Yeah.... I don't have a phone just my old chromebook. This is a good idea tho! I deffinly want a phone mostly so I can contact my friends like texting and the Chatterbox. and music. but that's about it!

I kinda want a phone but my parents will only get me one when I "get a job that requires a phone", so possibly never if I get a certain job that I want. 

(Pouty says ootxi. what about Ocarina of Time?) 

Ok, don't read through my rant if you don't want to, but there are a few points that need to be kept in mind. 

No offense, but you're opposing... communication???

All right, I have a few points here...

@Sine, another unhealthy side effect of using smart phones is that you're constantly looking downwards at the phone and not sitting or standing straight, which is terrible for your posture and places strain on your neck (not good for you). Although this isn't necessarily going to happen just because you have a smart phone, it often does.

Of course, technology can help us! In many ways. And certainly it can be good for parents to be able to check in with their children (although I do think that's slightly - unnecessary? I mean, what are teachers there for otherwise? but never mind). However, why does it have to be smart phones? Normal cell phones - flip phones - can also be used, and they're more healthy mentally because they don't have social media. If you give a teenager a smart phone for his/her parents to be able to call him/her, that teenager is probably going to start looking at social media as well. And that definitely has terrible side effects, as you pointed out. Phones are more portable, but then that's another thing that might not be so good - if you're constantly taking your phone everywhere, then you become basically addicted to it and, for example, when you're walking along, look at your phone instead of the possibly breathtaking beautiful landscape you're passing. Is this really what we want?

@Sterling, this isn't opposing communication at all. Cell phones aren't the only way to communicate - in fact, I feel like in a lot of cases they're sort of making it worse, through Facebook and things like that. If you're always trying to cram things into a few letters, it makes it more difficult to really communicate. And smart phones aren't the only way to talk "on the phone" - and they definitely have a lot of bad side effects...

Anyhow, this really turned into a loooooong rant :P I hope no one's feelings got hurt - these are just some of my opinions on the topic. And I love debating, for some reason :)

Okay so phones are a difficult topic for me to talk about. Yeah, I have a phone, because I commute to school by bus and train so it's necessary for me to have a phone so I can keep in contact with my parents. I use my phone to check my emails and texts, listen to music, and check the CB -- but even then, I barely use my phone. I probably use it for less than an hour total per day.

Contrary to what Sine said, I do think phones can be harmful. They can be addicting, even without social media, and contribute to depression and eating disorders among other things (especially when considering social media). They are also the cause of many issues related to physical health -- blue light affects the circadian rhythm resulting in poor sleep, can cause poor eyesight, result in difficulty concentrating/focusing, among many other things. They can also be extremely distracting; so many kids in my school are on their phones during class, completely ignoring the lesson, not to mention the danger phones can cause during travel, like texting while driving or crossing streets. There's also a social aspect of having phones, which I've been negatively affected by. I've been ignored or treated as lesser than, simply because I didn't have a phone (I only got my phone a few months ago). Many people seem to think that you're only worth socializing with if you have a phone, which is absolutely ridiculous! It seems impossible to have a social life without a phone, which might seem like a point in favor of having phones, but I think otherwise; it can be difficult for me (and other people) to communicate with people over phone because I can't see physical cues. Plus many people don't even have phones or social media so why should they be left out? 

I've also seen very young children on phones. Sure, I can understand teenagers or preteens with phones -- but five and six year olds? If the phone is being used for communication, that's one thing, but for games and entertainment? And several hours a day? I really don't think it's healthy.

All that being said, I do think there are some aspects of phones that are necessary. Communication, photo and video sharing, and so on. But, at least in my opinion, the negatives far outweigh the positives. 

@Sterling - yep, I'm opposing communication! Beware the Crazy Communication Opposer!! *evil laughter*

Okay, no, seriously, I think smartphones and social media actually harm communication, because they reduce face-to-face interaction and make it hard to have a real conversation with anybody. If everyone's hanging out on social media and typing things on screens, they can't use facial expressions, tones of voice, body language, laughter, smiles, tears, hugs, banter, or anything. Plus, with most social media, you can't just talk normally, you have to either express yourself  in teeny-weeny text messages which are really limiting. Just think how much better it would be if we could meet in real life, instead of having to confine ourselves to text. I think that's a huge part of the reason that so many kids nowadays see themselves as socially awkward and unsure of what to do around people. They'd all be perfectly fine socializing - not necessarily happy, but adept enough at it - if they had spent their entire lives having conversations with ther grandparents, joking around with their peers, and just generally navigating a world that requires general face-to-face interaction to get anything done. So I consider that I'm actually helping commuication along by not having a phone or social media :)

Says the girl who spends part of every day on the CB... but I do it because I have no friends except for a pen pal (who's definitely my best friend ever, though, she's super nice), and I need social interaction of some kind.

