Historical Timeline and Predecessor Assessment

All over the world, technology has received great embracement and perceived as a move towards a more automated world. The common is a term that the world is just a village on one's palm. The claim has been affected by the rise of cell technology with mobile industries and companies growing each new day like bush fire. New applications and operating systems are joining the market aimed at reaching new markets and simplifying things for mobile phone users. Developers are working tirelessly to identify any flaws in the use of technology and return to provide a suitable solution. Network coverage in the different parts of the world has been boosted to enable everyone to enjoy the device they got to hit customer satisfaction. The mobile phones have impacted peoples' lives at greater depth. The effects of cell technology are very much evident all over and profoundly felt. Efforts have been made by researchers to examine in the broader stance the impact of mobile phones on people's lives. The results from those researchers indicated that cell phone users portrayed majorly positive implications of the cell phone technologies, but also some adverse effects linked to the constant use of the cell phones were raised. Every individual can see how cell phone technology has changed their way of life with the effects spreading to groups, companies, governments, and generally different life sectors. The impacts can thus be looked at from sector levels for relaxed discussion and analysis. Positive and negative effects of cell phone technology have been witnessed on behavior, social behavior, relationship, and health sectors.

In today’s life, cell phones have become a big part of our daily lives. Throughout this paper, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the use of cell phones and the effects it has on society and specifically health, how it affects humans’ behavior and the impact that it has on a relationship. Some of the key points for this discussion is the exposure of children to this technology and the effect that it has on them, privacy, decrease in social interaction, and environmental impact. We cannot deny the benefits that the cellphones/smartphones have brought to our lives. Also, the benefits came with a cost. Nowadays 44 percent of cellphone users admit sleeping next to their phone to ensure they do not miss any important message or phone call. The later habit is affecting sleeping patterns, quality of sleep and people’s productivity. Furthermore, people can stay connected 24 hours with work posing a distraction from family and personal activities

First, we will start talking about the health effect of cell phones on humans. Cell phones depend on electromagnetic radiations to receive and transfer data. During data transmission, the device gives off harmful radiation, which affects human health. The radiation cannot be felt and when released, the radiation penetrates the body affecting the DNA and structure of the human cell. (Borelli, 2013). The radiations are of different frequencies and wavelengths. Several diseases are induced by radiations such as infertility, hearing impairment, and brain tumors. Hearing impairment cans result from loud disturbance. Tumors result when the tissues of the body grow abnormally. Cell phone radiations lead to the death of somebody cells and during replacement by other cells, tumors may develop. Some tend to be cancerous such as the malignant brain tumor while others are non-cancerous like the benign tumor.

Besides, Cell phones not only carry important personal data but also germs, which are harmful to the heath of a person. Most people who use cell phones tend to place them in different places where they may collect germs. A report from researches indicated that one in every six cell phones is contaminated with some sort of fecal matter. (Elsevier Health Sciences, 2011). This is probably because the owners of the phones do not wash their hands thoroughly with soaps after leaving the toilet. The bacteria found in some of the cell phones was the E. coli bacteria, which is normally found in the fecal region. Ingestion of the bacteria leads to severe health problems such as diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. Dirty hand also has different kinds of bacteria, which can contaminate the phone. Thus, upon sharing the phone with another person, the bacteria may be transferred leading to health problems if the person fails to clean his or her hands thoroughly.

Bright screens and small texts also affect the health of the eyes. Since most cell phones are handheld which means that their viewing is at a close range, the user is required to constantly focus and reposition the device to process the text and graphics on the screen. According to the Vision Council, most people in the United States spend six to eight hours a day glued to their smartphones. As the frequency and length of usage time increases, the greater the potential of getting vision problems. (Borelli, 2013). Irritation and redness of the eye result from eyestrain. Blurred vision, neck pain as well as headaches are also associated with the too much use of cell phones. Other than vision problems, cell phones also increase the risk of chronic pain. In most cases, the device is required to be in our hands when in use like when sending an email or a text message. The phone is normally held between the neck and the shoulder. Rapid responses to text messages in that position may result in the inflammation of the joints causing pains. Back pain is the most common for frequently mobile users. (Naeem, 2014). In extreme cases, cell phone usage can cause a person to arch the neck or develop a strange relaxation posture.

