Texting: The Statistics How much is to much?

Texting among cell phone users (especially younger ones) ha s reached a critical point, and now scientists & psychologists are debating it's effects on our health. Some even go as far to call it addictive. Of course, tex ting can be beneficial to a certain degree, but again, how much is to much? First off, think of how many texts you can send in a day? If your older (and wer en't raised with cell phones), the answer is probably, "how long it takes for me to figure out how to do it.". However, our current teenage population has shown that an extraordinarily large amount can be sent in just a few moments. Here is a real life example, however, I'll keep certain details out. A family th at I know got a bill stating that their daughter, who is a teenager in high scho ol, sent over 15,000 texts in a single month. Lets say that this was done during January, a month with 31 days. 15,000 divided by 31 is around 483 texts a day. Divide that by 24 and you get a solid 20 texts every hour. However, this isn't really realistic, since it represents a full 24 hour period. So if we say that she woke up at 5:00 A.M. and went to sleep at 9:00 P.M., that gives us a 16 hour period of time. So we now can divide 483 by 16 and that give s us about 30 texts an hour. Doesn't sound bad right? Sorry to bore you with math, but this is the critical point. 30 texts is a small number for a single hour, but with 60 minutes in 1 hour, that's a text every 2 minutes, consistently, every hour of every day, for a month. For a teen who is studying in school, this destroys any concentration that they may need to learn. Constant texts mean that attention can no longer be devoted t o the task at hand, and the problem stretches outside school as well, and it can be seen many states that have passed laws against using cell phones while drivi ng, which causes many more injuries than you would think. For more information o n that, visit this link here:http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/driving-while-t exting-infographic/ Why do we text? Now, I am not saying that texting is totally pointless. In fact, it has been ver y useful to me on certain occasions. Texting has more advantages than just being a cheaper way of sending information. It is faster, more to the point, and some times, it is easier to do than calling someone. But texting is pointless in some cases. Many conversations that take place seems to be texting just for texting. Socialization is extremely important for humans, as a general statement. It help s us learn and interact and gain experience needed to live. Without it, we would n't be nearly as advanced as we are today. However, texting, according to many s cientists and psychologists, isn't what you would call "healthy" socialization. There is a big difference in interacting with another person face-to-face, than through a cell phone. It becomes a problem when you have to text that person, for whatever reason, and you find that either you can't stop or can't put the phone down. Do you eagerly await for your ringtone to go off, signalling that you have a text? When I think of the word addictive, I don't think of cell phones, I think of thi ngs such as cigarettes and alcohol and other, more lethal drugs. How addictive s omething is is hard to quantify, but many psychologists agree that it has become more than just "texting a lot". However, technology will progress, and we may h ave other addictive things on our table. Already, with the rise of social websit es such as Facebook and Twitter, we see that people spend a great deal of time c hecking their profiles and playing games for large quantities of time. A graph of people texting while driving ( From USA Today Education) Source: http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/firstyear/... Health Risks Now, would texting really be a bad thing if it had no health risks? Many debate the amount of radiation that is released when talking or texting on a cell phone , but in my opinion, that is not what you should be worried about. As a person who gets migraines from a range of sources, I can see some health co

