It’s only a few inches tall and a few centimeters wide these days.

But don’t be deceived, the cell phone has become society’s lifeline.

“It keeps you connected. It’s the only thing you own that is always within an arm’s reach,” as a recent HTC (a cell phone manufacturer) marketing commercial described people’s relationship with their phones.

It happened less than a decade ago—the cell phenomenon in the United States—but anytime before that seems like ancient history. Cell phones have become a necessity for most teenagers, driving social communication to places the telegraph and rotary phones could never hear coming.

Today, 82 percent of teenagers in the United States have cell phones and 57 percent of them say it is essential to their social life, according to a  Harris Interactive and CTIA—The Wireless Association survey.

That number is even higher at Rockhurst, where a school wide poll found that 99 percent of the student body has a mobile device and 84 percent consider it a necessity.

With such a large number of students having cell phones, the chances of a dependence on them increases.

Defining the cell phone dependence, Dr. Scott Campbell, an expert in the field of mobile telephony, labeled it, “The sensation that you can not live without [a cell phone]…that you can’t even go a day or two without it.”

Dr. Richard Ling, a sociologist with expertise in mobile communications, mentioned exactly what makes people dependent to their cell phones.

“[Cell phones give you a] preexisting sense of yourself. Through the cell phone, you get a sense of being with people,” Dr. Ling said.

Being in contact with, rather than isolated from, others is obviously a big reason for the instant surge of cell phone popularity and for people’s dependence on them.

But, as Dr. Campbell explains, this contact can go too far.

“Being so accessible is a positive, but can turn into a negative when people have heightened expectations that you should always be reachable. This can cause boundary blurring where we have to do other things, like, for example, work,” he said.

Another example of crossing the line is found in the poll results, which show that 25 percent of students are willing to use their phone during mass.

One reason for the dependence on cell phones is the phenomenon within the phenomenon: texting.

According to the school poll, about 78 percent of students ranked texting as their most used feature on their phone. This towers over voice calling which came in second with only 14 percent of the student body ranking it as their most used feature.

“Texting allows you to be very strategic. It’s a little more controlled,” Dr. Ling said. “Teens are the champions at texting. It’s a very teen way of mediation.”

Though adolescents are the biggest constituents of the texting revolution, older people have also played their part.

Seventy-eight percent of Rockhurst students said that their parents, too, can twiddle their fingers aptly, proving that the skill can be adopted by older generations, as well.

Cell phones, along with the incorporation of texting, affect a lot of things concerning teenager’s lives.

Social Life

The biggest realm of life affected by the cell phone age is the social life.

By constantly being able to communicate, the cell phone allows teens to establish their social identity, a vital part of adult formation.

 “The cell phone tightens your closest friendship ties,” Dr. Ling said. “It allows you to keep in touch with people as needed throughout the day.”

Dr. Campbell acknowledges that mobile phones bring people together, but believes they can have the opposite effect as well.

“Often times we experience ‘absent presence’ when we are physically with others, but mentally or socially absent because we’re on the phone,” he said.

In addition, Dr. Campbell notes how public etiquette is often breached when people use their phones around others.

 At Rockhurst, however, most students seem to recognize this problem with 79 percent of students believing it is impolite to text during conversations.

Another effect Dr. Ling illustrates is the concept of “micro-coordination”, which deals with how people today organize plans. Rather than setting up a certain time and place to meet all at once, events are coordinated and changed  through a series of texts and calls. 

There’s a transition in the way that we coordinate activities,” Dr. Ling said. “[With the cell phone,] it’s changing in the sense that we take several turns or try to decide where to meet. Things like that. So that secure sense of when and where we’re going to meet is changing a little bit.”

School and Home

While it is common to think that most students use their cell phones during class, the school poll showed that only 38 percent actually claim to do so.

The willingness to use mobile devices during school does increase from freshman to seniors, but the overall percentage is still less than the number of students who will use their cell phones at the dinner table, 52 percent.

The relationship between young cell phone owners and their parents has changed as a result of cell phones too.

Dr. Campbell’s recent studies have shown that teens use their high-texting ability when talking to their parents to gain an advantage.

 “[Teenagers] prefer to text message a lot of times with their parents because they can get what they want better because [teens are] better at text messaging than their parents and they can manipulate the conversation better,” Dr. Campbell said

Another concept brought up is the idea that parents can no longer interfere with who their children talk to. With home phones, parents can generally control, or at least know, who is talking to who; but with cell phones today, parents are put  out of the loop.

“The cell phone is part of the emancipation process,” Dr. Ling said.

Safety

Safety is a double-edged sword in the cell phone world.

In one aspect, a cell phone gives people a sense of security because they know they are within contact of people, even if they are alone. This is one of the main reasons adolescents are getting cell phones earlier and earlier; parents want the comfort of knowing that their children are always within reach.

However, high dependence with cell phones has been hazardous as well, especially when it comes to driving.

According to a USA Today article, 250 bills have been proposed in state legislatures nationwide to limit cell phone usage in cars, and six states have banned the usage of hand-held cell phones behind the wheel already.

“Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash,” Ms. Janet Froetscher, president of the National Safety Council, said in a CNN article.

Sixty-eight percent of juniors and seniors at Rockhurst are willing to use their phones mid-drive, and 40 percent of parents are too, proving that this unsettling theme is especially prevalent in the school’s community.

Whether teenagers are dependent on their cell phones or not, it is clear that cell phones affect them in many aspects of their life.

Dr. Ling described the modern importance of the cell phone stating, “If you leave the house without a cell phone, it’s like leaving the house without a wallet.”

As the cell phone gets smaller and smaller, so does the world.