Cell Phone Reality Check

I got in trouble with my daughter a few weeks back.  We were out to dinner and my cell phone kept vibrating in my pocket.  It finally got the best of me so I checked a couple of times to see if I had a text or phone call.  Okay, I admit that I am tied to my mobile device.  I keep my calendar on it and use it to store a lot of information.  Since I work part-time for a chaplaincy service, it is the way my hospitals reach me in an emergency.  Yes,I also use it to get news and for social media.  I also know it is rude to use the phone during meal times… but sometimes curiosity gets the best of me. 

We tend to complain about teens and young adults and the way that they seemed to be tied to their mobile devices, but older adults might be just as bad.  A recent Pew Research poll indicates that 65% of American adults use social networking sites.  That is up 7% since Pew Research first started tracking media usage in 2005.  While use among teens and young adults has remained steady, the number of older adults using mobile devices for social media has climbed dramatically.  Currently, 35% of those 65 and older report using social media, compared to 2% in 2005.

I recently read a study that seems to indicate that teens still value face to face communication.  The research comes from YouGov.  It found that more than seven in ten teen mobile device users said they at least somewhat prefer to hanging out with friends to chatting online.  The reality is most teens still enjoy hanging out with their friends the traditional way.

Before we start criticizing teens and young adults for being tied to their mobile devices, take a look at our own habits.  Maybe we need to be better role models when it comes to our own use of our cell phones.