The Tragedy of the Cell Phone

Have you ever felt aggravated by someone using their cell phone in public without any regard to those surrounding them? The use of cell phones has become a common source of disrespect in public settings, which could be linked to society experiencing cultural lag. Cultural lag, coined by sociologist William Ogburn, is described as “the period of time between the introduction of a new technology and the much more time-consuming social adaptation to that new technology.” People have not socially adapted to rules of etiquette surrounding this relatively new form of technology.


The first cell phone call was placed on April 3, 1973 in New York City by a man named Martin Cooper, who worked for Motorola. It was a rather large phone by today’s standards, weighing in at thirty ounces. The cell phone was not brought into the market until ten years later in 1983, when they were used for commercial service and was priced at an astounding $3,500. Luckily, with time and development, both size and price have decreased, making it available and appealing to the mass public.

Now, in the year 2007, it is nearly impossible to go anywhere without seeing dozens of people chatting away on their cell phones. Cell phones are everywhere, from drivers on the highways, shoppers in grocery stores, diners in restaurants, and even children in schools. With a wide variety of functions, convenience, and effectiveness, it is easy to see why so many people use cell phones.

As with all technology, there are gains and losses. The gains seem quite obvious; however, it takes a little more searching to truly see what is lost. One loss of high concern is the lack of common courtesy and respect towards others. Everyday, people disrespect others by using phones while driving, in educational settings, and in public places such as restaurants and movie theaters.

Drivers who use cell phones are not only jeopardizing the safety of their own lives, but also the lives of others around them. Imagine someone having to live with the guilt of taking the life of someone! Envision how furious the victims family and friends would be if they found out the accident that took their loved one’s life could have been easily prevented by putting a cell phone
down.

Driving is a dangerous activity. Combine driving with a distraction such as a cell phone and you get a lethal combination. Conversing over the phone causes drivers to advert their attention and concentration, losing track of what is going on around them. A survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in January 2007 found that of 1,200 drivers, seventy-three percent talk on their cell phones while driving.

Hands-free devices have emerged in an attempt to make driving while talking safer. A study from researchers at the University of Utah concluded that talking on a cell phone while driving, even with a hands-free device, is as dangerous as driving drunk. The driver is still attempting to concentrate on their conversation instead of on their driving while using this device.

Drivers also send and receive text messages while driving, adverting their attention and eyes. In the same survey by Nationwide, it was found that nineteen percent of motorists text message while driving. An August 2006 survey conducted by Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) showed that text messaging is considered to be the teenage driver’s biggest distraction. It is known that text messaging while driving is prevalent among teenagers.

Driving while text messaging is not the only way teenagers disrespect others. They also use cell phones in educational settings, such as in classrooms and libraries. Have you ever been in the middle of taking a test or exam, when all of a sudden a fellow student’s cell phone blasts an obnoxious song or tone and your train of thought completely vanishes? It not only irritates the teacher or professor, but also the classmates of that student. The instructor will usually then proceed to dismiss the student from the test or take their cell phone away, but either way it is another distraction that the students are faced with.

Libraries are another educational setting where cell phones are disrespectfully used. The library is supposed to be a quiet, relaxing place where students can focus on reading, studying and completing assignments. When there are cell phones ringing and people talking on their phones, it can be quite disturbing to those around them who are just trying to make the best of their education. Cell phones became such a problem at Yale that they decided to do something about it. In one of the school’s residential colleges, they prohibited the use of cell phones in its library, and asked that the students keep them on silent instead of vibrate.

There are many public places, including libraries, where cell phone use is a sign of rude behavior. Public places include locations such as restaurants, movie theaters, grocery stores, shopping malls, and churches. In an ABC News poll released in September, eighty-seven percent of respondents said the bad behavior they observed the most was people making annoying cell phone calls.

It is without a doubt that cell phones are causing society to change, for both the good and the bad. The cell phone recently topped the list of inventions that people hated the most but cannot live without in a 2004 MIT survey. With the various ways people use cell phones in a disrespectful manner, it is easy to see why people may hate the invention. How can a person show that there are far more positives than negatives when it comes to cell phones? You can pull over to answer your cell phone while driving, put your cell phone on silent while in public, and give everyone around you the time and respect that they deserve. We are not robots; we need attention and kindness in our lives.

Click here for a funny video on cell phone etiquette.