I Learned It From You, Dad, I Learned From Watching You
from the this-is-your-brain-on-text-messages dept
A hard-hitting new study -- with a sample size of 33 -- has found that American kids are so dependent on their mobile phones these days that not having one for a day was "was tantamount to sacrificing an appendage." It doesn't seem too surprising that kids are tied to their phones, and we've seen these "I'll die without my phone" stories before. Furthermore, is it really that surprising that kids are so attached to their phones when Mommy and Daddy can't get in the car without calling somebody and can't put down their BlackBerry? Saying people are addicted to technology is old hat. If things are so dire, why not teach people how to better deal with technology instead of just reveling in naming another addiction?
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Learned my Addiction on my own
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I haven't reloaded minutes in my pay-as-you-go cell in 4 months. Will be traveling next weekend, so I'll probably use it then. Two, maybe three times.
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Really who needs one just to talk? Are they really worth 25-30 cent a minute? Some are cheaper than that but come on! I can get local calls for free and if im away leave it on the machine lol.
Truly on a serious side they are helpful in many ways but I dont have a really bad need for one. They to me just overcharge for the minutes.
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yep!
"oh I'd die w/o ..."
kids, if it's about socializing, get off the couch and visit your friends *sheeesh!* I wish my best friends still lived within walking distance.
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what?
Truthfully I end up ignoring more of my phone calls than ansering them. I believe I miss my phone more because it is my lifline to telephone numbers. I don't have 1/3 of the phone numbers in my address book memorized.
What happened to us to become so dependent upon technology?
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Cell Phones
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1. dont need one
2. wast of money
3. i dont want smacktards calling me all the time
if i need to talk to someone, i like face to face so i can smack them for wasting my time
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Generalization
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I'd die w/o my cellphone...
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Re: I'd die w/o my cellphone...
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Without..
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what? not realy
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Young people and cellphones
They are always the fastest group of people to absorb just about any thing, be it music, visual media, social upheaval, racial issues, technology, violence, drugs, religion, etc., etc., keeping the good, changing the wrong, modifying the extreme, and bringing whats left into the mainstream. It's their brushstrokes on the big canvas.
By and large, they don't turn out for the worst despite the seemingly overwhelming odds, and I know 18 year olds who can hold their own in any serious conversation on any topic and add fresh viewpoints that are, on occasion, stunningly valuable insights. Of course, I also know a few insufferable adults who should never say a word.
The stereotype of the gum smacking brat with a phone stuck to her ear is just another case of judging the book by the cover...sure, she exists on the surface but think back to your own youth and you might remember that nearly all of us put up some kind of front to cover our sensitivity and vulnerability, and to belong to some group (read: to have friends). And lots of us still do exactly that, right on into our senior years.
The gum smacker will likely graduate from college and live a productive life, pay taxes, donate to charity, and all that good stuff that our future stability depends on.
Technology isn't going away and it doesn't matter. Look how many young posters have stated here that they don't use them, don't feel the need to talk to anyone that much (like me, I've sworn them off for the same reason).
A good number of the younger kids I have spoken with carry cellphones that can only call numbers programmed by their parents, and they see this as a sort of discipline or training phase - rather than complain, they accept the limitation as appropriate for their particular age, assuming that they will "graduate" eventually to full access phones. Healthy and mature attitude.
As far as "tantamount to sacrificing an appendage" or "I'll die without my phone" goes, kids have always used hyperbole when describing how they feel about things. It comes from an incompletely formed language framework and the strong emotions that characterize adolescence. Give them a break. I remember a certain late '70's Mustang "Boss 429" that I clearly stated I would kill for. Trust me, I wasn't a murderous psychopath in the making, just an overexcited kid.
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