Negative effects of overusing mobile phone

As well as the development of smartphone, mobile phone no longer restricted to the use of calling others, but taking photos, surfing the net, playing mobile games. There are varieties kinds of apps that contain entertainment and even medical information. Mobile health, a term used for the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices benefit us a lot. However, these appealing apps also make more and more people are having the problem of addiction to phone. It is so common that experts have given it a name: "Nomophobia"(no-mobile-phone-phobia). According to a recent survey, found that 84 percent of the world's population said they could not go one day without their phones, and current research shows that nearly two-thirds of teens and young adults check their phones every 15 minutes or less. ( FITNESS Magazine) And this essay I would focus on how overusing mobile phone have negative influence on our health.




We can always see people using their phone whatever they are doing. During the transport time, eating time, even when we go to sleep, we need to make sure that the phone is next to us, maybe as a alarm clock. However, this tool that we can’t lack may also bring harms to our health, here’s are some examples.


Eye damage
Addicted to smartphones may increase their risk of eye damage. As while we use the phone, we are closer to the monitor than we normally look at objects, it would strain our eyes. Also, when we are focusing on using a phone, we would blink less than usual which provide not enough tears keep our eyes moist.

Furthermore, when using the smart phone, the monitor would peak out blue violet light which is harmful to our eyes. Optician Andy Hepworth said” Blue violet light is potentially hazardous and toxic to the back of your eyes.” it is potential to put us at greater risk of macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness.(BBC News)




Neck Pain
Using the phone excessively can lead to text neck-- a term CNN health coined for the aches we may feel in our shoulders neck and head. to correct it. When we are using the phone, we have to keep the head down to stare at our phone. The posture would increase the pressure on the neck a lot more than a facing forward position. Regarding to Dr Kenneth Hansraj, he says that our heads weigh between 10lb and 12lb normally. But when we angle them down to look at our phones, the effective weight on our necks increases – at a 15-degree angle it is about 27lb rising to 60lb at 60 degrees. If we drop our chin on to our chest for a long period, it causes head pain, neck pain, arm pain and numbness.(Homa Khaleeli)


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Anxiety and depression
Daily overuse of mobile phone may make people more prone to anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders either. As smartphones have given us the ability to be immediately connected to answer calls, emails, texts, and social media updates. ( Addictiontreatment )Users may not be able to resist the urge to respond everything right away and constantly worry about missing out any message because it is the way they connect with others. worry about missing out on a text or Facebook update because it is the way they connect with other. This kind of unnecessary stress is also an obvious sign of Nomophobia.



Apart from the destructive health problems that overusing mobile phones may cause, Scientists also report that using the phone may change brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns. These effects are minor and have no apparent health significance. But it does are not good for our health. When we sleep next to the phone, it would release the effect that makes us 'hypervigilant' and disturb our sleep and we end up not getting enough of the restorative sleep we need. It might also trigger insomnia and other sleeping problems. More controversially, there are suggestions that sleeping with your mobile by your bed may cause dizziness and headaches.(JENNIE AGG)


Having a smart phone does benefit us a lot. As one of the people that can’t live a day without a phone and have the problem of text neck. Suffering from the pain of neck and shoulder all the time, I would feel tired easily and it definitely can ruin your day. So, if you don’t have any of this health problem but you are also addicted to your phone, I feel lucky for you and here’s the kind reminder: Stay healthy and don’t overuse your smartphone!




Reference
5 Shocking Ways Your Cell Phone is Hurting Your Health
FITNESS Magazine Healthy Living 10 Jan, 2013
https://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/healthy-living/5-shocking-ways-cell-phone-hurting-health-172900717.html

Smartphone overuse may 'damage' eyes, say opticians
BBC News 28 Mar, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/26780069


Text neck: How smartphones are damaging our spines
Homa Khaleeli, 24 Nov, 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2014/nov/24/text-neck-how-smartphones-damaging-our-spines


5 Signs Your Teen Is Addicted to the Smartphone
addictiontreatment in Top Feature, 30 May, 2013
http://www.addictiontreatmentmagazine.com/top-feature/5-signs-your-teen-is-addicted-to-the-smartphone/


