7 Negative Effects of Mobile Phones on Society
While there are many benefits of mobile phones – being close to your loved ones, infotainment, helpful in emergency situations, the negative effects of mobile phones on society are largely ignored.
Mobile phones have become an important part of our lives.
No one can imagine a day without looking at their mobile screen. You might even be reading this article on your mobile phone.
But excessive mobile phone usage has a negative effect on our society. Spending too much time on a mobile screen affects children’s development and education, social interaction, and family relationships.
In this blog post, we will highlight the harmful effect of cell phones on society. You will get to know exactly what cell phones are doing to our society after you’ve finished reading this blog post.
1. Effects of Mobile Phones on Children and Teens
Giving mobile phones to children is an easy way to keep them occupied. A lot of parents use this strategy to stop their children from nagging them all the time. However, this approach can have disastrous results on the children.
Among the many harmful effects of mobile phones on children includes excessively being engrossed on mobile screen for hours. It impacts psychology and development of a child. The use of mobile phones by children interferes with parental bonding.
According to Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental and behavioralpediatrician at Boston Medical Center, a lack of interaction between the parents and child can lead to development problems.
The use of the internet on cell phones exposes children to inappropriate behaviors. They can easily access sites showing age inappropriate content. This can have a negative impact on the psyche of the children, leading to disturbing behavior.
Moreover, the negative impact of mobile phones on youths is well-documented.
Studies have shown that teenagers who are addicted to cell phone usage are prone to anxiety, addiction, and depression.
2. Effects of Cellphones on Education
Cell phones effect on education is also a serious societal concern that should not be ignored. Most students could identify the positive impact of mobile phone usage – increased creativity, productivity, and motivation for learning.
But the negative effects of mobile phone usage in class outweigh the benefits. Students who use mobile phones excessively perform poorly in class as compared to those who don’t.
A study had found that cell phone usage in class can have a negative impact on learning outcome due to distraction. Those who use smartphones in class tend to recall less information, and therefore perform badly in exams.
Another study published in the Journal of Community Medicine and Health Education highlighted many other bad effects of mobile phones on students. The scholars had found that excessive use of mobile phones leads to headache, irritability, and anger.
Other common side effects of mobile phones on students included anxiety, insomnia, eye strain, body aches, and mobile phone thumb.
Impact of mobile phone on a student’s life is another area of concern. One study found empirical proof that students who spend a lot of time using their mobile phone become socially deficit.
The use of mobile phone negatively affects social relationships. Teenagers who spend a lot of their time on their cell phones become socially withdrawn. They tend to spend time browsing the net or watching movies instead of interacting with others.
The self-enforced isolation can have a negative effect on the social and emotional development of teenagers. They will lack the social skills required to form close relationships with others during their adult lives.
3. Effects of Mobile Phone on Crime
The bad effect of mobile phone on crime has also been highlighted numerous times. the prices of smartphones are on the rise, many people resort to stealing them if they can’t afford them.
The high price of smartphones has not gone unnoticed by the criminals, making it a hot item among them. According to the FCC, nearly 1 million smartphone thefts occur each year in the US.
These mobile phones are not just being stolen for their monetary values. The confidential information they contain is used by thieves to carry out identity thefts. They can use the personal information to open new accounts or buy properties.
Additionally, mobile phone usage has played a role in increasing the incidence of stalking and harassment cases. This is a serious concern particularly for young women.
Criminals use mobile devices to stalk women, verbally harass, or entice them to have sex with them. A study by Opennet had found that kids between 13 to 17 year old are the most vulnerable to inappropriate mobile activity.
4. Impact of Mobile Phone on Health
The increasing usage of mobile phone negatively impacts health. Various studies have shown that mobile phone usage leads to increased risk of cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had classified radiation from mobile phones as possibly carcinogenic.
The researchers have also found that the use of mobile phone leads to changes in sleep patterns, leading to insomnia. Spending time staring on the screen has been associated with poor sleep efficiency and shorter sleep duration.
The lack of sleep results in a host of medical problems including a high risk of diabetes, heart attack, and depression. Moreover, constantly checking social media can result in lack of self-esteem, confidence, and sense of worthlessness.
5. Effects of Mobile Phone on Social Life
The negative effects of cell phones on social interactions are also a serious concern. The use of smartphones is taking a toll on our relationships with our friends. For most people, texting is better than talking to others face-to-face.
Today, people are more engrossed with their mobile phones rather than with the physical surroundings. This level of connectivity leads to a strain on their social lives.
The fact is mobile phones are replacing cherished personal moments with loved ones. They appreciate screen time more than face time during personal interactions. People feel more at ease expressing sentiments through phone instead of face to face.
In a book the Thumb Culture, author Hans Geser says that mobile phones encourage a person to close-up instead of open up to new acquaintances. They consider wireless communication to be more important than face to face communication.
The lack of social interaction due to increasing cell phone usage leads to broken friendships. It creates social isolation that breeds emotional problems such as anxiety, depression, anger management issues, and other emotional problems.
Cell phones are changing the way people interact with each other. Excessive mobile phone usage is damaging the social fabric of society.
Smartphone usage is making people lose touch with reality. The phones are secluding us from our friends. Most of us prefer interacting with strangers through WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook rather than connect with friends in real life.
By constantly staring at our mobile screen, we are losing out on the beautiful moments of life with close friends and family members.
6. Effects of Cellphones on Relationships
The use of smartphones has a negative effect on relationships. A partner who looks at the cell phone regularly during conversation gives the message that the phone is more important. This can leave the other partner feeling ignored and unappreciated.
Spending time on phone rather than with each other can decrease intimacy. Constantly checking the phone disrupts communication during a romantic moment or meal time. It creates a feeling of rejection which negatively impacts the psychological health of a person.
Using a mobile phone more often lead to a lack of emotional connection.
Couples fail to have a meaningful conversation when they are distracted by constantly checking their mobile phones. The maladaptive habit of checking mobiles phone at random and especially at wrong times can lead to strain in the relationship.
The excessive use of mobile phones also manifests in changes in the behavior. It leads to increased irritability and impatience. This results in a feeling of animosity between the couples resulting in lower relationship satisfaction levels.
Overtime, the feelings fester and result in a bitter fight between the partners. Even a minor feeling of rejection can seem extremely painful particularly for women.
The hurt feelings can lead to a negative mood, reduced self-esteem, resentment and anger. This ultimately leads to a discord, even resulting in a divorce.
The best thing couples can do is to put the phone down and completely focus on the interaction. They need to take eyes off the phone and focus on each other if they want to enjoy a blissful marital relationship.
7. Dangerous Driving
The most dangerous effect of mobile phone usage is using a mobile phone while driving. Despite the fact that using mobile phone while driving is illegal, most people can’t resist the urge to reply.
Using mobile phone distracts the attention of the driver. Drivers who use mobile phone while driving have reduced visual information of the road ahead which increases the risk of accidents that might even prove fatal.
Teens mostly find it harder to not reply to every text message while driving. This has been largely blamed for teen motor vehicle crashes.