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Could you live without your mobile phone?
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| Boon or bane - we've all got one, but could you live without it? Picture: STEVE BRADING (77053-c) |
We all know today's problems.
Global warming, world food crisis, international credit crunch, drugs, violent crime, the catastrophes that are Iraq and Afghanistan - you get the picture.
Now there is a new "concern". Apparently, internet addiction is a "serious public health issue" which should be "officially recognised as a clinical disorder".
While this may raise nothing more than a few eyebrows in the UK, there is one side-effect of this technology which is already affecting industry - the reluctance to communicate face-to-face.
A new business report reveals that while 82 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds are "confident" in their IT skills, only 64 per cent feel likewise in interpersonal skills* - and many bosses believe even 64 per cent is a gross exaggeration.
Colchester Sixth Form College students are shocked at the thought. While you would expect them to be head-over-heels with their media centre mobiles and multi-megabyte laptops, they are a means to an end only. Not, declared Lena Putter, an end in themselves.
"Yes, I have a mobile phone - but it is really for practical purposes, such as fixing to meet people, that sort of thing," she said.
"And you shouldn't rely on IT, especially laptops. My computer crashed and took with it a big part of my chemistry coursework. Luckily, I had a back up - I had made hand-written notes, too."
It is the same for Robert Wingar. A mobile phone is ideal in an emergency.
"I suppose what you see at home affects how you view IT," he pointed out.
"My dad is a fireman and he has to leave his mobile phone in his locker. He hardly uses it - and as for a laptop, he can just about turn it on and off."
Alan Morgan can take or leave mobile phones. At the moment he has to.
"I lost my mobile phone," he said. "But I'm managing fine without it. That just shows it isn't essential."
Charlotte Steele is a Guide leader. For her, mobile phones make it easy to stay in contact with other Guides.
"This sort of contact is important, but, that said, I could live without a mobile," she explained. "I think face-to-face is so much better."
Aaron Braddy showed mock-horror at the suggestion he may not have a mobile phone. But he insisted neither mobile phones nor laptops could take the place of up close and personal.
"I want to go to medical school and am at the interview stage. I have just had an interview with a panel of five medical professionals. IT didn't help me through that."
Charlotte Marr may have a £35-a-month-plus-free-texts contract - apparently, this is standard - which means she does use her mobile phone "quite a lot", but she is adamant she does not rely on it.
"My friends don't all live locally, so the mobile is a good way to keep in contact - but I prefer talking to people face-to-face."
Kieran Stallard can do without a mobile phone, but his laptop is a different story.
"I use my laptop mainly for coursework," he said. "I also play in an orchestra and it helps with orchestral planning and organisation.
"But that doesn't stop me talking to people face-to-face. It's the best way."
When Chloë Lock left her mobile phone at home, there was a panic among her friends because they could not contact her.
"I always have my mobile with me and always get back to people - that one time I didn't, people panicked!"
It is the same for Golden Ogbonna. His friends and family know he has his mobile with him, switched on (silent in lectures), 24/7. Golden is also "very IT proficient" and would "be lost" without his mobile and laptop.
Of all the students, Golden is the most IT-involved. His mobile and laptop make his life run smoothly and he cannot imagine his world without them.
Which is in direct contrast to Lucy Murphy. Laptops are confined to course work, and as for her mobile phone - well, she does have one, but her friends wonder why she bothers.
"I don't use it much, but I suppose that is because I keep forgetting it - and when I do remember to put it in my bag, it is never switched on," she smiled.
"But I prefer talking to people face-to-face - that way you get the body language."
Which IT can never give.
* FileMaker's Educated Tea Makers: IT skills from school to work (16 to 28-year-olds) 2008 report
10:25am Thursday 1st May 2008
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