The Pros and Cons of Cellphones

2867 Words6 Pages

When I began this project of cellular communications. I was very focused on trying to prove that cellphones are bad. I saw people all over the Community College’s campus with their heads down, their headphones on, or their phone to their ear. No one seemed to be “here” anymore. Everyone was involved in their own worlds that others were not invited to, and they seemed to prefer it that way.

I wanted to know why. Why were so many people content being involved with their phones so much and the people around them so little? I’m not saying I’m innocent in all of this. I’m guilty of texting and walking down a busy hallway, replying a message while talking face to face with another, and excusing myself from a conversation to answer a phone call. As much as I wish I didn’t do all of these things, sometimes it’s hard to stop. It seems so often we don’t even think about our actions, especially when it comes to texting, it’s become a habit. We hear that vibration or ring and it produces this feeling of a need to look, a need to check in, to reply, to see if someone is trying to talk to us and the need to answer. My question is why?

So I began to research our interactions with cell phones. I knew cell phones couldn’t be all bad, after all they give us the ability to stay connected with people we otherwise would not be able to. Cellphones also allow us to quickly pass information from one another nearly instantaneously and at any time. But even with these seemingly good qualities, I began to question, is it good to be connected so instantaneously at any time, with so many?

So I created a survey to see what my fellow college-going, cell phone-using peers thought about their own communications through cell phones. After getting the survey...

... middle of paper ...

...former Explores Relationships, Texting." McClatchy - Tribune Business News 09 May 2009. ProQuest. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Rice, Alexandra. "Tired Students Skip Sleep for Texting." The Chronicle of Higher Education 58.14 (2011). Academic OneFile. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Robinson, Sherry, and Hans Anton Stubberud. "Communication preferences among university students." Academy of Educational Leadership Journal 16.2 (2012). Academic OneFile. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Silverhart, Todd A., P.H.D. "Texting - it's here to Stay." LIMRA's Market Facts Quarterly. 1 (2013): 57. ProQuest. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Tarter, Steve. "The Cell Phone Revolutionizes Communication." Knight Ridder Tribune Business News: 1. 16 Jul. 2005.ProQuest. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

"The etiquette of TEXTING." The Press. N.p., 2013. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Open Document