The cell phone is one of the greatest inventions that could have happened, and no one can imagine a life without a cell phone. It gives us many benefits in life, such as having the internet right at our fingertips or being able to talk to someone at any minute.
Have you ever thought of the negative things that could happen to you by using your cell phone? Studies have shown that cell phones can lead to brain cancer, car accidents, pedestrian accidents, lack of face to face communication skills, use of improper grammar, and cell phones cost money, which everyone is usually in dire need of.
One of the biggest controversies with cell phone usage is that it can give you a greater chance of getting brain cancer. Cell phones release a wave called radiation, which is a cause of cancer. Studies are still going on to see if the phone gives off enough radiation to penetrate skin. The time when your phone gives off the most radiation is when you receive a call, and it is said that during that time you should keep the phone away from your ear until you answer the call. It is not a fact that cell phones will give you cancer, but studies are still being carried on.
Texting and driving is the cause of almost 1.3 million car crashes every year. Several of these car accidents have led to death or serious lifelong injuries. In order to prevent crashes due to texting, states have passed laws to ban cell phone usage while driving, but even though these laws are in place people still choose to text and drive or talk on the phone while at the wheel. People may not like the law, so they break it just to show their disagreement. If it was not for the cell phone, automobile accidents would greatly decrease, saving lives and money on car insurance.
Not only can you get in an accident while texting and driving, but cell phones can cause pedestrian accidents as well. While texting or talking on the phone, you become less aware of your surroundings, which can lead to risky situations. Not seeing where you are walking could cause you to accidently walk into the road, thinking it is still the sidewalk, and get hit by oncoming traffic. At stop lights you only have so much time to walk across the street until traffic starts to come towards you. With your eyes down looking at your phone you may miss when the sign tells you to walk, making you start walking across late and not get to the other side in time. The stoplight will turn green and in big cities cars will not wait at intersections like they do in smaller towns. Oneself could find yourself standing in the middle of the road with traffic all around you and may even get hit by a car.
Walking while distracted can also cause you to walk into stationary objects. It sounds dumb and people would make fun of you for it but it does happen. Everyone most likely has at least run into someone else because they were texting or had that pole that just magically appear out of nowhere. Almost 1,000 people a year go to the hospital for tripping or running into objects while texting and walking. It may be great having this piece of communication right at our finger tips, but we have to know when to not use it, such as while we are driving or walking.
Cell phones have given us the ability to get a hold of anyone at any time no matter how far apart. Despite how nice this may seem, it does cause a lack of face to face communication. People will become more nervous when talking to someone in person because they are not used to talking to someone without using text messages. You cannot tell the tone someone is using by text messages, they may mean one thing, but a person could take it totally different because you cannot actually hear the other person & tone of voice like you could if you were having a conversation in person. This could lead friends to become enemies and hate each other just because of a misunderstanding that would not have happened if the conversation took place face to face. Cell phones may be great since people do not have to talk face to face, but that does cost humans the pleasure of face to face communication.
Cell phones could be an English student’s worst nightmare. In English, spelling is a major part and if you cannot spell then you will most likely do terrible on your essays. I never use commas, spell words incorrectly, and never use punctuation. Also, texting causes people to avoid spelling out full by using acronyms or abbreviations such as saying “wat” instead of “what| or “brb” for “be right back.” You use these words while texting so often that you forget to do it correctly in class, causing you to lose points on an assignment. It is a lot simpler to use those abbreviations and acronyms while texting, but they hurt students dearly when they are in an English class and have to spell right to not get docked on grammar issues.
People have to buy a cell phone to start with and then to use them it costs money each month. Most cell phones these days cost at least 100 dollars, which most people will say is expensive. On top of the money to get the phone, people then have to spend money on a plan each month to actually use their phone. With a smart phone people also have to spend an extra thirty dollars a month to use the phone internet capability. The average cost of a plan with one phone is forty dollars a month. By the time a person buys the phone, signs up for a plan, pays for the thirty dollar data usage they will have spent 170 dollars in one month and then will have to spend 70 dollars each month after that. The cell phone is an amazing thing, but the downside is that it costs money to use it, and everyone needs money all the time.
Most people usually think about the negative effects of cell phones because of all the cool features they have. One cause of brain cancer is said to be from the radiation cell phones give off. Car accidents and pedestrian accidents can be caused from distractions due to texting and talking on the phone. Face to face communication was the only way to talk before the telephone, but now face to face communication has been lost. Most people do not care about grammar, but if you are in an English class, texting can significantly affect your grammar. Cell phones also cost money, which everyone does not have a lot of. Cell phones have several negative effects, which many people never think about.
By Roselyn Lao-ing Daowan
