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September 03, 2014

Cellphone Reliance

By Afshin Zarenejad, Senior Security Analyst

As a society we have advanced in many technological arenas, and these advances are supposed to help us work and live more efficiently.  It has become simple to communicate with a person on the other side of the world, but it's also become simpler to ignore the person standing next to us.   Society has become more and more reliant on the cellphone.  It's an odd statement but it's uttered by millions of American's "I feel naked without out", should a phone be that critical?  As a whole, Americans have had to adjust how children are raised, how to drive, cope with pressure and even leave work differently because of their phones.  The impact and reliance on the technology of a cell phone has changed how societal interaction.



Parenting for Cellphones

At what age should a cell phone be given to a child?  A common question but the problem lies within the question, should a child even have a cellphone?  The Kaiser Family Foundations reports that "two-thirds of all kids ages 8 to 18 have their own cellphone." It can be argued that adults are so reliant on cellphones because they have had them since they were young and it's a part of their children's lives.  This device is a major part of a person's life.  The act of turning it off and focusing on family seems to be a major obstacle to overcome and seems extreme.

Cellphone and Driving

If driving a car is one of the more dangerous typical daily duties that people engage in, it begs the question why people would voluntarily make it more dangerous.  The use of a cellphone effects a "drivers' perceptual and motor skills are associated with a nine fold increase in fatal traffic accidents.” It may not be common knowledge that the danger increases by nine times, but people know that cell phone use while driving is dangerous.  However, it's a habit that is only increasing.  The level of reliance on cellphone technology is so great that people cannot stop using a handheld phone, even if it's illegal (as in some states), if it's more dangerous or if it's known to cause people to get upset while driving.   

The Pressure Factor

The ability to stay constantly connected and be able to access personal and work related emails instantly has been billed as a positive aspect of life.  However, there is a case to be made that if this connection doesn't end it can lead to adverse affects.  Separation from work and personal life is important in an effort to maintain balance.  However the never ending stream of phone calls hours after work is done leads to "sense of time pressure". Furthermore, using a phone as a work tool, also known as, "work extension technology", leads to excessive stress and pressure.  The societal need to be connected and be able to work when off duty ad changed to an expectation to work when off duty.  This leads to various physical and mental health problems.  Ironically, the final work product increases but the quality of personal and family life decreases.

Conclusion

Cellphones are just one aspect of technology, but it's an aspect that has seen immense growth and has changed the way society interacts with itself and how people live.  This technology has significantly changed how today's children are raised as compared to just one generation ago.  This change affects how we act when we drive and our available attention span.  Finally, the idea that we use this technology to work better is a huge benefit, but people are beginning to never leave work and that lack of separation of professional and personal life is detrimental to the person.  As a society, the way people live has changed dramatically and it can be argued the advances in cell phone technology are a major reason why. Society's dependence on phones has changed the way we live.

About the Author: Afshin is currently a Senior Security Analyst in a Security Operations Center (SOC) for a major defense contractor and is working towards his Ph.D in Information Assurance and Security.  He has held this position for several years and works hand in hand with a team of analysts that scour the internal network on a daily basis looking for threats and leveraging intelligence gained from public, private and government sources.  Prior to this position Afshin spent 15 years working the teaching world instructing on all common of the shelf programs, networking, security and various other genres of education.




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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