Addicted to Texting

August 24th, 2010 | Add a Comment

Pagers, email, AOL, they are all forms of communication that are ancient in today’s society. Most popular way of communication? Text messaging.

You can see it anywhere you go: church, walking down the street, driving, out to dinner, at the movies, it is the way of communication for much of the population. It is quiet, convenient and fast. The instant gratification of texting triggers the brains pleasure center and releases dopamine. Dr. Seyffert says the area of the brain that lights up when a kid texts is the same as when an addict using heroin.

Many studies have shown that the average teenager sends and receives well over 3000 texts a month. Eighty percent of all kids have a cell phone and the text messaging rate has gone up 600 percent in three years. Dr. Michael Seyffert, a brain specialist who treats teens with sleeping disorders, found that one out of five of the teens sleep is interrupted due to texting.

Is texting posing more of a threat to society than an aide? It depends who you ask.

Let’s start with the opinion of teens. According to 10th graders Sarah Matzkin, Sara Marshall, and April Preluviak, texting can be just as important as talking. Along with many teens their phone is by their side 24/7, when the go to sleep and when the wake up. It is often the first thing Sara Marshall goes to in the morning. Other teens may say it is easier talking on the phone; it is more to the point.

Parents seem to have a different point of view. Often parents say things such as:
“They don’t answer the phone.”
“It’s the only way to get a hold of them.”
“They will answer a text.”
“They don’t do email, at all.”
“They won’t email.”
“Forget about email. It’s gone, it’s over.”
“I had to actually get text messaging in order to communicate with my kids.”
“Sometimes they’ll only communicate that way.”
I know my mom makes me check in with her at least once via talking on the phone when I go out at night. She says she wants to hear my voice to know I’m okay, she knows if something is wrong through my voice so it is comforting for her to hear my voice to reassure her.

Doctors say that texting can almost be considered the new tobacco. It is causing problems in schools, on the roads and in relationships. It is a new addiction among much of society. Like many other things in the world it was made to help us, but often we as a society abuse what has been offered to us and in the end it hurts us more than it does help.