Sunday, May 17, 2009

Mobile phone: Friend or Foe?

Mobile phone has become a fashionable trend especially among the younger generation. Nowadays, the function of a mobile telephone is no longer limited to just a communication tool but more. We get to use it to send text messages, play games, take photographs, play music, record sound and videos and so on. The list goes on and on with the help of software and technology. In fact, it is believed that mobile phones will continue to evolve and become an inseparable part of our life in the near future.

The use of mobile phones among students, however, has raised a lot of questions and debate among society. Many believe that students should not be using mobile phones because it causes distraction and students will lose track of their responsibilities. Students who frequently use mobile phone will not be focusing in their study thus their grades will slip tremendously. Although such belief has yet to be proven statistically, life of a student who has plenty of tasks to juggle with already, should not be further complicated anymore with the use of a mobile phone.

Students who often use mobile telephone with its many features tend to misuse the gadget if they are not properly guided. They may send or forward useless messages when they are bored, take pointless photographs for fun, play meaningless games on the phone just to kill time and basically defeat the whole purpose of owning a phone in the first place. Parents usually are willing to purchase a mobile phone for their school-going children just to keep in contact but if they realise that the phone is going to be misused in such a manner, perhaps parents would think twice before doing so.

Besides that, there are also concerns over health hazards caused by the use of mobile phones. Possible outcomes believed to be connected to the use of mobile phone include cancer, brain tumor, migraine, lowering of immunity level and so on. Scientific studies have been conducted numerous times to prove the statement but so far the result has been inconclusive. Nevertheless, we should all be careful with the excessive use of mobile phone because we can never be too careful when it comes to our health and safety.

All in all, technology like mobile phone should not be treated as a threat but a convenience. However such convenience must never be misused or it could bring upon negative consequences. Students, especially, ought to practice moderation and self discipline when it comes to the use of mobile phone because they should be aware that their responsibility should never be taken over by any form of over indulgence.