This is your Brain on Drugs

Anyone growing up in the 1980s should remember this anti-narcotics campaign by the Partnership for a Drug-free America (PDFA). The campaign used the analogy that if a person’s brain is an egg, then using drugs would be like frying it. Now doctors and health advisors are telling us that cell phone use is frying our brains.

Although being addicted to drugs is quite different than being addicted to your cell phone, the comparison seems to fit these days since you hear about how many car crashes and other accidents happen because people couldn’t put their phone down and simply drive.

Luckily, laws in certain states prohibit people from talking on their phones while driving, but texting is another dangerous distraction that should be noted as well. I can’t tell you how many times people walk directly into me simply because they are glued to their phone and texting away. Despite the negativity of texting on cell phones, Christopher Nickson, recently wrote an article called Believe It or Not, Texting Could Improve Language Skills that touts a recent study which says texting actually has benefits. Besides being an instant way to communicate with friends and family, the study from Coventry University in England proclaims that “textisms” or texting improves language skills and positively affects reading development in kids. "Children's use of textisms is not only positively associated with word reading ability, but it may be contributing to reading development," the study reads.

Cell phones are a constant companion for many people today. It has become the must-have device for communicating, finding locations, searching, booking reservations, shopping and of course, instant messaging. Besides adults having cell phones, it is now the norm for children to have them too. It seems far-fetched to say that texting furthers child development, but in this networked society it will be the norm for people of all ages to be tech savvy with their televisions, computers and mobile phones. It will be interesting to see if companies and marketers will alter their marketing messages to the younger generations knowing that they have a mobile device and are early adopters when it comes to new gadgets and technology. It also raises the question to many parents as to what is the appropriate age to give their kid a cell phone and when to say enough is enough! The old saying “my kid has a cell phone for safety reasons” is truly antiquated.