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Rebecca Jud

Prof. Thomas

English 1201

21 March 2021

Literature Review: How do Cell Phones Affect Children and Teenagers?

Whether texting or scrolling through social media, cell phones are present in many

people’s everyday lives. Over time cell phone use has increased for adults, but it has also

increased for children. There are many concerns that can be brought up based around the use of

cell phones for young children. This leads to the question of, how does the use of cell phones in

children and teenagers affect their school and personal lives?

Over the years many things about cell phones have changed, both in who owns one and

the opinions people have. Technology itself over time has changed as well and become more

widespread. A contributing factor to this is how mobile phones are being given to younger and

younger children. In a study conducted by Munther Sameen Shuker and Zina Tariq Ali, about the

use of screen time and the connection to eyesight, the youngest children they studied were three

to five years old. Something else that has changed over time is how the use of cell phones is

viewed. In an article titled, “Children in Elementary School Are Too Young for Cell Phones” by

Marguerite Reardon. It is explained that parents have many different views on the topic of cell

phones for children. Some parents want to give phones to children in elementary school while

others think it is important to wait until high school (Reardon). These opinions and ages have

changed over the span of many years to get to what is seen today.
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Throughout many articles there are a few main points that can be seen throughout. One of

the topics is how cell phones affect people physically. This is an important thing to focus on

when questioning how mobile phones affect children, but this information is relevant to all

people. Another topic that does mainly apply to children is how cell phones change school life.

This can show what children must go through in the age of technology. Something else to take

into consideration is what groups there are in relation to cell phones. Do all kids use the phone

the same amount of time? How do different amounts of screen time have different effects? One

other important topic to view is the concerns from the creators of this technology itself. Many

technologists who created these devices that are used every day have expressed how they use

phones in their own lives and the concerns people should consider before giving a phone to a

child. There are many articles written about these topics showing their importance.

Mobile phones have many effects on children mentally but also physically. Phones have

caused problems with eyesight as well as a lack of physical activity. In an article titled, “The

Biophysical Efficiency of Smart Phones on the Eyes of Children from 3-12 Years” it explains

how staring at screens can lead to problems for many people, especially young children. There

are a few reasons that screens can cause so many issues for people, the main two being not

blinking enough and dealing with blue light exposure. They explain that while many people

work on an electronic device, they do not blink as often as they need to (Shuker, Ali). Also, they

discuss how screens from cell phones can produce blue light that can be harmful to the eyes.

“One of the studies indicated as smart phone screen was emitted the blue light that had adverse

effect on the human eyes” (Shucker, Ali 2). This shows how mobile phones and screens can

cause physical problems for people. More physical problems are revealed in another article,

“‘Social screens’ and ‘the mainstream’: longitudinal competitors of non-organized physical

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activity in the transition from childhood to adolescence.” This article is about a study that was

conducted to see how physical activity levels changed based on how much someone was on the

phone. This study found that an increase in texting and emailing led to a decrease in physical

activity. They also said that this may cause people to be less active in adulthood. (Kemp et al.).

Both articles were written to educate the public on the dangers of using cell phones. They show

the importance of understanding the physical effects that mobile phones have on humans.

Cell phones have many physical effects on people but there are other issues as well.

Another point to consider is how cell phones affect school lives. This is explained in the article,

“Banning Mobile Phones in Schools: Beneficial or Risky? Here’s what the evidence says.” This

article discusses the many different viewpoints that come into play over this issue. The author

addresses that cyberbullying is a problem in schools, and how the amount of cyberbullying has

increased over the years (Selwyn). One of the main discussion topics of this article is how

banning phones is a complicated issue to work with. He mentions that phones may be a

distraction in schools, but this applies to other devices as well, such as laptops and tablets

(Selwyn). This article shows the different sides to take into consideration when thinking about

phones in schools.

