SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – They are everywhere.
Cell phones.
We talk on them, text on them, check Facebook on them and we do so in our homes, in our cars and even when we walk.
But have we now become addicted to our phones?
We used to just talk on our phones but now, we hang with them.
In fact, they may even be our BFF.
As one gentlemen told us at Salt Lake’s Coffee Garden,
"Yeah, it's my friend. I can't live without it."
Our phones sleep next to us at night and keep us company during the day.
If we lose them, we totally freak out.
Dr. Douglas Goldsmith is the executive director of The Children’s Center.
Goldsmith says on the positive side, cell phones help foster friendships and can be a valuable learning tool,
"For someone with autism, going into a chat room where there's no faces to contend with and [they're] just writing and feeling like I am in a relationship, it's a fantastic experience."
In a special edition about wireless tools, Time magazine reported that:
- 9 out of 10 Americans have a mobile phone
- 20% of those with phones check them every five minutes
- And nearly a quarter of those surveyed admitted sending a provocative picture using their phone.
Now, we also asked Dr. Goldsmith what concerned about him cell phone use.
He told us he sees three year old children throwing temper tantrums when they can't have their parent’s phones. Also, that he sees families sitting side by side, texting and not talking,
"I think this has an impact on relationships, especially with kids. When kids are now texting in six words and thinking that's a conversation, that's not a conversation."
But when we asked a young woman at the Coffee Garden what life would be like without her cell phone,
She told us,
"It would be like the 50's."
Dr. Goldsmith concluded by saying that, regardless of how we feel about our phones and this new wireless world, the future is here to stay,
"We can love it, we can hate it, we really have to learn to live with it."
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