Secondly, we will discuss the effects of cell phones on humans and the social impact it carries. People have become very dependent on cell phones, which has made people stop developing skills since they rely on cell phones for these tasks. For example, nowadays most of us do not even know our cell phone number nor the cell phone number of our family members, and it does not stop here, we have stopped looking at the street names and we rely on peoples review to make a simple dinner reservation (Boylan, 2014). Another issue that cell phones have caused is the increase in stolen individual’s data due to phone hacks or the use of applications that gather information from our cell phones without our knowledge. Cell phones are so central to our lives that we do not stop to think about how much personal information our cell phones have. Cell phones not only have our birth date blood type, height, weight, house address, work address, credit, and debit card information, fingerprints/face recognition; it also has our daily routines as locations, where do we work, where do we go after work, it knows what we read and what we listen, etc. With all this information added in our cell phones, it is extremely easy for hackers or applications to have access to all this sensitive information. Also, when we download applications to our cell phones, we are giving them access to some of our data. Which leads the application developers to sell this information to companies without the individual’s knowledge. Our cell phones have more information about us than we acknowledge, and companies can make a profit from it. If you notice on most applications, they want access to your camera or/and microphone. This leads up to hackers getting access to photos or ear dropping on the conversation through the microphone. There has been an increase in the application that big companies such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy make it seem so convenient by saying “you can scan the product to see the price by using the application” which required the individual to allow access to the camera and photos (Deutsche, 2017). These little sneaky moves open the doors to hackers and immoral photos that may be of an individual’s phone to be stolen.

Understanding that within society there are two types of human beings, the ones that make decisions based on practicality and the ones that make decisions based on the thought process an ethics values (Boylan, 2014). Nowadays, all our decisions have larger implications than they used to have; by buying a product we tend to support a way of farming, a way of employment, an ideology, etc.

Sadly, the use of social media has enabled users to express their opinions without thinking of the consequences. Using the applications within our cell phone, social media is available 24/ 7. The reason behind this is that people hide behind an “avatar” and they feel that they can make any statement regardless if it is moral or not. Social media helps individuals to hide and express themselves as if they were face to face with someone. The individual would have to think about the consequences that come with words and actions. There is a misconception that we can have another personality on the internet and social media, like if its social media there were not social rules (Hyman, 2014). As we see today, there is an increase of posts or comments that celebrities and politicians have made in their past and it is coming back to haunt them and, in some cases, has ruined their careers.

Further, when we share information through social media, the owner of the content loses control. Once the information is loaded in the system, the content can be shared or exploited without the owner realizing it. Besides, social interactions may not be as straightforward as they use to be. Nowadays our primary means of communication is a text message, we do not use the cell phone to talk as we use too. It seems that today’s technology has eliminated our skills to talk and communicate; it is more convenient to send a text message or an email than to grab the phone and talk in real-time. This type of communication can lead to misunderstanding. When texting sometimes things are taking out of context and may appear to some as flirting, but the individual may just be a nice person. That is the difference when interacting with people in the society; you can see body language and facial expression while talking. This leaves no room for assumptions and from anything to be taken out of context.

As for individuals, socializing and getting to interact with new people has decreased significantly due to cell phones. Today, at your fingertips they have applications that you can look for people you are compatible with, share the same interests and hobbies. Before all this technology, people would go interact with others through school, parties, get together, and just hanging out with friends. I would like to add to this that in today’s time everyone is busy which makes interaction with other limited. Also, in new school models and work models (where you can study and work from home), the social interaction is non-existent, causing that most of our communication with the outside world is through technology (Boylan, 2014). Cell phones have given us access to social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, these applications allow us to interact with the world by posting pictures or statuses of what people are doing. These applications are a good way to communicate with friends and family that may be abroad and when communication is not easy due to time differences. On the other hand, if the above issues are not a problem, I see these applications as a disadvantage because it can cause jealousy or envy among people you share these precious moments. In addition, several comments can be taken out of contexts, not to mention that companies are using social media to determine the type of person you may be before they hire you, even the immigration office of the US is using the social media as means to gather data from people coming to the US under a VISA (Geser, 2005).

