internet by dividing them into two groups and placing one group in a busy city while the other is placed in a nature park. After comparing the two groups, they found that those who are subjected to the relaxing environment showed improved memory and attentiveness as compared to those who are subjected to a chaotic environment. According to Carr, some people who are over reliant to smartphone technologies experience a decreased ability to think and process information. These findings could imply that smartphones could negatively impact the mental capacity of young people and the future generations.
It is also believed that smartphones can emit radiation, which can cause temporary and permanent damage to its user’s mental and physical well-being. Many studies are now being conducted in order to uncover if there are negative health impacts on a smartphone user because of radiation. Although the studies are not yet conclusive, scientists are increasingly concerned that the radio and electromagnetic waves emitted by smartphones can cause certain types of cancers. Accordingly, “the information available does not rule out the possibility of an association between the use of mobile phones and the occurrence of this disease (cancer)” and advised that the scientific community should continue to monitor the occurrence of tumors that may be caused with exposure to radio frequencies associated with the use of smartphones.
Scholars also found that the use of the internet can make people become emotionally unresponsive. As observed by scholars, people who use modern technology, specifically the internet, have decreased ability to feel human emotions. Since the use of the smartphones makes people more distracted, it also affects their ability to feel human emotions such as empathy and compassion. The use of smartphones has, indeed, cause people to become more preoccupied, which negatively impact their ability to socialize. According to a recent study, the average person today spends more than 8 hours on their smartphones on a daily basis. Subsequently, this means that most people spend more time in their smartphones than the time they spend for their friends and loved ones. Smartphones also take a substantial amount of an individual’s time, which could have been spent in more productive and worthwhile activities.
Another negative impact of smartphones can be attributed to its ability to distract people and make people at higher risk of accidents. Studies have shown that the use of smartphones, especially texting while driving, has resulted in many driving accidents. Moreover, statistical studies show that young people, especially teens, are prone to using their smartphones while driving at high speed. A person driving at 80 kilometers per hour at an average, for instance, can cover an entire football field in just five seconds, which is also the distance covered when a person is distracted by looking at his smartphone while driving. Consequently, a distracted driver is at higher risk of encountering traffic accidents, particularly because their visual and motor skills are impaired. This impairment also results in poor judgment and slows their reaction time (Reed, & Robbins). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration observed that in 2010, there are 3,092 people that were killed from traffic injury while 416,000 people were injured because of distracted driving. Many of the victims were young drivers aged 18 to 20 years who were distracted, primarily because they were using their smartphones while driving .
Furthermore, the use of smartphones can cause security and privacy risks because of the many suspicious and fraudulent activities that can be done using this device. Smartphones, for instance, can give increased ability for criminals and terrorists to communicate and organize their criminal activities since mobile devices are difficult to trace. Aside from the security threats associated with the use of smartphones, the ability to access the internet using this technology can also pose privacy issues. Online security threats such as social engineering and data mining that scammers and hackers retrieve online, can pose serious privacy issues that can lead to identity theft and fraud (Huber, Kowalski, Nohlberg, & Tjoa). The use of smartphones is also associated with the spread and easy access to pornography over the internet. Since smartphones are equipped with videos and cameras, it can be easily utilized to make pornographic materials that can then be uploaded online. The versatility of the smartphone makes it also a preferred device in accessing pornographic materials online.
But despite the negative impacts of smartphones, a lot of people still use it because of its many positive practical applications. It should be noted that smartphones are termed as such because they have many functions aside from being a cell phone. Unlike traditional cell phones, the smartphone is a phone and a computer bundled into one gadget. More than 90% of the United States population, for instance, has smartphones; 74% of which are using their smartphone applications to give them traffic directions and 63% are using it to access the internet . The usefulness of smartphones could not be denied. In fact, it has revolutionized the world’s communication technology in many ways. Smartphones, for instance, offer many advantages and conveniences that can help people live a more productive and rewarding life style. Aside from being a personal communication gadget, the smartphone offers a lot of functionality that can be put to good use. The internet, for instance, can be easily accessed using smartphones in order to provide people with an enormous capability to access vast amounts of information online. Smartphones are also an important tool in business and work related activities. In fact, work has never been more productive until the advent of the smartphone technology. Many advertisers, for instance, advertise their businesses by targeting smartphone users. Since most people spend more time in their smartphones than in watching the television, many businesses find it necessary to advertise using the mobile platform. Another important use of smartphones in business is that it can be used by managers and business owners to remotely observe their employees by linking their device to their CCTVs and spy cameras. Such technology is currently available and is increasingly used by most entrepreneurs. Smartphones can also be used to improve public and private services. Smartphones, for instance, are used to send and receive electronic data about healthcare, education, public advisories and many other services that utilizes information technology.
If used responsively, smartphones can revolutionize the way people communicate and interact with each other, but if it is taken for granted, then it can also pose many harmful effects to society. As discussed earlier, smartphones can cause mental and physical health issues as well as security and privacy issues that may endanger a person’s life and degrade his social relationships. Smartphones are dangerous because people are using it for bad reasons and because others are careless in using their smartphones. People get distracted by their smartphones because they allow themselves to be distracted and because they use their smartphones without moderation. Apparently, most people lack self-restraint and self-discipline as they allow themselves to be controlled by their devices instead of using their mobile devices for good use. People, therefore, should be more responsible in using their smartphones in order to avoid or, at least minimize, the negative impact of using these modern devices.
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