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Cell phone addiction is real

Marisca realizes how dependent she is on he phone after losing it for a day
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The other morning I watched my 1.5 year old pick up my phone and walk away with it. I didn’t think much of it and was keeping my eye on where she might drop it, but then I got distracted and when I looked at her again a couple of minutes later, she no longer had my phone in her hand.

Again, I didn’t think much of it and I was in the middle of something else and decided to look for it later. Once I was done with my task, I started to look for my phone. I couldn’t find it anywhere.

I used my husband’s phone to try and call it but I had the ringer off so it wasn’t much help. I looked in all of her usual hiding spots, and in my shoes and under my bed. I tore apart the house looking for it. I couldn’t find it anywhere.

And when I asked my daughter where she put it, she just shrugged her shoulders and kept walking away from me. She didn’t care. I took everything out of the toy box and crawled on my hands and knees through my closet. Nothing.

I felt naked without my phone. I kept going to grab it to look up a new recipe I was planning on cooking for dinner, and to take a photo of my daughters when they were being cute or silly. And I kept reaching for it to text my sister about nothing. My husband was going to run some errands and I panicked. What if there was an emergency and I didn’t have a phone to call him? We don’t have a landline. He left his phone with me but then I kept worrying about him.

After searching all day, I finally found it. It was under the couch, along with a couple of spoons, multiple granola bar wrappers and enough goldfish to feed the 5,000.

The upside of losing my phone was that I was cleaning as I went. I can see the floor in my closet now.

I realized that day how much I rely on my phone. It isn’t just a phone. It is my calendar, my camera, my clock, my recipe book, my notepad, my photo album, my life line to the outside world and I use it for work, plus I use to call and text people.

But maybe I’m too reliant on it. I felt like I was falling apart without it, which is silly. It is a useful tool but I shouldn’t be lost without it.

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According to a new poll, the average person spends almost three hours a day on their smart phone and half of mobile users look at their phone a few times every hour.

Over 60 per cent of students surveyed in the United States believe they have a cell phone addiction. We are hooked.

Recent research from the University of Arizona showed that adolescents who were dependent on or addicted to their smartphone were more likely to show signs of depression and loneliness.

More research is needed to find out exactly why, but the numbers are scary.

I do need my phone but maybe I don’t need it 24/7. Maybe there is something to pulling out my actual camera and taking a some shots and actually printing them out. And maybe it is fun to go through a real cook book for recipe ideas. Back up plans are good and diversifying my tools is also a good idea.

I’m not going to throw my phone away but I don’t want to lose sight of why I use it. The idea is for it to be a help, not a hinder.


@MariscaDekkema
marisca.bakker@interior-news.com

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Marisca Bakker

About the Author: Marisca Bakker

Marisca was born and raised in Ontario and moved to Smithers almost ten years ago on a one-year contract.
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