Imagine living in a world without smartphones. These cellular devices allow the users better coverage of network and access to the internet. Therefore, their absence would mean that the users would have to rely on computers to browse the web. Smartphones have additional features such as cameras, high storage capacities, and speed, which give the users better experience. Despite the benefits, smartphones are very addictive. Due to their size, the users carry the phones to all places accessing them instantly to communicate, take photos and record videos. However, the addictive nature of the devices is likely to cause accidents to the users and trigger medical issues in organs such as the eyes.
When undertaking any activity that requires keen attention, the cellular devices tend to distract the mind of the users, which might lead to accidents. For example, the number of accidents that arise from texting while driving is extremely high. Smartphones require frequent attention, which distracts the users to accord the phone the necessary care (Carr 2). Academic institutions discourage the use of smartphones in class since they capture the minds of the students from concentrating in class. Students that fail to heed to such policies perform poorly due to the constant distractions that affect their understanding of the topic under discussion. Therefore, smartphones can lead to accidents and poor performance in class.
The addictive nature of the phones pushes the users to check on them throughout the day. Some of the users wake up at night to respond to chats from friends and acquaintances. The frequent contact between the eyes and the blue light tends to degeneration of the macula. The degeneration poses a severe risk of loss of vision for the users, especially those that wake up at night and start using the smartphones. Secondly, blue light affects the retina, whose purpose is capturing images for the brain to process. Extensive use of smartphones may lead to loss of vision due to the blue light emitted (Sancar 2205).
Despite the challenges, it is worth noting that the benefits of smartphones are incredibly high. For example, the devices can be beneficial to students in research. Internet access through smartphones enables students to access books from online universities throughout the world. Therefore, students from the developing countries have the chance to read widely despite the absence of books in their local libraries (Meho 1290). Besides, the cellular devices ease the process of communication from one person to another. The connection can be in the form of calls, text messages, voice calls or even video calls. Such diversity gives the users a higher advantage as opposed to the traditional phones.
The first step of reducing the adverse effects associated with smartphones is to regulate usage. Users of the devices should keep the gadgets away when undertaking activities that require maximum attention such as reading or driving. Such measures will reduce the possibilities of suffering the negative repercussions. More so, the users should avoid staring at the phones for long or use a pair of spectacles when using the smartphones for longer. Using such changes, the users will maintain good health for their eyes, perform better in class, and avoid accidents while driving. The potential benefits from smartphones are many; however. Lack of mechanisms to control the usage poses a severe threat to the users.
Works Cited
Carr, Nicholas. "How smartphones hijack our minds." The Wall Street Journal (2017).
Meho, Lokman I. "E‐mail interviewing in qualitative research: A methodological discussion." Journal of the American society for information science and technology 57.10 (2006): 1284-1295.
Sancar, Aziz. "Structure and function of DNA photolyase and cryptochrome blue-light photoreceptors." Chemical reviews103.6 (2003): 2203-2238.
