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Sedale Patton
Professor Harper
English 101
9 April 2016
The Importance of Smartphones
Smartphones have been the medium of communication in this generation.
Communication is always key to any personal relationship whether it be a child to their parents
or between ones significant other. Smartphones can enhance communication and, by extension,
relationships. A lack of communication can compromise relationships. With the use of
smartphones; personal relationships can sustain and also build even with distance. The use of
smartphones has also improved academic success in schools and easy hands on navigation
through directions and through daily lives with schedules and calendars. Some believe that
smartphones can take away from academic success and only see them as distractions, but
smartphones help to increase academic focus in this generation with the internet and information
at your palms. The use of smartphones amongst millennials can improve daily lives by
improving communication in relationships, increasing academic success, and by improving
navigation through daily lives and routines.
Smartphones have been used to improve relationships by easy means of communication
between a wide span of people. People argue to say that smartphones are a detriment to our
society and our adolescents. Some believe that the use of smartphones have completely replaced
face to face communication. People discuss that the ability to use a handheld device to
communicate can cripple our basic human social skills. Most say that engaging over social media
and talking behind a phone will decrease our real conversation skills when they are most needed.

People can miss out on jobs opportunities because they couldn't fight the anxiety of answering
questions face to face after dealing with mostly smartphone communication. People believe the
use of communication with others through smartphones can ultimately damage interpersonal
relationships. According to Lori Ann Wagener, There is a concern that since the advent of the
smartphone, obsessions with texting, updating statuses, and using Snapchat are sounding a death
knell for real conversation (3). Wagner explains the disadvantages of smartphone use in this
generation. She describes how obsessions over social media communication and how todays
generation is relying on this way of communication. While Wagner believes that smartphones do
damage to our social life; they actually help build and improve relationships.
With any type of relationship; communication is key. Face to face communication is
always important in relationships, but there isnt always time for face to face. This is where
smartphone communication comes into play. Smartphones allow people to communicate no
matter the distance. Smartphones help people stay connected and keep in touch. A kid and their
parents need to have communication while the kid is away for safety reasons. Parents tend to
worry what their kids are doing and where they are at. Communication between couples is very
important to keep ties with each other. Communication between couples is the most important
aspect in the relationship. The use of Facetime has changed the way people can communicate
today. Facetime lets people engage in face to face conversation while being in two separate
places. This communication is a hybrid of talking on the phone because one can actually see the
face and facial expressions given by the other person, making the conversation more
understanding and meaningful. A relationship can quickly fall apart without this aspect of
communication and can cause people to become distant. Communication can be very important
between a child and their parents. The use of smartphones helps them stay connected when they

are away or if a child needed their parent. In divorced families this can be an important aspect to
keep the child and parent relationship strong. This applies especially if the kid doesnt get to see
one of their parents often because of the distance of where their mother and father live from each
other.
I have experienced the effect of having a lack of communication within the last couple
months of my life. When moving away from home to further my education; I knew I would be
leaving my girlfriend. We had made the distance work for six months with the help of our phones
where otherwise we would've been disconnected from each other. We would text any time that
neither of us were busy with school or sports. Talking on the phone was also a big part of our
communication, but also Facetime helped us stay connected and feel as if we were right there
with one another. As the spring semester went on; my school work started to become heavy and I
found myself having to complete a lot of work instead of being able to Facetime. The spring
baseball season was also starting to take off and unlike the fall where we had two games every
weekend, we now were having two games everyday. She would be gone in the mornings with
either school or soccer then in the afternoons I would have my games. At this point not only were
we not talking on the phone, but communicating through text was also decreasing. Soon
motivation for the relationship started to decrease and we began to grow apart. Communication
is a key aspect for any relationship and smartphones play a huge roll in keeping that relationship
strong with even friends and family.
The use of smartphones in schools has been a wide argument regarding importance of
smartphone use. Many researchers and teachers believe that smartphones are a distraction to
classes. They explain how smartphones are unable to be used for academic purposes because
there are too many social aspects on them that kids would be distracted by. Professor Bjornsen

