{"id":13545,"date":"2024-11-13T01:24:27","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T08:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2c6348b2-9abe-11e8-99ad-ca52c1e5b2af"},"modified":"2025-03-17T09:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T15:54:59","slug":"do-we-control-our-phones-or-do-they-control-us","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/do-we-control-our-phones-or-do-they-control-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Do We Control Our Phones or Do They Control Us?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you been at coffee with someone\u00a0when they stop mid-sentence because their phone lights up, then their face goes blank and they\u2019re pulled into their screen like a tractor beam? Yeah, it kinda hurts.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I understand. Sometimes I get one of those texts. And it\u2019s like those little red bubbles with numbers are always just begging me to pop them. And the right notification can divert just about any bit of work I should be doing. My phone is the first thing I look at in the morning, and the last before sleep. I think I have a problem. And I don\u2019t think I\u2019m the only one.<\/span><\/p>\n

CNN cites<\/a> that teens and tweens spend nine hours per day on media<\/span>. I heard a radio story about how a professor offered students money to give up their phones for a week, but no one would give theirs up until the price was high enough to go buy another phone. A friend of mine recently downgraded to a dumb phone because he saw how his smart one was ruling his life.<\/span><\/p>\n

It makes sense that phones are so addictive<\/a>. This\u00a0<\/span>article<\/span><\/a> in The Atlantic reveals how apps are designed to draw us in and keep us. The designers have done the research and have optimized it. The industry gets richer from our addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our phones hold huge sway in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Danger of Phone Addiction<\/h4>\n

Dependence on one’s phone has consequences. First, it\u2019s physically dangerous. A few years ago the National Safety Council\u2019s findings<\/a> said 26 percent of car crashes were caused by phones.<\/span>\u00a0Research<\/a> at Carnegie Mellon University found that just listening to someone talk on a phone can reduce the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, our conversations and closest relationships suffer. Again,\u00a0research<\/a> shows even having a phone on a table nearby during a conversation diminishes trust and empathy, and lowers the quality of the relationship<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Third, our own health is at risk.\u00a0<\/span>Our sleep is affected. CNN cites a study<\/a> that shows screen time before bed results in both taking longer to fall asleep and worse sleep quality<\/span>. The technology website MakeUseOf.com<\/a> quotes Dr. Russel Johnson at Michigan State University as saying, \u201cSmartphones are almost perfectly designed to disrupt sleep.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>In the same article, Dr. Kenneth Hansraj\u00a0says \u201ctext neck\u201d is a degenerative condition that comes from looking down at our phones too much, putting undue stress on neck and shoulders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our emotional health is impacted as well. Kent State University researchers found<\/a> that \u201c\u2026high frequency cell phone users tended to have lower GPA, higher anxiety, and lower satisfaction with life (happiness) relative to their peers who used the cell phone less often.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But just because the smartphone force is powerful and can be used for bad, doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be used for good. Denzel Washington summarized it well when on a BBC interview<\/a> he asked, \u201cAre you using your device, or is it using you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take back control, neutralize the bad our phones can do, and then use our device for good.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Neutralize the Bad<\/h4>\n