Teens While Driving : The Consequences Of Cell Phones

Although people of all age-ranges use their smartphone device daily, people are more concerned of those who are younger. Adults born before the 2000s were raised in a world and society that was not technology based, so seeing the first generation to experience it can be unsettling. It is quite evident that almost every teen has a smartphone, and will use it at any given opportunity. The problem is teenagers actually use it anytime, even if the time is not appropriate. Many teens from the ages sixteen through eighteen are receiving their driver's license, but have a hard time not using smartphones while driving. This causes great dangers to everyone else on the roads. In some cases, people have been in accidents caused by people texting while driving. Unfortunately, many individuals have lost their lives because of someone texting while driving. In Turkle's’ piece “Growing up Tethered” she includes student testimonials such as Roman’s. “Roman, eighteen, admits that he texts while driving and he is not going to stop. ‘I know I should, but it’s not going to happen. If I get a Facebook message or something posted on my wall . . . I have to see it. I have to’” (Turkle 236). Though teenagers are very aware of circumstances when texting while driving, that still does not stop them from doing so. The constant “need” of being connected with friends and others on social media is what keeps teenagers from not

Ever since smartphones were created, they have changed teenagers’ lives entirely. The article Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? by Jean Twenge, shows the ways the invention of the smartphone has changed recent generations. The article mentions the rise in teen depression and suicide, cyberbullying, and teen safety. It also mentions the decline in our social abilities, dating, and sleep. Smartphones have had both negative and positive affects on teenagers, but the negatives significantly outweigh the positives, which points to the need to put down the smartphones, as the article suggests.

All 50 states prohibit 16-year-olds from drinking alcohol, buying cigarettes, and purchasing handguns. Yet somehow, most states are willing to put them in charge of a car. Teens don’t realize how dangerous driving can be; they believe nothing could ever happen to them. In reality, facts show that driving is the number one killer of teens. At 16 or 17, you may feel invincible, but with a lack of driving experience and distractions such as cell phones, music, food, and even friends, driving can be a dangerous activity. The problem is that teens don’t see certain actions as a life threatening risk. In a recent study, only 28 percent said using a cell phone is a risk while driving, ten percent said the same about having other teens in the car,

Simply putting down your phone and paying attention to the road is a decision that not only could save the life of a driver but could save a whole family and community a whole lot of hurt. At any given time during the day approximately 800,000 people across the United States are on their phone while driving, which explains why texting is the number one distraction for teens across the country (Don’t Text and Drive-Volunteer Society of America). However, we can change this. Educating teens about the true risks of texting and driving just might save a life. Any text can

“Put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something-anything-that doesn’t involve a screen” (Twenge 63). It is astonishing the amount of time teens spend on phones. Jean Twenge discusses the negative effects smartphone usage has created among the young and past generations in the article, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation”. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to aware readers about the many issues the smartphone usage has created on generations. Twenge narrates different stories about young teen’s experiences with phones and social media. Twenge also provides readers with statistics and some studies of many effects caused by smartphones. Twenge gives emphasize to differences between generations. According to Twenge, today’s

Copeland’s article about teen driving claims that teens know the consequences of distracted driving. However, they continue to use their phones and participate in such behaviors. Copeland states that most

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?, by Jean M. Twenge, was published in the September 2017 Issue of The Atlantic. Twenge discusses the impacts of smartphones in teens (also referred to as “iGen’s”) today and attempts to determine if smartphones have caused a generation to falter in their mental and physical health. The author interviews a 13 year old girl about issues teens are developing due to these devices. She examines the spike in teen suicide rates since the invention of the smartphone, how teens no longer go out and socialize with others, and the lack of sleep teens may be getting due to smartphone activity.

Despite an effective way of communication, using cell phones during driving results in the distracted attention of driver increasing road safety concerns.

