Are you one of those people who is constantly checking their phone, even when there is no notification? One of those people, even when you are with your friends, that picks up the phone to answer a text or email? Have you ever put your phone down to actually see what other people around you are doing, and you realize everyone was doing exactly what you were? We are constantly looking at a screen, from work to school, when we come home, and all throughout the day from our phones. Americans collectively check their phone up to 8 billion times a day, which turns down to be 47 times a person. Young adults are worse, checking their phones on average 82 times a day. Whether we are with family or friends there is no doubt that at some point during time spent with others we will end up on our devices. I feel as though I woke up in zombie apocalypse film where every single person has their heads down looking at their phone. Phones are now causing more car accidents than alcohol, and I honestly never thought we would reach this point.

I will be with my group of friends having a good time, and when the conversation begins to die we all resort to our phones. I have even had this happen at family dinners, and I find myself trying to remember the last meal we had without smart phones. We do everything with our phones now from arguing or breaking bad news to people to even using our phone to pay people. We have lost our personal touch with one another, and we have lost our way of communication with one another. It’s like even with the most important people in our lives we struggle devoting time to at least one person at a time. We are losing time with people we love to our devices, and it is creating a rift in our relationships.

When we text or call someone with something important we lose a whole other side of the communication process. The person that is the receiver of the message has to rely strictly on the language used, and is completely up to their own interpretation to decipher its meaning. In person, the receiver of a message can listen to how the words are being said, and how the person sending the message is acting. Non-verbal communication can tell us more about a message than the actual words do. It can tell us when someone is excited or upset, and even when someone is being dishonest or lying to us. When we read the words off the screen we cannot truly get anything but our own interpretation of the message.

We are not being intentional with our time with our friends and family. I believe it is time for a new trend. A trend where we begin to put our phones down and mute them for when we are with our loved ones. A trend to leave the important conversations to be had person, and to stop hiding behind our phones, because it is easy. A trend to make each other feel more together than apart. A trend where we stop using our device as an excuse and actually start being a part of the world again. We do not have to lose our phone for very long to realize how dependent and chained we have become to our phones.