Cell Phone Addiction

In class tomorrow we will read an excerpt from an article on cell phone addiction.  Following this reading the class engaged in a discussion.  We attempted to investigate the following questions:

• What percentage of teens carry cell phones?
• Almost all of the students have a cell phone with them.
• A few have a cell phone that is not with them. 
• How many times a day (or how often) do you use your cell phone?
• Outside of school, students check their phones at least once an hour. Some students check their phones every five minutes...
• When is it not okay to use a cell phone (and why)?
• Church
• At dinner
• When someone is having a serious conversation with you
• Many students thought it was fine to go through the checkout line while on the phone.  Others seemed to realize that completely ignoring the person helping you with your groceries or coffee order, deserve a little bit of your attention... 
• Has anyone tried to teach you cell phone etiquette? (Or telephone etiquette in general...)
• Do you think it is a legitimate addiction?
• Yes
• No
• Maybe
• :-)
• What are some of your pet-peeves regarding phone use?

According to the article, cell phone addiction is much like any other.  Texting creates chemical reactions in the brain, causing pleasure.  When we receive this chemical reaction on a regular basis - like every five minutes - we become addicted to that high.  Then when  teacher asks you to put it away for an hour, we become zombies because we are going through serotonin withdraws!!  This makes some students incapable of sitting through a lesson or an assignment - because they are SO BORED!!

So... are you a technology junkie?  Will this create negative consequences in your future?  Maybe you should think about it now before it's too late!  Try leaving your phone at home for a day...