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Leah Delaney

ENG 101-13

Research Paper

15 November 2018

The Effects of Cell Phone Addiction on College Students

It has come to a point where I feel as though my cell phone has become a part of me. It

goes everywhere I do, lays next to me in bed, and is a default go-to for when I am bored. I feel

dependent on my phone and when I do not have access to it, or cannot be on it for a particular

reason, I feel anxious. This is a sad truth but has become the social norm in today’s society. I

have seen students leave class because they are not allowed to have their phones out, get into

heated arguments with their teachers, and go to the office for refusing to give up their phones.

My senior year in high school I had a teacher who absolutely hated when his students

were on their phones during lecture. Contrary to what you might believe, he was one of the most

liked teachers in my school, becoming my favorite teacher and the one to present me my

diploma. He has a policy in his class where if he caught you on your phone, he would take it, put

it in a brown paper bag and wrap it in a whole roll of duct tape in front of the entire class. It is

safe to say that at least twice a week, my phone was confiscated and wrapped up in a bag. I think

the way the situation was approached in a fun and amusing manner, made it less serious and him

a likeable man.
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Every time I think about taking out my phone in class or getting frustrated when the

teacher asks me to put it away, I think of those times and smile to myself. Although, I wonder

about those who cannot deal with separation from their smartphone and the possible effects it

could be having on their lives. Cellphone dependency can impact many areas of a college

students’ life, from their academic success, production, social skills, and physical and mental

health.

Cell phones are being used by everyone in today’s generation, with little knowledge on

the harmful effects they can have. There are studies on cancers due to electromagnetic radiations

from cell phones. Other harmful physical and mental effects among excessive users, such as

college students, have been researched as well. A study was conducted on college students in

professional courses, to research the health effects that come along with cell phone usage. Both

male and female colleges students in the age group of 17-23 years old were randomly selected.

The students were instructed to take a self- administered, pre-test questionnaire that included

topics related to common mental and physical health symptoms due to cell phone usage

(Acharya).

In a recent study, it was found that most all of the subjects (96.1%), had cell phones,

using them for the majority of the day. The most common symptom (51.47%) found was a

headache, followed by irritability and anger (50.79%). Other mental symptoms include lack of

concentration and poor academic performance, insomnia, anxiety, etc. In the physical aspect, it

was found that 32.19% experience body aches, eye strain (36.51%), and digital thumb (13.8%)

(Acharya).
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Figure 1 Percentage of students affected by cell phones (Baker)

About 71 percent of people sleep either with their cell phone in their hand, in bed with

them, or having it on the nightstand next to them. With a phone that close to a person, it

increases the temptation to check social media, read emails, or search the web. Smartphones,

laptops, tablets, and televisions all emit “blue light”, which is a light that the brain interprets as

daylight”. The blue light then suppresses melatonin, stimulating the brain and confusing it to

think that the sun is out and making it even harder to fall asleep (Aratoon).

There are two types of technology addiction, internet addiction and mobile phone

addiction. It is to be expected that both share some similarities and have some differences. A

study was performed on 1, 072 students ranging from 9 to 18 years in age, to investigate the

association between the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Mobile Phone Dependence
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Questionnaire (MPDG). Test scores proved that the two tests were moderately correlated. The

results suggest for the prevention of internet and mobile phone addiction, as well as treatment for

those already suffering from it (Chin).

Over three billion people all over the world use the internet every day and two and a half

billion people use a smartphone every day. There are many negative effects that come along with

overusing the internet. Mobile phones are creating complications in adolescents in terms of

physical health, family life and academic performance. Unfortunately, this can be hard to avoid,

considering technology is our primary source of communication, causing reduced family

interaction, lack of social life, and increased feelings of depression or loneliness. The term

“addiction” is commonly used in research studies to describe the “extreme overuse of the

Internet and of mobile phones”, or of certain applications within the phone, i.e. snapchat,

Instagram, twitter, etc. Considering that the younger generation has grown up with these “digital

innovations” and are the vast majority of people who use this technology, the youth are the most

likely to be included in research studies. The studies will help provide information to show the

effects of internet addiction and mobile phone addiction (Chin).

Overall, the excessive use of the internet and smart phones has increasingly become a

large problem in many societies. The term “technological addiction”, can be used as to describe

both internet and mobile phone addiction. Technological addiction is a behavioral addiction,

including human communication through machinery (Chin).

Cell phone addiction is inhibiting social skills in students all over the world. A study

conducted in 2014 on cell phone addiction revealed that college students use their mobile phones

about nine hours out of the day. Dependency on mobile devices is transforming students’ social
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skills and making them more reliable on virtual communication and hindering their ability to

socialize in person. A study conducted by Washington and Lee University in 2013 connected

heavy texting to sleep problems in college freshman. 90 percent of students fall asleep with their

phones next to them, not knowing how much it is directly affecting them. “If you’re using your

phone, make sure your using an app to block blue light”, says Katherine Christian, Ph.D. If

students do not get about eight hours of sleep at night, cognitive functions like memory and

learning, can start to decline in performance (Cumberledge).

Smartphones have their benefits and can be defined as a “miracle” of technology,

providing instantaneous global communication. Although cell phones provide many

convenience’s, there are some negative effects they can have on an individual. Smartphone use

is associated with worse physical fitness and academic performance among students. There has

been increasing evidence to suggest that the negative effects of smartphone use can extend to the

causation of mental health issues in some cases. Excessive cell phone use can very well worsen

symptoms of anxiety and depression. It has been found that anxiety can worsen in individuals

when they are separated from their phones, some even showing withdrawal-like symptoms if

they don’t have complete access to their cellular device. With these finding, smartphones could

be the cause of worsening symptoms of mental illness (Hunley).

It is clear to see that there are many negative effects that come along with the use of cell

phones. Although, cell phones have their advantages and are the soul provider of communication

in today’s generation, the bad outweighs the good. College students all around the world are

struggling with this addiction, which is hindering their ability to learn, succeed, and grow as
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people. As a whole we need to work toward a solution to decreasing the dependency on

smartphones and freeing oneself.

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Works Cited

Acharya, Jayanti P. “A Study on Some of the Common Health Effects of Cell-Phones amongst

College Students.” Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education, vol. 3, no. 4,

2013, doi:10.4172/2161-0711.1000214.

Aratoon, Kelly. “Is Your Smartphone Ruining Your Sleep?” Sleep.Org, Sleep.Org, 18 Dec.

2015, www.sleep.org/articles/is-your-smartphone-ruining-your-sleep/.

Baker, Justin. “The Epidemic of Mobile Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, and Stats.” Medium.com,

Medium, 15 Oct. 2017, medium.com/the-mission/the-epidemic-of-mobile-addiction-

signs-symptoms-and-stats-cb6441dbb54d.

Chin, Fung, and Chi Hung Leung. “The Concurrent Validity of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT)

and the Mobile Phone Dependence Questionnaire (MPDQ).” PLoS ONE, vol. 13, no. 6,

June 2018, pp. 1–15. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197562.

Cumberledge, Heather. “Students' Addiction to Cell Phones Is Inhibiting Their Social

Skills.” The Arizona State Press, 17 Oct. 2017,

www.statepress.com/article/2017/10/spopinion-cell-phones-are-a-new-source-of-

addiction-in-college-students.
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Hunley, Samuel. “Does Smartphone Use Effect Your Anxiety And Depression?” Anxiety.org, 3

Mar. 2017, www.anxiety.org/smartphone-use-and-its-relationship-to-anxiety-and-

depression.