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Essay / Teenagers and Cell Phones - 1344
Cell phone use and bullying have attracted a lot of attention in the United States in recent years. When many of us hear the word cyberbullying, we automatically associate it with something that only happens on the internet. Yet the term includes the use of cell phones to communicate a threat, send an abusive text, send inappropriate photos, or make harassing phone calls to someone in order to scare or annoy them. Unfortunately, this is another vice that negatively affects our young people. Second on my list of inappropriate cell phone use is when people use them as a tool to embarrass or exploit someone. Bullying of any kind is cruel and no one should be a victim of it in any form. However, just like the Internet, cell phones allow embarrassing images or texts to be transmitted to many people in a matter of minutes. I believe that at some point, the majority of us, including our family and friends, have been victims of some form of bullying. In an effort to determine the severity of teenage bullying, I explored the resources of a government-run website called Bullying Staistics. .Org. The website was created to help educate families, children and school administrators about the different types and consequences of bullying. Additionally, the site provides those who are victims of bullying with the names of organizations, therapeutic groups, and suggestions on how to deal with it. The site helped me in my research. According to the website, for most, bullying begins in adolescence. it is estimated that at least nine out of ten teenagers own a cell phone, and the risk of those being bullied via their cell phone is one in five (bullying Statistics.org). In addition and contrary to what I initially thought, the website statistics......middle of paper......membership reaches 91% of adults. Retrieved from: Website: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/06/cell-phone-ownership-hits-91-of-adultesLowy, Joan. “National ban on texting while driving: US recommends against using cell phones while driving. » TheHuffington Post, December 31, 2011. Web. Accessed March 23, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/national-Texting-while-driving-ban_n_1147909.html Phillips, S. (2014). Teens Sleeping with Cell Phones: A Clear and Present Danger Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/blogs/teens-sleeping-cell-phones-clear-and-present-danger Price, M. (2011) . [Web log message]. Accessed February 12, 2014 at: http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/features/2011/cell-phone-addiction.aspx