Cell phones are having a negative influence on social interaction in today’s environment. Some interesting question has arisen from this topic. Would you break up by sending a text message? How much of your social life do you conduct through text messages? Do you schedule face-to-face time? Do you track where your friends are by texting? Do you have conversations with text messages (Hyman, 2014)? In recent studies that have taken place about cellphones, usage in different age categories reviles some interesting information. The study analysis individuals from ages 18-24, 25-34, 35-49, and 50-68. The research concluded that young adults use cellphones in many ways. Such as text-messaging adults are the mean of communication with others as for older adults, they may average 10 text messages per day. As for calling, it is surprisingly almost the same. About 90 percent of both age groups got less than 10 calls per day (Hyman, 2014). Therefore, the quick message is that younger adults are texting in more situations, using it to contact friends and see texting as acceptable. On the other hand, some people try to explain young adult’s behavior as they are socially interacting by using their cell phones and it is not an addiction. Older adults should not make judgments about cell phone use in younger adults, we should withhold the negative evaluations of people constantly checking their cell phones. Perhaps instead we can respect the cell phone and internet natives. These young adults have grown up using cell phones and the internet (Hyman, 2014).

The use of smartphones by children can have tremendous effects on their behavior because smartphones are directly linked with the development of Attention Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The use of smartphones by children has also been attired to the development of dyslexia, various sleeping disorders, and problems mimicking that of an addiction. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have published two studies in recent history concerning children and smartphones (Edwards, 2017). The first study, conducted in 2011, showed a direct correlation between the increases in ADHD diagnosis with the increase in reported screen time by the parents (Edwards, 2017). They conducted a follow-up study in 2016 that, not only confirmed their original data but showed the largest increase in ADHD cases reported to children that are born into lower-class families (Edwards, 2017). Putting all this information together, it is reasonable to conclude that smartphone use by children is potentially dangerous. Not only does it increase the likelihood of developing issues with attention, but it is also increasing the likelihood of developing additional behavioral problems in the future.

Third, the communication aspect of cell phones is what influences the relationship between teens and their parents. Parents often struggle with communication between their adolescent children and themselves. Teenagers and their phones are often inseparable. Teenagers use their phones for everything. That is how they are easily reached by anyone. In 2008, it was reported that 79% of teens owned a cell phone (Weisskirch, 2011). This allows for more parents to communicate and keep track with their teens. That is important because many times, as children get to certain ages, they began to go places without their parents, and this can cause parents to worry about their safety. Cell phones serve as a portable means of communication. Parents will not have to worry about their child or their whereabouts. They can simply pick up the phone and call their child and make sure that everything is okay. Being able to contact your child whenever you want is a great thing for parents but doing it excessively will cause teens to become agitated and secretive. A survey was done, and it was determined that parents experienced greater communication and closeness when the teens initiated the calls and the calls were more about social topics. Teens found greater conflict when their parents contacted them about schoolwork or to track their locations (Weisskirch, 2011). Teens would rather contact their parents and talk about what they want to talk about instead of their parents contacting them about what they deem as a negative topic. This can be difficult for parents because their main thought is to contact their child when they believe that they need to either get information or tell them some information. Teens want to initiate the conversation on their terms. This does build a better relationship between parents and teens.

Cell phones also allow families to become more organized. This is done by making sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to important events. Many families have started to create group text messages. This helps with making sure chores get done and knowing who will perform what task. If a parent sends their child to the store to pick up some groceries, they can send them a text with a grocery list and their teen will know what to get. This can take the place of notes being left around the house and it ensures that any message is received and seen by their teen.

There is always a fight between teens and being socially accepted by their peers. In Japan, students have become very dependent on their Keitai, which is a Japanese phone. Many of the students reported that being able to email on their Keitai was useful for their friendships (Kamibeppu & Sugiura, 2005). Many students that participated in the survey stated that they found themselves not being able to live without their Keitai and send emails to their friends more than 10 times a day. Even though this was done in Japan, many of our teenagers experience the same affects. Cell phones are used to keep in contact with friends outside of school. This is how teens build relationships when school is out, including weekends and summer break. This is their main source of communication. They can get to know people, and in return, they feel more socially accepted.

Teens also struggle with peer relationships. They are very dependent on the relationships between them and their peers. They want to build friendships with others. This can cause them to become dependent on their phones. If teens feel that their peer relationship attachment is poor, they will look for ways to satisfy that need. They will do this by establishing and maintaining peer relations via social networking services activities on their cell phones (You & Lim, 2019).

Cell phones have become a huge distraction between couples. Many times, couples are together physically, but not mentally due to one or both being on their cell phones. This is known as phubbing in the article, and it has an impact on the satisfaction of the relationship. A relationship is considered satisfying when both parties are physically and mentally available to their partners. This means that when they are together, they are giving each other their undivided attention. Phubbing causes problems in relationships (Roberts & David, 2015). People do not want to feel ignored when they are in the presence of someone else. This causes a negative feeling within those relationships. People allow their phones to be more important than the people that should matter most. This is where the problem comes in. The phones are not the issue, but the constant use and dependency on them are what causes the issues. This can make your significant other not feel wanted or needed. The use of cell phones causes conflict within the relationship.

