Cell Phones and Teens

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Cell Phone Affecting Teenagers Lives

When you think of a cell phone, you do not think of an adult trying to call their husband or wife, you think of a teenager texting or calling a friend. Today cell phones allow people to browse the web, text and call an unlimited amount, take pictures and videos and send them, and download music; cell phones are now becoming portable computers (Cell phones and kids: Do they mix? Para 3.) The Pew Internet Project survey found that 75% of teenagers, ages 12-17 now have cell phones, 83% of them take pictures, 64% share them with others, 60% play music, and 23% browse the web on social networking sites (Teens and Mobile Phones Para 6-7.) These cell phones are affecting the lives of teens negatively by taking over their social life, causing academic problems, and causing mental and physical harm.

Social Life

All teens want to be the “it” kid in school; therefore, they need to have a big social life, and they need to be on the top of the social status. The type of cell phone a teenager carries tells a lot about his/her social status, over clothing, jewelry, and shoes (Cell Phones Key to Teens’ Social Lives Para 3.) The better the cell phone the more popular the teen will be; the cheaper the phone the more they will be picked on. Also there is a newer type of texting that teen males and females take part in, it is called “Sexting.” Sexting is a way that teenagers flirt in a sexual manner by sending semi-nude or nude pictures and sending crude, in depth, sex related text messages to one another. This type of text messaging will make girls known by guys, and guys known by girls, putting them on the top of the social

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status. Another way teens try to inch their way up to the top of the social status is by bullying their peers. When a “click “ singles out someone who they consider different, they will text or call their peers pointing out what they believe is the victim’s flaws. The adolescences bullying their...