Most students in college now haven’t lived in a time without smartphones.
Smartphones have evolved so much since the early 2000s. With continued innovation comes controversy, smartphones have introduced us to different mediums and styles of communication like social media, text messaging or video-calls.
As an owner of a smartphone, you opt into being contacted at any time, even when you leave the house, which was not the case just a few decades ago.
If you plug into social media, you opt into even more constant communication and socialization.
It is no secret that a certain social media app and company was and is still responsible for many teen suicides related to cyberbullying. It is interesting that said company has recently rolled back protections and guidelines for the most vulnerable online communities, knowing this fact.
Though the issue of internet and technology use in teens and young adults has been a weekly news topic since computers became easily accessible, the conversation changed with these things being suddenly at our fingertips. Society has long been concerned about what technological innovation may be imposing on teens and young adults.
What doesn’t seem to be discussed often is how and what exactly makes smartphones be so harmful, especially to a traditional student aged person. Which begs the question: how do smartphones impact the psychological and physical health of a student in today’s age? Are students or young adults particularly vulnerable?
In past years, many movements and calls to unplug from social media or smartphones have gained mainstream notoriety, echoing sentiments of mindfulness and mental health.
And they’re right, the research and experts say the same thing: phones are distracting.
Dr. Harold Greene is a psychology professor at Detroit Mercy., He is a cognitive psychologist that also happens to do vision research which sometimes entails a driving simulator. In the past he has done studies on visual attention related to driving.
Greene clears up some misconceptions about using a phone and driving, saying that “people often think the issue is having the phone in your hand, but what is actually suggested by the research is that what’s distracting is the cognitive task of talking on the phone” also adding that “the person on the other side of the phone is not aware of moment-to-moment traffic conditions,” implying that the person on the phone cannot modulate the attention demands of the conversation, explaining why having someone physically in the car does not pose the same risk.
According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, over 3,300 people were killed by distracted driving in 2022.
“Cellphones are here to stay. The major question is, how do we use them adaptively?” said Dr. John Porcerelli, director of the Detroit Mercy Psychology Clinic.
According to Porcerelli, with this being relatively new, in regard to research there is not much longitudinal data, but with the studies that have been done to date, we can see the varying short-term effects of smartphones.
However, as we progress, we will have better questions to ask. For instance, as website developers strive to maximize engagement, there has been an increase of studies about peoples time awareness related to phone use, Porcerelli cites this as a step in the right direction but predicts that we will ultimately need institutions like universities in the future to really help society begin understanding how these devices affect us and what our guidelines should be.
