AGAINST
COMMENTARY
Jessica Fleming

Cellular phones. They are the best friends of college-bound teens, rushing business people, or, indeed, almost anyone living in the modern age. And they give us so much: the companionship of having almost anyone at your ear, the safety of never having to find a pay phone and the thrill of constant conversation. But at what price?

Other than the fact that holding the phone to your head physically limits your ability to see from that side clearly, the attention to conversation itself effectively distracts almost any driver from the duty of operating what is, in fact, a lethal weapon. Would you want someone who is fighting with their boyfriend in charge of the button that drops the next atomic bomb? Then why is the same temperamental being put in charge of a car? I understand that accidentally mowing over a few pedestrians is not the equivalent of detonating a nuclear device, but I doubt the streetwalkers killed by distracted motorists would care. Watching a driver who is on the phone is enough to prove the danger in that little machine. They cut you off in one lane, get too close in the other and before you know it, there’s a fender bender and they’ll have to call whoever-it-was back after they get your insurance information. When operating such an expensive piece of machinery, there should be a degree of respect and attention paid not only to one’s own vehicular activities but to the surroundings and other cars as well.

Then there is the value of entertainment, and how these mobile messengers can cheapen that. If someone has ever had to answer their calls in the same theater in which you are enthralled in a movie or performance, you know the price of this constant communication. Even in class, the little electronic samba ushers in distraction for some of those urgent to find it. Furthermore, while studying on campus, you might find it hard to concentrate when you are bombarded with the intimate details of another’s love life, as professed by some person sitting near you. Most textbooks fail to offer such raunchy details. It is true that you could just move from the spot and find somewhere else to study, but that only comes at the expense of more time that could be better used to study.

Cellular phones not only endanger and annoy others, but also prove detrimental to the users themselves. Aren’t there some times when you do not want to receive a call? Have you ever had a prank caller wasting your precious few minutes, or a wrong number that never gets corrected?

If nothing else, these things are detrimental to the social environment. No longer do you find any necessity to talk to that person from your history class as you sit at lunch when you can call up your old friends. A good deal of the introverted student body will cling to their phones in every unguarded moment, never venturing out to meet new people who may not only share some interests and classes but might have something important to offer — an alternate perspective.

FOR
COMMENTARY
Rachel Cox

“Can you hear me now?”

Well, chances are you can if you are like most people today in America and are on your cell phone hours at a time each day. Sadly, but truly, my cell phone has become something I know I couldn’t live without. It helps me keep in touch with others, saves me time and even allows me to keep changing my ring tone to fit my mood. And when I can’t talk, there’s text messaging.

Thank goodness we are out of the ages of the “good old Pony Express.” Now when we feel like hearing a loved one’s voice, they are just a few buttons away. I mean, really, would you rather leave message after message at a home or office that a person might not return to for hours, days or even weeks? Me neither.

Not only does my cell phone enable me to chat with anybody, it also saves me tons of time each day. Today, we can simply remember, “Oh yeah, I can’t get my hair done today, I have class. What was I thinking?” Then, on our way to class, we quickly call Thomas and re-schedule. It’s that simple: No going back to the dorm or frantically searching for a pay phone.

I know everybody has been in a situation when they have to communicate with someone but can’t do it in person. This is why text messaging was invented. Just the other day I was in class when I realized I had accidentally left my flat-iron on. I text-messaged my friend stat, and she went to my room and turned it off. My friends, you may not have had a school left had it not been for my text message, which saved TCU from burning to the ground. Yes, imagine my panic as I tried to take notes as visions of Sherley Hall up in blazes ran through my head.

What would life be like without the use of cell phones? Most of us still remember a time before the phenomenon, but it was a sad time without the ease of quick call. This just goes to show how fast technology has grown in order to make all of our lives dependent upon certain objects that we now believe we could not live without.