Are Teenage Girls Born With a Cell Phone in Their Hand?

dobielvr said:
You've just described my older sister. That phone is always right by her side. Even if it's plugged in charging, it's still on! It's her lifeline to the outside world. She can have 3-4 texting conversations going on at the same time. In her defense, she is a masseuse and her contacts are via texting, but it's still way over the top.
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I understand that the phone is necessary for keeping in touch with business contacts or when you're expecting an important call. Or you're just killing time when waiting for an appointment. That's fine, but there needs to be a defining line when you're in social situations where you're supposed to be visiting and spending time with others. If I don't know you and your face is in your cell phone, I don't care. If I'm in your company and you're paying more attention to your phone than you are to me, I do care. I refuse to compete for attention with an electronic device. 🤨

It's a compulsive disorder for many people. If the phone rings/vibrates, they're compelled to immediately answer it. If they can't answer it for some reason, they become visibly agitated. If they're unwillingly separated from their cell phone, it can get ugly.
 

Out shopping it's not unusual to see mothers on their phones and the little child in the pram with an iPad. Poor little ones in a cafe with mother on her phone not taking any interest in the baby and when it starts to cry for attention, she shoves an electronic game to distract it. They make me so angry.
 

The answer to this question is obviously, "yes". Guys are no different today. The lines between real life, and the electronic life, have become blurred. Vicariously living your life through the eyes of an influencer, or some Social Media nonsense, is the norm. Since I've always been interested in tech (hence my lifelong career), I daren't think what I would have been like if I had grown up in this era.

There's some good to be had from devices and connectivity, but sadly there's an awful lot of "meh" along with some bad. This, however, is certainly the new normal.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Well, if teenage girls are, teenaged boys are too. In fact, that extends into Millennials as well. I see a lot of young people with their faces in their phones. My grand nephew just graduated college, my youngest grandson graduated from high school last year. Both of them had to be told to get their faces out of their phones when they are present with us (at separate times).
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IMHO, it isn't just kids with their faces in their phones.

Go to a restaurant with 8 people sitting at a table and I guarantee you most of those people will have their phones out. It seems that having a conversation with others at mealtime is a dead cultural icon of what used to be a family tradition.

It's not just sad, it's traumatic.
 
Several States are considering putting restrictions on young kids using Social Media. Florida has already passed rules stating that no one
under under age 14 can use SM, and Texas is getting close to putting an age limit of 18 on it's youngsters. Kids are destroying their lives by being addicted to their cell phones.

It's not only youngsters....seems like everywhere I go...stores, restaurants, etc...people are glued to their phones. Worst of all, distracted drivers playing with their phones have surpassed drunk drivers as a primary cause of traffic accidents.

If China or Russia mounted a cyberattack on our cell phones, half the population would go Nuts.
 
My favorite is the girls or guys who are holding their phones up in front of their faces and having speaker calls (like Facetime) with someone else so you can hear both of them. But it is always the ones that have their faces in their phones that have a 4-person clearance while walking but still seem to run into me.

The other is guys that are sitting on the toilet in a stall or are at the urinal in a public restroom and having a conversation with someone else. I've seen it frequently at the gym and in airport restrooms. I just always think this is disrespectful to the person they are talking to. "Did you know I'm relieving myself while we talk?" It's gotten out of hand.

Many parents have no interest in "parenting" anymore so they slap a phone in their child's hand to keep them entertained so they can do what they want.

I only really use my phone to listen to music or play word games between sets at the gym. I always leave it in the car when I visit the grocery store. I'm not missing anything.

Here's something funny to enjoy!

 
Eupher said:
IMHO, it isn't just kids with their faces in their phones.

Go to a restaurant with 8 people sitting at a table and I guarantee you most of those people will have their phones out. It seems that having a conversation with others at mealtime is a dead cultural icon of what used to be a family tradition.

It's not just sad, it's traumatic.
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My sister hosted dinners every Sunday until she could no longer do it. No phones were allowed at the dinner table. She did make an exception for my husband because he was running a business that was open 7 days a week.
 
The entire episode of Meet The Press today was dedicated toward the very issue of Gen Z and their phones. There were a variety of experts in the field who were interviewed. Seems 67% of Gen Z report feeling depressed. Also, their suicide rates have been climbing over the years, mostly among young women. They often cite loneliness.

This is because although they are constantly on social media there is nothing truly "social" about it. They are following the lives of online friends and influencers and feel inferior because their lives aren't as great as what is portrayed online. They can be bullied online 24/7 where in the old days the bullying was over when one went home. I was occasionally bullied in junior high school and would sometimes cry in my room when I got home but then I had dinner with my parents, watched a comedy and forgot all about it.

One gentleman cited going to a college and visiting their dining hall. In the old days, it would have been a boisterous place full of energy but he said it was eerily quiet because most were on their phones or had earphones in. Gen Z these has lost the ability to truly "connect" with others in person because everything is now done online. All of the experts said they hadn't given/wouldn't give their kids smart phones until they were 16 years old. Tik-Tok doesn't truly check ages so their are children viewing it.

Not a good foreshadowing of the future of this country or many others. :(
 
OneEyedDiva said:
My sister hosted dinners every Sunday until she could no longer do it. No phones were allowed at the dinner table. She did make an exception for my husband because he was running a business that was open 7 days a week.
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It's a good rule to have, but I've seen plenty of examples otherwise. Must be a newer rule. Sit down with others to share a meal and everybody whips out their phones.
 
January said:
I love running with music on - and the easiest way is to connect the earbuds wirelessly to my phone.
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Me too. I walk around our nearby lake our on the treadmill at my gym with earbuds on. I never feel unsafe.
 

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