The usage of smartphones has altered every aspect of people's lives including mental and physical aspects and spans across all ages.  Although smartphones have provided us with a higher connectivity, smartphones are detrimental because they have ruined people’s relationships, intelligence, and physical health. 

The main argument for smartphones is that it improves connectivity which is true to some extent. Through the use of social media people are able to share ideas worldwide in seconds. This allows people to feel more connected and also can also act as a learning tool to contact people with completely different cultures and identities. These are cultures that people, especially kids, would never usually be able to contact or interact with at all. And, in an ideal world, this would be the main use of smartphones, and for some it might be, but the majority of today's smartphone users only utilize them to contact people in their social circles or for social media that doesn't improve our knowledge.  So, if people are using their smartphones to only daily contact people they have met before, why not just use flip phones? Flip phones provide connectivity in the way that most smartphone users use.       

Although smartphones do improve connectivity to some extent, smartphones are mostly detrimental in that they have ruined romantic relationships, relationships with oneself, and relationships with friends. Smartphones have propagated hookup culture instead of real relationships which will be a grave issue when the newer generations start to have families. Much of these romantic relationship issues can be blamed on smartphones because never before have people been exposed to thousands of other people daily while scrolling through social media. Furthermore, attractive people are the people that get most famous, and thus, show up on most peoples’ screens which makes people strive for more attractive people than the people in their communities rather than settling into a relationship with the idea they can do better. This is also detrimental to people's relationships with oneself in that they see thousands of attractive people daily and start to compare themselves to them ignoring the fact that most people they see in real life don't look as good as what they are comparing themselves to. Finally, smartphones have ruined many platonic relationships in that now people are able to always see who someone is hanging out with and where they are, thus making it impossible to hang out with a smaller group of people without having to worry about people feeling left out because they can often see their friends hanging out without them. 

Furthermore, smartphones have made people's overall intelligence dwindle. This is one of the biggest issues with smartphones. Now that we have such a resourceful piece of technology in our pockets, limiting the use of Google, and cheating is nearly impossible and we can already see it catching up on us. For example, ironically on social media, I've seen multiple people coming forward about their doctors and nurses looking things up on their phone during a consultation which the patient could have done the exact same without paying hundreds of dollars. This all stems from the fact that in schools, especially universities, it's virtually impossible to monitor and limit people's use of phones, consequently leading to every assignment, test, and quiz being “open note” or more like “open internet.” 

Lastly, smartphones have ruined people's physical well being in that it has worsened eyesight, ruined sleeping habits, and had a huge impact on time spent outside and all the physical aspects that come with spending time outside. The average screen time for teens according to nationwidechildrens.org in 2021 was 8 hours and 39 minutes. This highlights the fact that once adolescents get back from  school they directly go to using screens until they go to bed. Of course, it is important to realize this is total screen time and not just smart phone usage but still if there weren't any smart phones this time would be greatly limited. Furthermore, the eye center of Texas directly states that staring at your smartphone for prolonged hours can lead to various issues such as tired, itchy, and dry eyes, or even blurred vision and headaches. They go on by saying that this is prolonged vision issues that can be permanent so the only real cure is lowering usage. Calm.com states, “Studies have found that smartphone use, in particular, can decrease both sleep duration and quality” and not getting sufficient sleep leads to many serious issues in development and overall brain function. This highlights how detrimental smartphones are to people's physical health.

In conclusion, smartphones have negatively altered our lives due to their effects on relationships, intelligence, and physical health. So maybe it's time to start picking up 2010s again and get flip phones for our own good.  

“Limiting Your Child’s Screen Time.” Nationwidechildrens.org, 2024, www.nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/700childrens/2013/12/limiting-your-childs-screen-time. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Does. “Calm Blog.” Calm Blog, 5 Oct. 2023, www.calm.com/blog/screen-time-before-bed. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

“LASIK Eye Surgery Houston & Cataract Surgery | Eye Center of Texas.” Eye Center of Texas, 12 Jan. 2024, www.eyecenteroftexas.com/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.