Dear Society,

     A cell phone is a complete submergence into a new world. After typing in a quick four digit passcode a teenager can be completely immersed into the beautiful world of texting and social networking. They can learn that Joey cheated on Mary and maybe even that the cute girl in their fourth hour has a crush on them, and amazingly such important information is on hand at any point it is wanted or needed. Cell phones are the only thing every high school kid has in common. Whether it’s a jock, a musician, or an outcast, every teenage kid nowadays seems to own a cell phone. As brilliant as these modern-day marvels are, they are slowly becoming a menace to society. The little gadgets simply negate the need for talking face to face and spending time with other people because there’s no point in driving five minutes down the road when sending a text takes five seconds. What started out as a problem is slowly becoming an epidemic. Kids are slowly becoming more and more dependent on their phones. They carry them everywhere and check them every five seconds. I myself am just as guilty as the next person, and honestly it upsets me. I wish my life didn’t revolve around something so pathetic and simple, but sadly it does. Not texting anyone makes me an unpopular loser, and god forbid I miss the life-changing drama that occurs every two minutes on Twitter. You society, have made cell phone addiction the most common ailment suffered by teens, and this generation, my generation, is slowly becoming more comfortable speaking through a four inch screen than speaking to a living, breathing human being.

I’ll never forget one of the worst school days of my life. It was a cool spring day sometime in April. I was just a scrawny freshman who stood at about six feet tall and a whopping 145 pounds. My hair was combed straight down and more than likely I was wearing athletic shorts and a shirt because that was the only thing my wardrobe consisted of. I thought I was so cool, but about ninety percent of the school didn’t even know I existed. Yet for some odd reason, I walked around with a sense of entitlement, almost as if I mattered in the huge social jungle which is high school. Back to the story though, as my mother and I pulled out of our neighborhood, I patted the top of my thigh and expected the reassuring feeling of my phone, the only thing is, in my pocket there was nothing. There was only a dark, never-ending emptiness. After unsuccessfully begging my mom to turn the car around and get it, I decided to man up and take on the day without my security blanket which was my shiny new iPhone 4S. To this day, I regret not just jumping out of the car before it reached the school. All day I felt imprisoned. The white brick walls seemed to cave in on me in every class, and the teachers’ voices were so monotonous that I dozed off an innumerable amount of times throughout the day. The longevity of the day is inexplicable, but the contents of it were quite ordinary. I talked to my friends and even finished the day with no homework. The only thing different was I didn’t have my phone. The funny thing is that I’m not even one of those kids who depends on their phone to help them make it through the day, who looks at it every time they get a chance. In fact, I probably check my phone a total of five times a day, but for some odd reason not having it turned a normal day into an awful one. Simply put, I was afraid of missing something, afraid of missing a cute text or snapchat from my crush or a tweet from one of my friends. The thought of not having my phone and that space-like emptiness in my pocket not only made my day suck, but it made me unable to function. I couldn’t even think straight knowing I didn’t have my phone. It seems so stupid and juvenile that something so simple could leave such a lasting impression on me, but that’s what we’ve come to as a society. Cell phones are simply required for a teenager to live their life.

     Kids don’t realize what they’re missing out on. It’s a regular Saturday night and a group of friends are sitting in a hot and smelly basement. The television is playing some crappy movie that they’ve all already seen umpteen times. The buddies are just lounging on a plush sofa, practically oblivious that the others are even there because they are all glued to their phones. The only dialect is the occasional, “Guess who just texted me,” and “Did you see his tweet?” No one is truly having fun or even enjoying the company of the other people, every one of them is caught up in the illusion that cell phones make someone social. That cell phones and the constant usage and attention that comes with them makes a person cool and popular. What ever happened to being with friends and just talking, talking about life and the triumphs and challenges that come with it. Those are the moments our generation is missing out on. Being with the one’s we love and just doing something as simple as having a conversation. Cell phones mask a person’s true feelings and thoughts. It’s impossible to see someone’s expressions of pain, happiness or anger through a text message, yet teens believe the opposite. They believe that texting is equivalent to being with someone. That texting somebody regularly means someone knows everything about them. The truth of the matter is that cell phones are creating a generation that doesn’t have adequate social skills, something that is essential to the life of a human. Sadly, this is all your fault society. You made such things acceptable and now every kid, including me, feels required to have our cell phones at all times.

     I may despise cell phones, but I respect their brilliance and necessity in modern-day society. The only issue is that teenagers do not understand when enough is enough. They don’t understand the concept of moderation and again, I am no better than anyone else. Honestly, cell phones have gotten me out of a multitude of sticky situations. It was nighttime in Southeastern Michigan, the pearl-white moon was illuminating the summer landscape. Four friends were cruising down the barren backroads with the windows down and the radio blaring alternative 90s rock. The friends were trying their best to make it to the lake by sundown, but they got held up back home. The lack of lighting and unfamiliarity with the area causes a bit of worry so the boys pulled over to see if they’ve missed their turn. They quickly looked up directions and realized they missed their turn about 10 miles back. You see, phones are necessary to some extent. They keep us from getting lost and even help us connect with people we otherwise don’t talk to. When we get in trouble is when they begin dictating our lives and our actions. When they begin directly affecting the feelings and actions of a person.

     Cell phones are a necessity in today’s world, especially for teenagers. Sadly though, they are required for all the wrong reasons. You have to have one to be cool and popular and to fit in, and this baffles me. What’s cool about looking down at a brightly lit screen and having a conversation with someone you’re too nervous to talk to in person? Why have you, society, made it a requirement for every high school student to carry that thing around and check it every five seconds? It’s not that I want to be completely indulged in my phone at all times, I feel like I have to be to normal. It’s a matter of conforming to society and not standing out in a crowd. Such a burden causes unnecessary stress and problems in a young kid’s life for no apparent reason. Having a normal social life shouldn’t be directly proportional to how much you text and tweet. How popular someone is should have nothing to do with how much time they spend on their phone. Perhaps one of the world’s most brilliant innovations is also the one that is most detrimental to society. Teen cell phone usage and the problems that come along with it is becoming a bigger and bigger problem on a daily basis. I wish I myself was different and could try to end this epidemic, but I’m just like everyone else. It’s a shame that so much of my life is dependent upon a device that is so insignificant that it can fit in my pocket.