from Longwood University states Harman and Sato (2011) reported a significant negative
relationship between college GPA and student estimates of average daily use of text messaging
(3). Bjornsen explains how smartphones can be a detriment to a student's academic focus. He
describes how texting and social media can distract and take away from a student's studies. From
his studies; students are less likely to focus on school and more likely to focus on their phone and
social media. Most teachers are against having students use phones in class even its strictly for
academic purposes, but smartphones can help students in this generation progress in academics.
Smartphones use within classrooms can be a huge advancement for a students academic
success. In this generation; smartphones are an essential aspect. Most of the kids today live life
around their phones. They spend most of their free time either on social media or texting. It is
safe to say kids today are fascinated by phones and have a hard time keeping off them. Kids
would be more engaged with school if something as simple as using smartphones was
implemented. If the kids were actually interested in what they were learning, they would retain
more of the information given to them. A lot of kids are also visual learners, so using a handheld
device would help them with learning material in class quicker and easier. Teachers are against
the fact of the use of smartphones in class, but when they are used in the proper way they can be
very beneficial. They can help a struggling student progress in that subject. According to Willyn
Webb Cell phones need not be a distraction in schools. Instead, they can be tools for sustaining
engagement, supporting real-world cooperative learning, and empowering learning on the go
(1). Webb discusses the advantages of incorporating the smartphones in the class. She describes
how it wont hurt, but it would actually improve the academic progression of students. She
explains how letting smartphones be open for use for classes will help improve a student's
academic success by helping their memory. When the material they learn is interesting and

meaningful, it becomes easier to retain. Some schools are slowly introducing the fact of
smartphones in schools. A lot of schools are bringing in iPads and laptops to help further students
education. Chris Bjornsen states Studies conducted in the United States have shown that todays
young adults or digital natives (Bennett & Maton, 2010) have higher
rates of CPUse (Zickuhr, 2011) and are more likely to accept CPUse in social situations than
older adults (1). He explains how often todays generation uses phones and how dependent they
are to their devices. Including education into smartphones will improve the generations
intelligence. Making the information more relevant to them would make them more interested
and since the majority of people are on their phone, they have no choice but to come across their
academic studies and their devices. It would make it hard for them to ignore.
Another aspect of smartphones are the ability for navigation on the go while on the road.
People have be known to get into car accidents over phone use, but this is mostly for texting and
irresponsible use of the smartphone while driving. This automatically gives phones in the car a
bad reputation. People are known to be careless drivers and giving these people a phone behind
the wheel seems dangerous when they are using it improperly. The author Sydney Houghton
state's Distracted driving is a behavior dangerous to drivers, passengers, and non-occupants
alike (7). She states how distracted driving can be a danger to anybody on the roads. A phone
can be a distraction to people while on the road whether they are hands on texting or hands free
on the phone. Using a smartphone for on the go navigation is a different side of the story.
On the go navigation from smartphones has changed the way people travel. Built in
navigation systems in phones has made taking trips and directions go alot smoother and easier.
The use of navigation has helped people out from having no idea on how to get to a destination
and helping people when they are maybe lost and do not know where they are heading. This

advancement in technology has changed navigation completely. Before this people struggled
with reading maps and having to hold them up to see where they are going while they are
driving. The use of smartphone navigation actually makes receiving directions safer. After typing
in the destination one never has to look back at the phone. With a map, people had to find their
destination then follow along as they drove at the same time, but with smartphone navigation
there is a built in voice that gives the directions out loud while driving.
Smartphones also help people navigate in their everyday lives. The use of schedules and
calendars in the phone can be very helpful to the average busy person. During everyday lives,
often people will become overwhelmed with responsibilities and obligations. For most people,
keeping track of all this is nearly impossible. Smartphones can store all of these upcoming events
with the day and the time, so one does not have to rely on their clogged memory to remember all
the tasks they need to do. Smartphones can even be set up to have reminders or alarms that will
go off before the event takes place. Smartphones can also be a quick means of research. A on the
go handheld device makes it easy to look up information from anywhere. Research can be
conducted in a flash whether it be for academic purposes or to check the score of last night's
game.
Smartphones have been shown to improve daily lives when they are taken advantage of
properly. Some say that the use of smartphones can cause complications to relationships, but in
reality it can build them and make them stronger. If phones are used in the correct way; they can
be a real helping hand to kids that struggle in school. Teachers are now leaning towards the idea
of using phones in classrooms now. In this young generation, smartphones are the new means of

communication. There is little to no use of maps and by using a smartphones you can see a more
detailed navigation. Smartphones have been shown to improve society in this day and age.

Works Cited

Bjornsen, Chris A., and Kellie J. Archer. "Relations Between College Students Cell
Phone Use During Class And Grades." Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning In
Psychology 1.4 (2015): 326-336. PsycARTICLES. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Houghton, Sidney C. Cell Phones And Distracted Driving : Selected Research.

Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2014. eBook Academic Collection
(EBSCOhost). Web. 10 Apr. 2016

Nielsen, Lisa, and Willyn Webb. "Teaching With Cell Phones." Educational Leadership
72.8 (2015): 70. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

"Smartphones." Consumer Reports Buying Guide (2016): 101. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 4 Apr.
2016.

Wagner, Lori Ann. "When Your Smartphone Is Too Smart For Your Own Good: How Social
Media Alters Human Relationships." Journal Of Individual Psychology 71.2 (2015): 114121. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2016