In today's society, everyone is carrying around and or using some sort of electronic device. Yes, they are necessary to have, but there have been some studies conducted that will make you think twice about how long and how often you use your electronic device.
The video game industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the modern era. In 2013 alone, Americans spent $17.39 billion on video games. In the United States, 150 million Americans play video games, averaging 6.3 hours a week. There has been a study done that shows that playing video games that involve war, violence, and murder for a substantial amount of time can lead to little patience, irritability, and fights. There have also been studies shown that texting while gaming can lead to frequent headaches, swelling in your thumb, and soreness in your hands.
Other electronic devices frequently used are cell phones. Cell phones have been a vastly growing commodity for the last nine years or so and they are becoming so popular that you see kids in elementary school with iPhones. I don’t know about you, but when I was younger, kids were lucky to have a cell phone before they reached middle school. The problem with cell phones today isn’t the cell phone itself, it is what you can do on phones. Social media has become a very popular way of communicating with people, to the point where people have actually become addicted to social media and their cell phones. Studies have shown that cell phone addiction, in regards to youth, can cause a negative effect on communication skills, a lack of productivity and numerous health risks. Some of which include: lower self-esteem, neck and back pain, and some studies have shown that the chemicals in cell phones can actually lead to cancer.
The addiction to cell phones is not only very prevalent in our society but it is affecting how some people act towards one another. I, personally, would love to have lived in an era where cell phones didn’t exist. A time where you would have to talk to entertain others and have more profound relationships with people. This is kind of crazy to think about since most of our generation won’t have that growing up.
Instead of being on an electronic device for more than six hours a day, go out and meet people and explore the world around you. An elderly man wrote a list about living life and it has become pretty popular. In the list, which can be found here, he isn’t telling people to make sure they check Twitter or make sure their kill-death ratio in "Call of Duty" is good. He is telling everyone to take in all the little things in life, because before you know it, they could all be gone.
