TNI Bureau: A mobile phone has become ubiquitous today. Almost everyone has consistently hooked to it. Whether we are traveling, dining in a restaurant, having a talk with somebody or watching TV soaps, we love flashing our phones every five minutes. Texting, playing games, internet browsing, listening to music and doing a host of other activities have made a mobile phone a pocket personal computer increasing its significance in our lives.
Amidst all these, we all are missing something – the dark side of this mobile mania. Approximately, 80% of all teenagers have cell phones worldwide. These young people, who are essentially students, spend their time consuming SMS packages and all night packages offered by various telecom companies. In the process, they are losing out on their studies and the consistent telephonic conversations spread over the night are affecting their academics.
A research by some Chinese experts claims that high exposure to cell phone radiation can harm the cranial nerve of youngsters. The research also claims that mobile phones affect the creativity and reduces the efficiency of young minds on prolonged use. Again, spending too much time talking, texting and playing mobile games during night have led to absenteeism in colleges. Besides, it affects the biological clock adversely. A study by the Associated Professional Sleep Societies says that the excessive use of mobile phones increases restlessness, careless lifestyle, difficulty in sleep and fatigue. Some reports have claimed that students use mobile phones unfairly to gain in exams and assignments. This hampers the learning process and is a danger to our robust education system.
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Another trend that has even caused loss of lives in some cases is texting or talking on a phone while driving. Young people talk or text while driving on the streets and highways without any worry of the potential danger. In the last few years, car accidents involving cell phones and youth have increased considerably.
In recent period, we have witnessed various MMS scandals in which the misuse of a mobile phone my mostly teenagers and young people has been highlighted. Another negative aspect of this mobile mania is phone bullying. Many psychologically disturbed or devious people have been found to use mobile technology to bully or harm others. According to an American research agency data, 26% teenagers in the US were bullied or harassed in a way or other using mobile phones.
The applications of a mobile phone are multifold. Nevertheless, this dark side of the mobile boom highlights the need of checks and controls. These side-effects are weakening the social and the cultural DNA of our lifestyle. We need to look into this before this mania gets epidemic and endemic.