Ayman Jabr 

806

11/10/14

Non-Fiction Reading Response

In the article, “ Watch out: Cell phones can be addictive” by: KathiAnn Kowalski published on September 17, 2014 it states that cell phones can be very addictive. This is because the average college student uses a smartphone for about nine hours each day. That’s longer than many of those students spend sleeping. In fact, such extended cell phone use shows that the technology could become an addiction, according to a new study. An addiction is a type of uncontrolled and unhealthy habit.

The quote “It’s well known that people can become addicted to drugs, such as alcohol, narcotics and the nicotine in cigarettes. What’s not so well known: “People can be addicted to behaviors,” says James Roberts. He’s a marketing professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Roberts also was the lead author of the new study. It appears in the August Journal of Behavioral Addictions. Some cell phone users show the same symptoms that a drug addict might have, Roberts explains. Certain people use smartphones to lift their moods. And it may take more and more time on those phones to provide the same level of enjoyment.” This quote really made me start to think because of how it states that cell phones can be as addictive to someone as things like drugs and alcohol. Another quote that made me think was “ For such people, losing a phone or having its battery die could cause anxiety or panic. That’s withdrawal, says Roberts…  “I spend more time than I should on my cell phone,” said one such statement. “I get agitated when my cell phone is not in sight,” said another. (Agitated means nervous or troubled.) The more calls someone made, the more likely they were to show signs of addiction.” This startled me because of how something like cell phone battery loss or not having your pone near can make someone panic or start to have anxiety. The last quote that made me think was how it started to talk about the difference between men and womens addictions, “The data also differed a bit for men and women. Among men, for instance, signs of a possible addiction showed a positive link, or correlation, with time spent on a Bible app and apps for reading books. As use of either app increased, so did the risk of addiction. Men’s use of social media apps, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, also correlated with risk of addiction.

Women were more likely to show signs of addiction if they often used Pinterest, Instagram, Amazon or apps that let them use their phones like an iPod. Apps for the Bible, Twitter, Pandora and Spotify showed an inverse correlation. That is, heavy use of those apps was linked to a lower risk of phone addiction.

In conclusion this relates to the world because when people think about cell phones, they don’t realize how, many people struggle with being addicted to cell phones.