Are You a Cellphone Junkie?

These days, you can use a cellphone almost for anything. Talking is lowest on the list. You can send and receive messages, play games, and even download files from the Internet. Sure, cellphones are definitely a big help, but can they turn against us? Some researchers are looking into the question. let's find out!
In 2005, Sergio Chapparro (at that time a teacher at Rugers University in New jersey) conducted a simple experiment. He asked his students to turn their cellphones off for three solid days. All of his students got scared. They thought living without a cellphone for three days would be sheer torture. And do you know what the result was? Only three of 220 students complied!

A wider survey was conducted in Korea, targeting 1.200 teenagers aged 14-19 in Seoul. The results were even more startling:
- 35% of the respondents mainly use cellphones for text messaging.
- On average, a student sends 45 messages per day. Four out of ten students said she sent up to 400 messages a day!
- One out five students keep their cellphones next to them while bathing, only because they're afraid they will miss a call or a message. Crazy isn't it?

Another survey also conducted a small survey to check how you guys treat your cells. Just like in Korea, Indonesian teens use their cellphones mainly for sending and receiving messages. Details:
- 55% say theyspend approximately Rp 50.000 - Rp 100.000 a month on credits. But one respondent spends Rp 450.000 a month!
- Almost all respondents (97%) say they never turn their cellphone off in class.
- 37% say they send 5-10 SMSes a day. And 18% say they sewnd more than 30 SMS a day. Surprisingly, the latter are mostly 15/16 year olds. Let's do a little bit of math. If one message needs approximately three minutes to write, it means these teens will spend more than 90 minutes (1.5 hours) a day only for texting! And that is just the minutes spent on writing messages. What about the minutes spent on reading the messages? On talking on the cell? On playing cellphone games? man! That must be a lot of hours ...

It's also interesting that almost all respondents think of their cellphones as an extremely important item. Some confess that they are so dependent on their cell that they will stress out big time if it doesn't work.
One girl even says,"I would feel very sad and lonely if my cell broke down. Because I wouldn't be able to reach or be reached by my pals." It's interesting to note that she even feels that she would be lonely without her cellphone. Whatever happened to fixed lines or better yet, face to face meetings?
So, what do you think about cellphone addiction now? It's there, right? Are you one of the junkies?

Symptoms Of Cell Phone Addict
if you're still wondering if you're a cellphone addict or not, check out these symptoms. Do you experience most of them? If that's the case, then you are definitely a nominee. Watch out!
* You get absolutely jittery when your phone's battery is almost dead.
* You never turn off your cellphone, even in important meetings or classes.
* You feel the urge to immediately return messages as soon as you receive them.
* You've been trying not to use your cell so much, but no luck!
* Many times, you feel great just knowing that your cell is within reach.