Cell phones bar social relations
By Lisa Moreno
In our technologically savvy society, owning a cell phone has become as common as carrying a set of keys. According to a 2004 survey by the Student Monitor, a marketing group that collects data on college students, more than 78 percent of college students own a cell phone.
This statistic is hardly surprising. If you spend about 15 minutes observing your fellow students, I'm confident that you too will agree.
It seems to me, however, that having a device that is supposed to foster communication may be interfering with our face-to-face interactions.
Granted, I will be the first one to admit that I am a card-carrying member of the cell phone club of America, and I realize all of the perks and niceties that cell phones offer.
Currency exchange calculators, quality ringtones, phone books, calendars and cameras are just a few of the features that we have become accustomed to. Not to mention the freedom that comes from having the entire Internet in the palm of your hand in some cases. Oh yeah, and we use them in the event of an emergency, too.
Now, surely our dependence on cell phones didn't start overnight and naturally we can't be totally to blame for it. Right? Maybe your parents were worried about you when you first started driving, and in the name of safety you received a new cell phone. Eventually the use of your cell phone became more than just a tool for the road. It was viewed as a status symbol. All of your friends started getting one, and before you knew it your entire group was wired.
We never looked back. Today our need and obsession has only been amplified with more features, clearer communication and cell phone companies catering to our immediate gratification mentality.
Regardless of our conditioned past and the fact that we are simply used to life with our cell phones, I still believe that our dependence on cell phones is preventing us from meeting and speaking to some potentially interesting people.
Imagine this. It's 7:52 a.m. and you've just strolled into class. You get settled in and, rather than striking up a conversation with the next person who walks through the door, you obey the theory of civil inattention and grab your cell phone.
Perhaps it's that invigorating game of Tetris or maybe your messages really do need checking for the third time on that morning. Whatever the case may be, you are passing up opportunities to interact with other human beings at the expense of your ongoing affair with the "please enter your password" woman. Don't worry, you are "occupied" and that justifies the fact that you are ignoring the person who has sat next to you in class for the past eight weeks.
Maybe it's just too awkward to strike up a conversation with someone that you know nothing about. But if that is the case, then why do we grab our phones the moment we step out of class as well?
Do we really need to check in with our friends who are one building over and that we saw less than 90 minutes ago? Do we really think that we are going to miss something?
Perhaps we want to appear more important than we actually are. Giving onlookers the impression that our time is so valuable that we must multi-task just to stay on top of the social scene.
I would suggest that for one day, we turn our cell phones off, stow them in an out-of-reach compartment and start taking in the people around us. Just imagine what your friends will think when they can't get a hold of you!
I believe that it is time to rethink the purposes that our cell phones actually serve for us. Why not give up the compulsive calling for one day, just to see how it feels?
Think of the people you may meet or the opportunities that you may find. Who knows, with the money you save on minutes, you can buy an even more techno-chic cell phone.
* Lisa Moreno is a junior.