Are You Addicted? Who Cares?

We’re all a little scared to lose our phone and that’s okay.

My cell phone is my lifeline. I cannot leave my house without my phone. If I do, there’s a 99.9999% chance I’m turning around to get it. I can’t simply go through a day without it. I’m unable to contact anyone, listen to music, find information, or do anything really. If you’re anything like me, then you’d probably be considered to have mild nomophobia or no-mobile-phone phobia—the fear of being without or unable to use one’s cell phone.

The basis of this fear is that people have become so addicted to their phones and technology that they’re collectively becoming dumber and lazier. Why bother remembering how to spell when autocorrect will do it for you? What’s the point in retaining information if you can do a quick Google search? Your phone can easily solve all your issues, so there’s no point in you doing anything yourself unless you lose it, leave it, or have no signal.

Obviously, being upset or off-put by losing something that costs you $800 is completely normal and shows no signs of addiction. And honestly losing a signal is annoying, but leaving your phone should be no true inconvenience. The idea of nomophobia has to do with people trying to find a cause for their inhibitions about technology they didn’t grow up with. My generation grew up with phones. People from the generation before us claim that we have an addiction and now a phobia. Phones are not harmful to humans, but because phones are forcing people and society to change and confirm, every Baby Boomer is quick to explain why phones suck and we should go back to the “good ole days” where you had to dial up the Internet and use dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Every time new technology is created people have their reservations about it, but technology is meant to make life easier and help humans progress. Just because you rely on your phone to contact your family doesn’t mean you have an addiction. Just because you hate when your phone signal goes out doesn’t mean you have a phobia. I think the numbers of people who actually have nomophobia are much less than people want to believe. I know so many people who could easily not use their phones or other technology in exchange for hanging out with friends, playing a sport, or reading a book. But phones make things so much easier. I argue that we do not fear being without our phones, but people just fear progression and change.

By Breanna Bonslater, Junior, Perspectives Math and Science Academy

Twitter @Breezy14_