Relationships can be negatively impacted by cell phones because they can allow the trust to be broken by individuals. Many times, cell phones can be used to be unfaithful to your partner. It also can serve to be accused of things that you are not doing. If your significant other feels that you are spending too much time on your cell phone, it can cause issues within the relationship. This will cause couples to place restrictions on the usage of them. Many couples like to dictate who their significant other can and cannot communicate with on their cell phone. They also like to establish what they feel is appropriate use and what they feel is not. Many couples set rules in place and this helps them to avoid the repercussions of monitoring calls and texts that may be considered inappropriate (Miller-Ort, et al, 2012). This can help eliminate issues that may arise from a lack of trust. If couples do not set the rules in place, they can end up doing things that can cause conflict within their relationship. There is a direct correlation between satisfaction with cell phone usage and the relationship (Miller-Ort, et al, 2012). If couples are satisfied with how they are using their cell phones, their relationship will be in good standings. If they are having problems with their cell phone usage, then they will have issues within their relationship. This is a major impact on their relationship.

Finally, one of the most critical impacts is environmental. It is believed that by 2040 the cellphones will have the biggest carbon footprint in the tech industry. According to research, the smartphone components such as the motherboard and the chip require the most amount of energy to be produced. While these phones consume little energy to operate, 85% of their emissions are generated during the manufacturing process. Not to mention that they have a short shelf life and users constantly upgrade their phones for a marginal change. It is worth to mention that the network companies also consume a significant amount of energy to operate. Humans must understand their relationship with the environment to move forward with technological advancements while using resources rationally and preserving nature. This will require a complete renovation of our current economic and political structure. If we continue to encourage development and expansion, we will see major effects not only in the climate change and in ecosystems, but also in societies and in the way, we relate to each other (Boylan, 2014). The cell phone has many effects on society and the most affected is the environment. On the topic of cell phone and environment, it has many effects that many may not be aware of. For example, a recyclable cell phone contains battery and carbon footprints (Boylan, 2014).

Nowadays, cell phones carry an important status in society. People always want the most up to date cell phone out there. In today’s market, cell phones cost a lot of money with most starting at $999. These companies are introducing cell phones along with many other electronic devices every year. Cell phones can impact all of us through our health, social behaviors, and relationships. Through proper monitoring, we can use cell phones so that we see the positive impact versus what can be deemed as a negative impact. Cell phones are a great source of communication and they can benefit us in our daily lives. Discovering the effects that cell technology have on our lives can help us to better understand how we can turn all the negative impacts into positive impacts. Our health, behaviors, and relationships are important to us and the environment around us.

References

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Boylan, M. (2014). Environmental ethics (2nd ed.). Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.

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Edwards, C. (2017). Portable Device Fears Show Power of Social Development: How do small screens impact young minds? Communications of the ACM, 60(10), 21–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3131271

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References continued

Kamibeppu, K., & Sugiura, H. (2005, June 6). Impact of the Mobile Phone on Junior High-School Students’ Friendships in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Retrieved from https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cpb.2005.8.121

Miller-Ort, A. E., Kelly, L., & Duran, R. L. (2012, January 30). The Effects of Cell Phone Usage Rules on Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01463373.2012.642263

Naeem, Z. (2014). Health risks associated with mobile phones use. Retrieved 30 September 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4350886/

Nurullah, & Sadat, A. (2009, October 4). The Cell Phone as an Agent of Social Change. Retrieved from https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=102065004071023077092010014072031077054008067084052039088086081121111007072071000065097018031059009044096125004065024003097001031069088002093019085109076064112067027083041067005066089012113121007028105080077076106003087004008070017113069006112001001&EXT=pdf

Roberts, J. A., & David, M. E. (2015, August 15). My life has become a major distraction from my cell phone: Partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction among romantic partners. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215300704

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Sagoff, M. (2008). The economy of the earth: philosophy, law, and the environment. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Weisskirch, R. S. (2011, July 18). No Crossed Wires: Cell Phone Communication in Parent-Adolescent Relationships. Retrieved from https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2009.0455

You, S., & Lim, S. A. (2019). Effect of Parental Negligence on Mobile Phone Dependency Among Vulnerable Social Groups: Mediating Effect of Peer Attachment. Psychological Reports, 122(6), 2050–2062. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294118799339