No Cellphone Day: Let’s pretend it’s 1995!
There are millions of cellphone users in India, but on 6th February, 2018 there were a few less. The IEEE Brainwaves came up with an experiment where the Third and Second year students of the Electronics department students would give up the use of their Phones for a day. In exchange of this, the students got to attend a Spanish workshop and the rest of the normal schedule was used to play some games.
As Margaret Heffernan once said, “The cellphone has become the adult’s transitional object, replacing the toddler’s teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging” the rather sad truth of our times. This brings me to Behavioral addiction; though not same as substance addiction, there are a lot of similarities between the two. Let’s have a look at some statistics,
In a study conducted by Baylor University, cellphone addiction was linked to:
1.Impulsiveness and materialism.
2. The obsessive use of a smartphone has been compared to that of credit card misuse and compulsive buying.
3. Cell phones have become a representation of social status and thus, there is pressure to own the newest release.
4. People suffering from this condition oftentimes have what has been coined “nomophobia,” or the fear of being without one’s cell phone.
Below are some more statistics associated with smartphone use:
•71% of people sleep with or next to their cell phones.
•35% of people think of their cell phones when they wake up while only 10% of people think of their significant others.
•44% of 18–24 year olds have fallen asleep with their phone in their hand.
•36% of people check their phones constantly, while 54% of young adults are checking constantly.
•44% of Americans say they couldn’t go a day without their mobile devices.
We have grown up in a world where our childhoods have been free of cellphones, but it is something that consumed our teenage. So we’ve had a life without cellphones, it’s just that in this world of smartphones we’ve forgotten to live our lives any other way. So at first when this idea was announced,I, personally was quiet apprehensive about it, and also off the number of people we would get to go through with this, but I guess the picture above says everything.
All through the day everyone’s hand kept going to their pockets in search of their phones, but there was nothing there! Statements like, “I have nothing to do without my phone “ flew from left, right, and center. Everyone had the same thing going through theirs heads, what if someone’s trying to reach them? What if there’s an important message waiting for them? This is how much a small device, at first intended to connect us with our far away friends, has begun to influence our lives.
The Spanish workshop was followed by a games session, students brought in their deck of cards, board games etc. Fifteen- twenty students playing the same card game, even through all the chaos the game did go on. The Housie session brought together the SE’s, TE’s, and the teachers. The Professors tried trading lecture attendance with the eventual winners instead of actual prizes, but in all the fun for once even the students didn’t bother about the prize.
A first of its kind event with involvement of all batches of the electronics department, ended with massive success. The irony in all this, I wrote this on my cellphone.