Why you should NEVER keep your mobile in your bedroom
JENNIE AGG FOR THE DAILY MAIL, 11 Mar, 2014
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2577824/Why-NEVER-mobile-bedroom.html

How social media influence family relationship

Nowadays Social media Websites is one of the most common activities among teenagers. It is hard to imagine living without social media as we are so much depending on them to communicate with other and contact with the outside world. First, let’s define what social media is: Any Website that allows social interaction is considered a social media site, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; gaming sites and virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; video sites such as YouTube; and blogs.(SAYENPURE) Such sites offer teenagers a platform for leisure and communication. 

However, everything has pros and cons. Social media does convenient us in many ways, but it should be aware that not all of the social media sites give healthy information for teenagers. Also, it is not always doing a favor in all kind of relationships. And in this essay, I would focus on talking about how social media influence family relationship.


I would start by discussing the advantages that social media bring to family relationship.




First, it can help strengthen relationship through sharing. As social media can bring instant sharing, family can know each other latest situation more. For example, Facebook is a welcomed site that people can share their status with the friends and family. By uploading a photos or sharing feelings and opinion, people can know about where you are, what you are doing and who are you spending with. Your friends and family can also common on it to make an interaction.

Also, it provides a more convenient way for long distance family members to communicate. Parents and children separated by migration can continue to care each other through new media such as Skype and social networking sites. Before these media came out, migrant families could only communicate through occasional letters and expensive phone calls.
(Mirca Madianou, Daniel Mille)



Furthermore, the social media create more common topic for parents and children to discuss about. As the social media is so common, not only the teenagers, the adults can also know more about the heat topic and popular culture through the internet. Just like the wave of PSY and Frozen the previous time. Parents can know more about what their children are hitting on if they have seen the same video.



Nevertheless, social media may also cause some other family problems. One of the most common result is that teenagers may neglect the family relationships due to internet use.

Family members spend more time in surreal communication than in face to face communication. Since it is hard to represent feeling through internet, it may easily cause misunderstanding. Despite there are many cute emojis in the social media nowadays, it is hard to express the really emotion. People used to react differently with their emoji when they are texting. When you send a people a smiley face, it is not actually building any common ground but just participating in a common dialect. It doesn’t actually bring two people closer in real life. ( Marissa Miller)

Teenagers that always present on social media show more signs of other psychological disorders, including anti-social behaviors.( Larry Rosen) This may make them having less motivation to communicate with their parents or share about their daily life. Overtime, estrangement might easily cause if one party does not explain him or herself clearly.


Apart from this, the trust of family maybe damaged as family member spying on others in social media. Since many teenagers are somehow rebellious and more likely to share their status with their peers than their family. Teenagers may block their parents and relative’s accounts so that they can’t view their latest status.

Recently, there is funny news that a mother changed her profile picture and pretended to be a hot girl “Angela” that interested in her son and chatted with him on “line”
They started to know each other more and eventually, when the son wanted to ask “Angela” out, she told him that he was tricked.

For sure it is only a sincere joke but not an online scam. However, it is actually a bit tragic that the mum needs to pretend to be other to understand him more. It shows that somehow social media may not be direct bridge for different generations to communicate. Even worse, it may cause suspicion over each other.

As a result, it is doubtless that social media bring us a lot of convenience, it makes us easily to share and communicate with our friends and family whenever we are. However, it is only a tool that tries to improve our lives. If we have to bring up a healthy family relationship, we can not only depend on these social media websites. Real life communicate can’t be neglected to maintain the trust and understanding.




Reference
Migration and New Media: Transnational Families and Polymedia
Routledge Mirca Madianou, Daniel Mille, 17 Nov, 2011.

Apparently Using Emojis Actually Affects the Way You Feel?
Marissa Miller
http://www.teenvogue.com/my-life/2014-10/emoticons-impact-feelings

Children and Social Media
SAYENPURE 8 Nov, 2013
http://sayenpure.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/subject-children-and-social-media/

Social Networking’s Good and Bad Impacts on Kids
The American Psychological Association Larry Rosen 6 Aug, 2011
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx