Are Cell Phones Dangerous? Essay

Ninety-one percent of American adults and sixty percent of teens own this device that has revolutionized communication in the 21st century — the cellphone. While cell phones provide an efficient and easy way to communicate with friends, family, and co-workers, excessive use can take a toll on your health. Twenty-three percent of auto collisions involved cell phones last year, that’s a little more than one million crashes. Also, leading scientists are saying that cell phones can cause vision problems and can lead to headaches and unnecessary stresses. I’m not saying cell phones are bad, I just think the time used on cell phones should be moderated. Psychologists from the University of Utah have published a study showing that drivers who just operate a cell phone are as impaired as drunken drivers. Drunken drivers really aren’t as accident-prone as cell phone drivers, there are just more drivers talking on the phone rather than drinking alcohol. Cell phone use is far from the only distraction for motorists. The researchers cite talking to passengers, eating, drinking, lighting cigarettes, applying makeup and listening to the radio as the â€Å"old standards† of driver distraction. I don’t think we shouldn’t use cell phones, I just think that it’s important for people to know how much damage it’s causing. Driving isn’t the only problem that cell phones are tied to. Many adults have been complaining that their teenager is never looking up, and glued to their cell phone every hour of the day. In general, smartphone ownership is up, as well, with thirty-seven percent of American youth owning a smartphone compared to twenty-three percent in 2011. That doesn’t seem like a big deal honestly, but it has been proven that children with cell phone addiction have caused more parental concern. Parents want to be able to monitor and ensure safety for their kids, and cell phones make it much more difficult with the accessibility to almost anything or anybody. This issue really is up to the parent’s choices, whether or not they want to restrict their children’s access to the phones. Top doctors in the United States such as Dr. Oz have been raving about the increase in patients losing vision. This is called CVS symptom. The eye’s natural focal point is about 20 feet in front of the face. However, most people hold their cell phone 1-2 feet in front of their face. When this occurs, your eye is over-compensating to focus on the screen. The screen on your cell phone is not a normal object for your eyes to focus on, and this is causing loss of vision over time. The first symptoms of this are dry eyes and headaches. We all know that people can’t and shouldn’t just stop using cell phones all together, that’s just insane. What leading doctors recommend is to use your phone no longer than 10 minutes without taking a break for at least 30 seconds. Also, when in doubt, blink it out. If your head starts hurting, or eyes become dry, blink rapidly to try to create more lubrication in your eye, or if you have eyedrops that would be helpful too. As I mentioned before, I’m not against cell phones, I use my cell phone all the time for various tasks. I just think it’s important to know the side-effects and problems that relate to owning a cell phone. Every issue stated above can be resolved, it just takes moderation and responsibility when using these devices.