This day in age, it is very easy for young people to be very caught up in there cell phones. More often than not, they are more caught up in their cell phones than they are in their schoolwork, their families, and their personal lives.
It never fails for me to be out and about somewhere and see kids my age on their phones constantly when soemeone, whether it be their parents or some other elder, trying to have a conversation with these kids and the phone is the point of their focus. Not only is this disrespectful to whoever is trying to have a conversation with you, but it is also damaging to you because you may miss important pieces of information that soemone may want to relay to you.
This fact of missing important information is also true when it comes to overusing one's phone in the classroom. You may miss important pieces of information the instructor is trying to teach to you. I know that I have been guilty of this plenty of times and it has affected my grades on some assignments. Additionally, I was always taught by my parents to show my complete devotion and attention to anyone that is speaking to me. Whenever you are too focused on your phone to look the person you are having a conversation with in the eye, you know that it is time for you to put the phone down.
I for one am a big proponent for ditching the phone at work, at the dinner table, or at an important event such as church. My generation tends to let their cell phones control them and you often can miss out on many valubale experiences if you are too concerned about your cell phone. The important conversations at the dinner table with your family, simply listening to a friend, and the activity that you are missing out on at the moment.
My advice to kids my age is to just put the phone down whenever you get the chance. I actually love being able to leave my phone somewhere charging and not have to worry about checking it constantly whenever I can. It is such a distraction and keeps me from having mea inful conversation with the people that really matter.
My other piece of advice is to not use your cell phone in a location in which it would be frowned upon. Do not text in church, for example. It is rude to whoever is speaking and people around you WILL notice and they will care. The older women in church will be especially upset with you!
I promise that if you are reading this, you will be able to survive without your phone for more than five minutes. It is not a neccessity and those text messages, Instagram notifications, and Snapchats will all be there when you return. Live in the moment and enjoy what you are doing at that moment. Phones are so overrated.
