These days smartphones are ubiquitous. It’s amazing to realize that you hold in your hand a tiny computer that has more processing power than anything available to NASA during the Apollo years. It’s also amazing, when you have teenagers, to realize that they are capable of ignoring everything around them while texting and sending photos to friends:
“House is on fire … apocalypse …let’s go.”
“Uh huh — just a second.”
While there are health effects from cell phone usage, they may not be quite what we always thought. I still hear the occasional discussion of links between cell phones and brain tumors, but there hasn’t ever been any compelling evidence that cell-phone-induced radio frequency radiation causes malignancy. If you don’t believe me, here’s a link to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health: http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet.
One possible consequence of our endless mobile phone usage is neck pain. We typically text or read our phones with our necks bent forward, which can cause pain and strain. It has been called “text neck,” and here is some advice from the Cleveland Clinic on how to deal with the problem: http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/03/text-neck-is-smartphone-use-causing-your-neck-pain/.
Obviously, phone usage while driving (“distracted driving”) is associated with a large number of car crashes, both fatal and non-fatal. In fact, the CDC says phone usage was associated with one in five crashes in 2011 (http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving/). This is certainly an important point to drive home to everyone in the family, young and old, as it involves talking on the phone as well as sending text messages.
It’s no surprise to me, but the National Safety Council has also identified “distracted walking” as an issue, since people simply aren’t paying attention, particularly as they walk in urban areas near traffic (http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowledge/Pages/news-and-resources-pedestrian-safety.aspx). (Not to mention the fact that endless phone gazing prevents us from noticing other dangers such as violent criminals.)
While there are probably lots of other issues we need to keep in mind in our perpetual electronic connection to the world, such as sleep cycles, inappropriate websites, etc., another recently caught my eye. While it’s an animal study, the researchers involved felt it might be relevant in humans:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160105132724.htm.
What it suggests is that when we engage in “distracted parenting,” it may have long-term effects on the development of our children. Again, it’s research in rats, but here are some other insights from real children on the way they perceive their parents’ phone usage: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/04/21/304196338/for-the-childrens-sake-put-down-that-smartphone.
Sorry for all of the links this month, but I think this is an interesting topic. I value my phone and the fact that I can so instantly connect with the people I love. I enjoy the access it gives me to data I use in my work, as well as music, entertainment, shopping and all the rest. But even good things have to be used with caution, especially when it comes to the health and safety of our kids.
Feel free to check your texts now.