Reigosa Pernas 1

Sabela Reigosa Pernas

Mrs. Deborah Elam

Honors English Composition I

March, 2017

The Effects of Smartphone Use

The percentage of people that use smartphones is increasing every year,

especially among young people. According to the National Institute of Statistics and

Geography in 2016 there were 77.7 million people that used cell phones, and two out of

three users had a smartphone (inegi.org.mx). Smartphones with internet connection

make our lives much easier: they not only get people connected but also facilitate tasks

such as reading books, listening to music, taking pictures, watching videos, playing

games, creating documents, storing data and much more. However, this technology has

a downside: it can limit our attention capacity and it can cut the time spent on focusing

on our activities. Moreover, it can have harmful effects on our health and even cause

dependency. Smartphones can be characterized as slot machines that have negative

impacts on our lives.

Smartphones can limit our attention and be time consuming. Some people

usually work or study with smartphones close to them, this can lead to a loss of

concentration; if we have a smartphone with us while we are working or studying, it

keeps us off-task and provokes a waste of time whenever we check to see if we have

received a message or a notification on the phone; this lack of attention can be

extremely dangerous if we are driving a car and using our smartphone.

In addition, smartphones make us dependent on them if we need to call

somebody. For example, if someone is outside and he/she forgot the key inside the
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house, then this person has to call his/her mother and ask her to open the door. This

problem happens very often, but thanks to smartphones, we can contact people as quick

as possible. Another factor is using the smartphone to translate sentences from another

language or find words that we dont know their meaning. This resource is effective for

people who want to learn a new language or improve on their own language.

Finally, smartphones can take over our life. On the one hand, smartphones can

have negative effects on our behavior, especially when we are addicted to them and we

cannot control the duration of its usage; for example, some teenagers overreact when

their parents decide to take their smartphones away. It is necessary that parents teach

their children how to use this device with moderation. On the other hand, smartphones

can also damage our health. There are people who sleep with the smartphone next to

them. Sometimes we want to be with the smartphone until late, and it can take away our

hours of sleep. In addition, there are more problems that are attributed to smartphones

usage like eye problems: eye soreness, dizziness, blurry vision and headaches.

All in all, smartphones are transforming modern society in ways that can have

negative effects on our life, health and personal relationships; we must be aware of

these effects. We should achieve moderation in our usage of smartphones and we

should give us time to be with the people we love and to experience real life. We need a

healthy relationship with technology and we have to bet for healthy bodies, minds and

relationships.
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References

Tripp, M. (2013, December 19). The Harmful Effects of Smartphones - Boston

Magazine. Retrieved from

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/blog/2013/12/19/smartphones-bad-for-

eyes/

E. Brody, J. (2017, January 10). How smartphone addiction is affecting our physical

and mental health | The Seattle Times. Retrieved from

http://www.seattletimes.com/life/wellness/how-smartphone-addiction-is-

affecting-our-physical-and-mental-health/

Instituto Nacional de Estadstica Geografa, I. (2016, May 13). Estadsticas a

propsito del da mundial de internet (17 de mayo). Retrieved from

http://www.inegi.org.mx/saladeprensa/aproposito/2016/internet2016_0.pdf