nsequences of texting to long. Headaches in general aren't a big problem, but th ey are most certainly annoying and can lead to more serious issues if they persi st. Focusing on a single screen for too long may cause vision problems, just as staring at a computer screen can cause problems. Now, let's go back to our texting scenario. In all likelihood, it is entirely po ssible that she did not go right to bed at 9:00 P.M.. She may have stayed up int o the night texting, in which case she is losing sleep and the energy to go scho ol. This may reflect on grades and progress in classes. If you are older and go to college or have a job, you cannot afford to be tired and have an accident on the road. This is assuming that your just tired, and not texting while driving, which is the greatest health risk. Driving While Texting The greatest threat that come from cell phones is when you use them while drivin g. This is number one at a long list of what many called distracted driving. Now , you have heard of people putting on makeup or shaving or reaching down to grab that coffee, and these things occasionally end up causing a crash, However, bec ause it is so easy to text (for some), many think that it is equally easy to tex t and drive. This has been proven to not be the case, because texting reduces th e amount of attention placed on the road. It only takes a split second for that truck in front of you to put on his brakes, and if your not prepared to stop, yo ur car may become a new rear fender for that truck. A lot of studies have been done on this specific topic. Here is a link which sum marizes them into nice brief statistics: http://www.nationwide.com/newsroom/dwdfacts-figures.jsp How to Stop The problem with texting, unlike cigarettes or alcohol, is that they are accessi ble to almost anyone, easy to use, and it makes it much simpler to contact peopl e. This ease of use causes people to use free time to text, which proceeds to us ing their phone during times in which they should not text. Stopping isn't as easy as as pulling the battery out of your phone. Cell phones are important if you have an emergency or need to talk to someone, which means t hat you need to have it. In my opinion, if you have an unlimited texting plan, t hen you may want to downgrade, which will stop you from going over your limit (u nless you want to be charged a ridiculous amount), and save you money in the lon g run. If you have a teen you care about, you may want to talk to them about it, and find something to do with them. A hobby that they enjoy will distract them from their phone, and also give them something productive to do. It may also imp rove your relationship with them as well. Sometimes, A Waste of Time. Quite honestly, even if you don't get headaches, have a second pair of eyes on t he road, and have enough energy to work through the day, texting is a huge waste of time. Unless it is important business, or are communicating for reasonable p urposes, there isn't any reason to do it. I find that the best conversations are the ones you have face to face with people, and it would be better to text some one that you would like to speak to them directly than talk to them through your phone. Texting isn't the only thing out there that is addictive. For other different ad dictions, take a look at the links below. Did I miss something? Or get something wrong? If you have any comments, please p ost them below so I can get feedback. Thank you for reading, and have a nice day ! Common Sense Media, released a study, Do Smart Phones = Smart Kids? that helps p ut some numbers around the anecdotal evidence that kids love cell phones and use them differently than most adults. The fact that 83% of 17 year-olds owns a mob ile phone was not surprising; the fact that they send or receive an average of 3 ,146 text messages a month was. It will be interesting to check back with these students after they enter colleg e and/or the workplace and see if this phenomenon persists. Ive been hearing for

years now that email is dead and only for old fogies but often wondered if the choi ce of technology is dictated more by financial constraints and peer group than b y age alone. Besides lots of good information regarding creative uses of cell phones in the c lassroom, and recommendations for parents, teachers, and policy makers, the auth ors of the study also reported some interesting findings that seem to explain wh y younger students are so enamored with texting: Texting is cheap. While all students would love a smart phone, most have to sett le for a plain vanilla cell phone for economic reasons. Also, voice minutes are often shared by the entire family, whereas (at least after that first shocking p hone bill hits the mailbox) most plans offer a flat rate all you-can-eat text op tion. Mobile email or IM isnt an option. With no smart phone, email or IM is something that has to be conducted on the family computer a shared resource with restricted mobility that is far from private. Families report children sitting in the back seat of the family car texting each other just so mom and dad cant hear the conve rsation. Texting is a social activity. Texting picks up for girls around 11 or 12, and wh en boys get their first girlfriend. The studys authors compare most text content to be more a tap on the shoulder than significant conversation. It is a way of fee ling close to your friends, a part of the group, more like passing a note in cla ss or making plans to meet after school. Yet the rate of texting is so high beca use it often creates an ongoing dialogue with a great deal of sending and receiv ing before it is complete. Other than the possible injury to their respective thumbs, the report is largely reassuring that texting is simply a new form of relieving teen angst that recal ls teens of another generation sprawled across their beds with their doors tight ly closed speaking for hours on their princess phone. Those rich kids that got their own phone lines are now the kids who have the sma rt phones! It also means that texting may carry over into adulthood to a limited degree but I still find myself asking myself, Why dont I just call them? http://www.scribd.com/upload-document#files