A Call to Action

Cell phones can be useful. Cell phones can be a convenience, a peace of mind, even a life preserver. However, like most things, overuse and immoderation can negate some of these positive benefits, and can go as far as harming our society and our way of life.

The benefits of a cell phone

It is a true; cell phones can play a welcome part in our lives. They can keep us in touch with our loved ones when they're away from home. It can be convenient and save us time: we place a dinner order on our phones from our cars, and pick it up on our drive home. It can be a safety device when we’re all alone on the side of a road, when we’re walking down the street in a desolate, eerie alley. We can use it too call the police, to call an ambulance, to find out what time to pick up our kids.

In short, the cell phone can be a very useful device, and its potential benefits can not be ignored or dismissed.

However , this same device can also be misused, and abused. And in doing so, can cause great harm to our way of life, and hang a negative influence on our society.

The Negatives

Interruptions:
We witness cell phones blatantly disrupting both our public and private lives.
1. In public: Cell phones are the number one cause of disruptions in public venues.
2. In our private lives: We have all been put on pause at some point during a conversation while someone answers their ringing cell phone
3. At the office: Many can avouch to interruptions at meetings due to a ringing cell phone/blackberry--wasting time and company resources.

Etiquette:
Along with interruptions, we often endure gross breaches in standard every-day etiquette due to the Cell Phone. Cell phones, being somewhat of a novelty, have occasioned many to believe they are exempt from common-sense rules of social behavior. We've all been in situations like: the loud-talker in the seat in front of you on the commute home, the person who never turns off their ringer regardless of the environment or situation, or the person who uses no discretion whatsoever when picking up their phone.

Kids, psychological impact:
Many parents are getting cell phones for their children. This can oftentimes do more harm than good.
1. As more young children are starting to rely on cell phones to garnish interpersonal communications, the over-reliance can vitiate their communication skills. This can be damaging at a time when children are starting to develop body language while sharpening their sense of identifying facial cues of others--skills that are hard to perceive and measure, but are learned at childhood, and are with us and employed throughout our lives.
2. Cell phones are know to cause kids to lose focus in school, and cause innumerable distractions in the classroom.

Distances Interpersonal Relations:
One thing we as a society lost with the invention of the telephone was the necessary need to have face-to-face interpersonal communications. To go to the bank, you needed to "physically" go to the bank. To see a friend, you had to put on your shoes. We are a social creature, and we need each other to sustain our lives. Cell phones have taken the telephone-effect a leap further by decreasing the amount of social contact we need as a species.

Deadly Distractions:
It is without question, cell phone are one of the leading causes of car accidents in the united states. This doesn't end with automobiles. People using any type of machinery can severely impair their ability to safely operate when using a cell phone.

Money:
 Cell phones are expensive, rate plans, and contracts can sometimes become an immense burden on people. Breaches in contract can effective a person's credit score. And some people may find themselves in financial dire straits when faced with a 2-year contract, and perhaps, the loss of a job, etc.


Some Proposed Solutions

1. Education and Awareness

2. Imposing more cell Phone use restrictions

3. Age-limit for cell phone ownership

4. Force carriers to provide and appropriate funds to expand Cell Phone usage rules

5. Legislature and Laws to restrict cell phone usage

6. Legalize Jamming Devices in certain areas to enforce compliance