Oh, and also, even without smartphones, you can still have email and social media, just use them from your computer. Cell phones are also fine - quite useful, in fact, like if your car breaks down and you need to call someone to come fix it. :)

@Sine, one way that smartphones harm your health is by making you constantly bend over, hurting your back and neck. Another thing they do is, if you look at them too much, your eyes can get really strained. Also, it's just so distracting from real life - constant access to the internet and social media means that wherever you are, you'll be wondering what's going on with your social media followers, whether your favorite online person  has posted another video, and stuff like that. It's much harder to sit still quietly and amuse yourself with the real world - if you're in a train station, for instance - when you know you have instant entertainment right at your fingertips. Even in a beautiful or enthralling place, you're always distracted  - by the possibility of snapping a photo and putting it on Instagram, for example. Without a phone, you can tune more fully into the real world and learn how to give your full attention to something, and you can also learn how to sit still and be patient, both of which are essential for full mental health, I think. Trust me - I've never had a phone, and I'm pretty sure I live more fully in the moment than I would if I did have one. For instance, on a short road trip to a state park, if I had a phone, I'd constantly be tempted to look at it. But because I don't, I pay attention to the scenery, the trees, the cars passing by, the sky. I'm the first to admit that it's not too entertaining, but that way I can be fully absorbed in the real world, not in a screen. Life is life, and it's not always super fascinating, but we need to live it completely and accept all its moments. Ooh, maybe I should write a poem on that... I'm getting pretty poetical already :)

@Darkvine, thanks for telling me what a chromebook is :)

This is the thread that hits the right spot in a sense, because I used to get into very heated arguments over smartphone screen time with my parents. I used to be an 'addict' once, if you could say so. I was immersed in the virtual world of games, and I couldn't concantrate in class. Eventually I realized that I was using phones to block out the real world- and that's a good thing to have sometimes, don't get me wrong- but I was using it too much.

So I quit. It was hard, but I eventually asked my dad to change my phone's password while I wore a blindfold. And then I went to bed. Nothing beats the effectiveness of weaning off addiction when you pick up your phone and suddenly remember that you can't unlock it. (And I still can't, to be truthful, because I never asked for the new password.) Nowadays I can joke that I use my phone for one single minute a day, when its alarm clock rings for 30 seconds in the morning to wake me up, and for another 30 seconds to wake me up from my afternoon map. I block the world out with MP3 players and noise-canceling headphones. And I feel much better than when I was stuck with my phone. 

Wow, I ramble a lot. 

Everyone, this thread makes us "phone addicts" feel bad. Phones are nessecary for many things. I would really like tips to how to limit your phone time so that you can still enjoy nature and the world around you. There is not just black and white. There are many shades of gray inbetween. We don't have to completely stop using the phone to enjoy the world around us. We create a balance and use our phones when there is nothing else, but otherwise look around. And that's something that most people don't do. So let's make that a cool thing!

After Zeal's comment, I thought of how I could get off my phone and replace it with all the phoneless things that a phone has (flip phones for calling, encyclopedia for the internet) but I was not able to find everything. For example, there's CB. Not to mention texting and email are great when the people can't talk at the same time. I can't always listen to music with an MP3 player. There are too much hindrances without a phone.

So with this thread, I feel left out and made fun of, since everyone has already made it "cool" to be phoneless. So how about, instead of going completely phoneless, we make it "cool" to be mindful about our phone usage and still pay attention to the world around us. My mom and dad have set screen boundaries that they can trust me to follow, and I do feel better than during one spring break, where my mom let me have 3 hrs of screen time each day.

Also, about social media... Social media doesn't really come with a phone. We make a choice whether or not to install apps. I don't have social media, and definitely feel like my life would be hindered with social media. Besides, it's not like having no screen boundaries. My parents are constantly with me and can catch me if I try to break the boundaries. I'm starting to learn to appreciate them and be mindful of the world around me.

I am proud to be mindful of my phone usage and not using it constantly.

Let's all be proud of that. 

Alright, I'm responding to this again not to be argumentative, but because I think healthy debate is a really good thing!

@Amethyst - While there are alternate forms of communication, phones make it much easier and more convinent, which is a good thing!  I'm able to connect with my friends much better through texting and social media than I would be able to without a phone.  I understand your point about it making communication much simpler, but that's really not true.  I use text lingo all the time in phone communication, but am also a writer!  The two can coexist.

@Pangolin - I don't really get your point about blue light, since laptops are also a source of blue light and most phones have a "night shift" option that reduces blue light exposure.  I do agree with you that there's a certian level of maturity needed to own a phone, and some people unfairly judge others because they don't have phones.

@Poinsettia - As I said before, from my experience, having a phone has improved my communication with friends and family members.  For example, during summer I've been able to keep in touch with school friends I can't easily hang out with in person outside of school.  Additionally, social media doesn't really limit expression at all, I don't understand where you're getting that information.  Your point about "social akwardness" is actually a bit frusterating to me, as someone with social anxiety.  I've spent my life mostly socializing in person rather than over the phone, and that hasn't changed anything about my social anxiety.  It also seems very counter-productive to mention that you only have a few friends while not having a phone or social media... the CB could count as social media anyway, since it's a forum.  It's definitely part of the internet, so again - counterproductive.

Responding to your response to Sine - I'm currently slouching while typing on my laptop, which has a blue light screen.  I don't really see the health differences.  Additionally, I have other social media but I've learned that being in the moment and appriciating it is better than worrying about taking pictures to post!

@Everyone - I totally agree that phones and social media do have downsides!  However, pretty much any kind of technology is going to have both positive and negative sides.  As much as I'd love to return to a time before tech, it has improved my life in many ways.