Cell Phone Addiction: 15 Numbers That Show
The Ridiculous Obsession Americans Have With Their Phones
By Michael Snyder
Have you ever had a family gathering, a social
function or a business meeting ruined by someone that was obsessed with
checking their cell phone?
I see this wherever I go, and it is one of the
reasons why I don’t like to leave the house much.
No matter who is around and no matter how
important what they are supposed to be doing may be, many Americans feel a
deep, dark compulsion to constantly check their smartphones.
As you will see below, the average user checks his
or her phone 35 times a day, but of course there are some people that are well
into the triple digits.
Cell phone addiction is very real, and that is why
there are actually rehab programs for this sort of thing.
Unfortunately, we simply can’t put the entire
country into rehab, and this problem just keeps getting worse with each passing
year.
Below, I want to share with you 15 numbers that
show how ridiculous our obsession with our smartphones has become. I
think that you will agree with me that our addiction to cell phones has gotten
way out of control…
1. The
average smartphone user checks his or her phone 35 times a day.
2. Common
Sense media just released a new survey that found that 50 percent of American teens admit that
they “feel addicted” to their smartphones.
3. Close to 70 percent of parents and teens say that
they have argued about smartphone usage.
4. 77 percent of parents say that “their
teenagers were sometimes distracted by their phones or tablets during time
spent together with family”.
5. Even
though it is illegal in almost every state, 56 percent of parents confess that they
check their mobile devices while driving.
6. 51 percent of teens admit that they have
seen their parents check their smartphones while driving.
7. A
different survey found that 75 percent of all smartphone users admit
that they have texted while driving at least once.
8. 70 percent of smartphone users check their
phones “within an hour of getting up”.
9. 56 percent of smartphone users check their
phones “within an hour of going to sleep”.
10. 61 percent of smartphone users admit that
“they regularly sleep with their cell or smartphone turned on under their
pillow or next to their bed”.
11. 48 percent of smartphone users check their
devices over the weekend.
12. 51 percent of smartphone users check their
devices continuously during their vacations.
13. 44 percent of smartphone users admit that
they would experience “a great deal of anxiety” if the phone went missing and
they were unable to replace it for a week.
14. One
survey discovered that the average cell phone user is on the device for 3 hours and 8 minutes a day.
15. A
different survey found that the average cell phone user actually spends 3.6 hours a day using
it.
No matter how you break these numbers down, they
paint a very clear picture of a society that is absolutely addicted to these
devices.
Unfortunately, this is not something that a lot of
us take very seriously. For example, just consider the following
excerpt from a CNN article.
The author openly acknowledges the obsession that she has with her smartphone,
but she is obviously not too concerned about it…
If you asked me whether I’m addicted to my
smartphone or whether I overuse it, I would say absolutely not. I pride myself
on not keeping my devices (I have two of them!) in my bedroom while I sleep,
and keeping them out of reach on the kitchen counter when I’m home with my
kids. But, every time I walk into the kitchen, I find myself checking my email
and Twitter feed.
There’s almost a gravitational pull toward my
BlackBerry and iPhone even when I know the chance that there is anything I need
to see at that moment is next to zero. I feel that same pull the minute I wake
up and make checking my devices one of the first things I do once I get out of
bed.
To me, our society was so much better off when all
we had were rotary phones that were physically tied to the wall.
In this day and age, we have a generation of
people that have been trained to think that it is okay to pull out their mobile
devices and stare into them like zombies wherever they are. And
especially among our young people there are many that start to get physically
uncomfortable if they have to talk to you for more than five minutes without
checking their phones.
Of course this is just another indication of how
“me-centered” our society has become. Our phones have literally become
extensions of ourselves, and we love to immerse ourselves in our own little
worlds.
There is something deeply narcissistic about our
love affair with these smartphones. Yes, I understand that millions of us
have to use them for work, and in many ways they do make our lives much more
convenient.
But on the other hand they are greatly
contributing to the sense of loneliness and isolation that so many Americans
are feeling these days.
Instead of having deep, meaningful relationships
with our phones, perhaps we should try having deep, meaningful relationships
with one another.
After all, previous generations of Americans
seemed to have done just fine without checking their phones every five minutes.
Related Posts:
*About
the author: Michael Snyder is the founder and publisher of End Of The American
Dream. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled “The
Rapture Verdict” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on
Amazon.com.*
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/cell-phone-addiction-15-numbers-that-reveal-the-ridiculous-obsession-americans-have-with-their-phones
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