Devin Patchell found himself intoxicated and relieving himself outdoors after a successful weekend night. He noticed someone approaching. Instinctively, Patchell flipped open his cell phone and pretended to text message, as if he had been doing it all along.
In Patchell's case, his cell phone kept him out of trouble. The functions of a cell phone are now endless, and most students wouldn't be caught walking without one.
Psychologist Patricia Farrell, author of How to Be Your Own Therapist: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Competent, Confident Life, wrote in her blog last year about what she called cell phone deprivation syndrome. According to Farrell's blog, people can no longer function properly without cell phone in hand. A lonely or empty feeling may be a side effect of being phoneless, a feeling that comes from hating to be alone.
Farrell wrote, Maybe cell phones have somehow gotten into that little anxious area we all have
and they have increased our anxiety about always being connected.
Students use cell phones for self-comforting during a time of social anxiety. Whether they are sad, upset or lonely, the cell phone can be a soothing tool. Sociology and anthropology professor Stephen Scanlan said the constant use of cell phones is related to this era being one of connectivity.
It is so engrained in our culture to use regularly the technology we have at our disposal said Scanlan. This is no longer an era of isolation. People like to be in touch.
When junior Suzanne McCandlish walks out of her house she flips open her cell phone and calls a friend. It keeps her mind off of the cold weather, McCandlish said.
Freshman Rachel Johanson noticed that if a person feels uncomfortable in class he or she immediately take out his or her phone. Cell phones are the new security blanket, she said.
Scanlan said using a cell phone for a reason other than communication is probably a defense mechanism. People will use their cell phones to avoid being bothered, he said.
Sophomore James Decker said he uses this tactic: He pretends to talk to someone on his phone when walking past a person he would rather not talk to, he said.
Others use cell phones as protection when walking home late at night. People think no one will ask for their wallet if they're on their cell phone, Scanlan said.
Junior Nancy Robinson said she calls her grandmother, mother or one of her friends when walking home to E. State Street late at night.Talking on the phone late at night can make a person feel safer, said freshman Makella Slavick, even though she heard it is dangerous. Supposedly an attacker is more likely to come after a person who is on his or her phone and not paying attention, she said.
Cell phones have become such a primary communication source that many college students don't even have land phones. There are 7,434 students living in residence halls with less than 4,000 land phones in use, said media specialist George Mauzy.
Sophomore Alan McCoy does not have a land phone in his dorm room. The only people who call that line are sales people. Besides I have my cell phone to use
McCoy said.
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Natalie Cammarata
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Tech generation relying on cell phones for a lot more than chat
Tech generation relying on cell phones for a lot more than chat