391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2015.” TeenSafe also said that “teen drivers from ages 15 to 19 are in the age group most at risk to be involved in distracted driving accidents. Nine percent of these teens are involved in distracted driving fatalities.” With driving being a new experience to teens, not only to they face the risk crashing due to lack of time on the road but introducing a cell phone while in a car increases their risk of crashing by 400%. Many teens become a new mode of transportation for their friends who are unable to drive or don’t have a car. Though teens are most at risk, adults drive distracted as

People text and drive for various reasons; however, it’s never more important than a life. Texting is becoming the most popular form of communication; leading to increased texting while driving percentages. Mobile communication is becoming more and more popular every year. Now, almost half of all teenagers admit to texting while driving (The Cons of Texting and Driving, 1). The age group committing the biggest proportion of “texting while driving” incidents is teenagers. The main reason is that they see this as socially acceptable. If everyone is doing it, they feel that it is the accepted norm. This is wrong. Drivers, including teenagers, should set a good example in not “texting and driving”. If enough abide by this rule, a reverse in the trend to text while driving may occur. Always remember to set a good example, especially for teenagers (Leon Neyfakh, 1).

People have cell phones everywhere, especially teenagers. Teenagers are glued to their cell phones; they need cell phones almost everywhere they go. Today teens are depending on their phones for everything. The number of cell phones users has increased and as of 2010, there were more than 303 million subscribers in the U.S., according to the cellular companies (Hanna). As a result of teenagers over using cell phones, teens are being impacted emotionally, socially, and physically.

Teenagers have a very hard time “multitasking” while driving, posing more of a hazard when the roads (Zernike). While teen tries to multitask and try to do different thing while driving and not have full attention on the road, that is when an accidents happen. The sad part is that they hurt themselves and even innocent people who were driving and being responsible. “studies have shown that teens tend to overrate their driving skills and underrate risk on the road” (McClatchy). Teenagers when they are driving and find it so easy to pick up a phone call or even send a quick text but don't think of how quickly accidents can happen. All phones should have that program that it should lock when entering a vehicle and sends a voice mail to the person who is trying to call you saying that your are currently driving to lower teen crashes. We want to find ways to protect or give teen advice on how much it affects everyone of there mistakes while driving. Teenagers shouldn't even look at their phones while driving. They should definitely put it on silent and if it's an emergency, you can always pull to the side and answers important calls. This is one of the main reasons why teenagers should be at least 17 years of age to be able to test for their permit. We want to lower teen crashes and that is

Technological advances have increased dramatically in the past 40 years. Martin Cooper invented the first cellular phone in 1973, which was called the Dyna Tec, while working for the famous company Motorola. The first cellular phone did not sell well because it was as large as a brick. So now knowing how technology has advanced, it is obvious to see why it is advancing. Although technological advances have affected both the generalized public and society’s teenagers, it seems to have had a larger effect on society’s teenagers, specifically the advances in cellular phones. Not only does cellular phone usage affect a teenager’s social life and literacy, but it also affects their health. Cellular phones have a great impact on a teenager’s social life. The following solution would also be in their best interest without them even realizing it. The over use of cell phones by teenagers will have a negative effect on their academic, social, and mental development.

The use of cell phones while driving is a huge problem, especially for teenagers, because teenagers are prone not to heed any warnings. As a teen myself, many of us feel invincible on and off the road with the mentality that “that could never happen to me.” Even research from the University of North Texas Health Science Center has shown that while most of us know the dangers of cell phone use and driving, we still ignore the risks and use our smart phones while driving. Many teenagers have this cape of over-confidence once they are able to drive freely, according to one of the earlier Modules in the class, so that also plays a role in how serious we take texting and driving.

A common issue that teens mostly face is being on their cell phones and driving. Cell phones have become popular in 1997 that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had done a research to see whether or not the use of cell phones would be a distraction when driving. In addition, there are two types of cell phone use that have an effect on teen’s behavior that typically leads to unsafe driving. First, when teenagers or adults drive, what cause them to be in unsafe driving conditions is by handling their phone: text messaging, answering the call, dialing a number, and etc. Second, it would be when a conversation is introduced to the environment. Do you think having thoughts about handling your cell phone would be a more dangerous activity than your conversation?