Cell Phones: What they Mean to the Youth

When the devices called cell phones first appeared on the scene, little did anyone imagine the impact it would have on everyone’s lives. Yet here it is today, resting in everybody’s hands, being used more than any other device available. More than anybody else, it’s the youth that has well harnessed the power of using cell phones in keeping their social lives up and running.

Going by recent research, it has been indicated that young people use their cell phones a whole lot differently than their elders. It is apparent that young people are constantly using their cell phones – texting, checking email, surfing the internet, clicking pictures, etc. Supposedly, older people use their cell phones less frequently, however, there is not enough data to actually prove it.

Young adults also use text messaging as their primary method of contacting friends – over 80 percent report texting as their preferred way to do so. The percentage of people who use texting as their primary method of contacting friends drops in older age groups. Older adults (over the age of 50) either prefer calling or are more likely to use email. Given the age difference in the number of texts, it shouldn’t be surprising that younger adults find it more appropriate to use their cell phones in a greater variety of situations than do older adults. Contexts such as having dinner with friends, being in line at the store, in church, intimate situations, at the gym, having coffee with a friend and many other similar situations suggest how the use of cellphones defines the communication channels among the youth.

For obvious reasons, this may explain why young adults are so attached to their cell phones. This isn’t addiction, but social interaction. When people conduct their social life via cell phone calls, text messages, and social networking, keeping track of your cell phone takes on particular importance. Therefore, older adults should not rush into making judgments about cell phone use in younger adults. Perhaps, instead they can respect the cell phone and internet natives because young adults have in deed grown up using cell phones and the internet the way their elders have grown up using handwritten letters and the landline telephone for communication. It is commendable how the youth of today have learned to effectively use the medium and utilize it to the optimum. Maybe they will be more engaged with and attached to their social groups than older adults who are still learning to keep in touch in this modern era.