While studying the use of cell phones many different groups can be found, these people

are often divided by things like age and amount of time spent on phones. There are a few

different age groups that were found in a variety of studies. These age groups were also often

made up of very young kids. In a study about how, screens affect students eyes they found that

the children who use their phones the most are six to eight years old (Shuker, Ali). This very

young group of children not only had cell phones, but they also used them for a higher amount of

time in a day. Although ages were found people were also separated into different groups based
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on the amount of time they spend on the phone. In another study two main groups were found

based on screen time, and they were labeled as “social screens” and “the mainstream” (Kemp et

al.). These groups were determined based on the amount of time the child spent on a screen

against how much time they spent doing physical activity. The “social screens” were described

as having a large increase in texting and emailing while decreasing in physical activity. While

“the mainstream” were found to participate in a wide range of activities (Kemp et al.). There

were also other factors separating these groups, but this article shows how there is not one single

group affected by this topic.

One other thing to take into consideration is how the technologists who created the many

devices that are used, feel about their own technology. In the article “Silicon Valley Wary of the

'Devil' in Our Phones” Many points are addressed from the creators of a variety of technology on

their feelings towards mobile devices. One of the main topics that was discussed was how

technology was used in the houses of these people. This led to a variety of responses many of

which explained their thoughts against cell phones. Many of the technologists admitted that they

do not let their children have a cell phone until high school (Bowles). This article was written to

show the importance of these opinions so the users of these devices may see this other

perspective. Also, by showing the concerns of the technologists the parents and the public may

reconsider their views. The question is also asked in the article of, “how much exposure to

phones is O.K?” (Bowles). This question is important to consider not only for the creators of this

technology, but also for the users.

There are very few people who say that cell phones don’t affect the lives of children, but

there are arguments of the positives against the negatives. There are many negative affects to the

use of cell phones for kids, but some don’t see that. Some of the positives of cell phones were
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addressed in the article about banning mobile phones in schools. In that article the author says,

“We also found instances of students using smartphones for a range of beneficial purposes—

from impromptu information seeking to live-streaming lessons for sick classmates” (Selwyn).

These are two examples of positives that came from the use of cell phones in classrooms. Also,

there were a few technologists who did not think that the use of cell phones for children were as

big of a concern as others thought (Bowles). These positive points can allow for a look into a

disagreement and a different viewpoint for the subject. These counter points could possibly lead

to misconceptions of people not looking at some of the harmful effects phones can have on

young children. These positives could take away from the important problems that need to be

addressed.

Based on the information found in these articles there are a few potential answers to the

question, how does the use of cell phones in children and teenagers affect their school and

personal lives? Using cell phones has many effects on children and teenagers. These effects can

be both positive and negative, but they all change the everyday lives of children in some way.

Some of the effects are physical, like causing problems with the eyes, or having a lower rate of

physical activity. While other effects are based on how students use phones every day. There

may be more research to be done about the mental health of children and teenagers, and how the

use of mobile devices can change this. There also may be more statistics of the levels cell phones

are used that can be found with further research. However, there are a variety of effects on

children, based around the use of mobile devices.

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Works Cited

Bowles, Nellie. “Silicon Valley Wary of the ‘Devil’ in Our Phones.” New York Times, vol. 168,

no. 58130, 29 Oct. 2018, p. B1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=bwh&AN=132662260&site=eds-live.

Kemp, Byron J., et al. “‘Social Screens’ and ‘the Mainstream’: Longitudinal Competitors of

Non-Organized Physical Activity in the Transition from Childhood to Adolescence.”

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, vol. 17, no. 1, Jan.

2020, pp. 1–11. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12966-019-0908-0.

Reardon, Marguerite. "Children in Elementary School Are Too Young for Cell Phones." Cell

Phones in Schools, edited by Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010912210/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=babaa3f8. Accessed 25 Feb. 2021. Originally published

as "How Young Is Too Young for a Cellphone or Smartphone?" 2011.

Selwyn, Neil. "Banning mobile phones in schools: beneficial or risky? Here's what the evidence

says." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/AHRANS865073554/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=86841e5a. Accessed 25 Feb. 2021. Originally published

as "Banning mobile phones in schools: beneficial or risky? Here's what the evidence

says," The Conversation, 26 June 2019.

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Shuker, Munther Sameen, and Zina Tariq Ali. “The Biophysical Efficacy of Smart Phones on the

Eyes of Children from 3-12 Years.” Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology,

vol. 14, no. 4, Oct. 2020, pp. 3194–3200. EBSCOhost, doi:10.37506/ijfmt.v14i4.12118.