'Social change is a transformation of culture and
norms brought about by its adoption by many'
Taking this statement into consideration, I would agree with the statement
that 'Mobile is an inevitable part of teenage life'
The mobile phone adoption has literally taken the world by storm...It has
become not only a tool for communication but also a symbol with which an
individual identifies himself or herself with.
Though the fad of mobile phone use has been incorporated into all age
groups,studies have proved that adolescents are the most avid users of the
mobile phone(According to eto et al).
This begs the question why?
Why do adolescents seem inseparable from mobile phones in this day and age?
To answer this,I have a few diverse areas to cover...
- Subculture
The use of mobile phones,being adopted universally has turned into a sub
culture of its own.
- Texting
The wonderful concept of 'texting' is the 'in' thing to know. Texting has
its advantages of firstly, avoiding unnecessary conversation. Secondly,it
ensures that the message is delivered as opposed to calling the person and
having the call unanswered. thirdly,it is cheap, fast and easy to communicate
and organize social gatherings or meetings.
- Peripheral Features
The mobile phones have lot of additional features like Walkman facilities,
recording options, gaming, downloading, alarm functions, task reminders etc
that aid in almost all aspects of daily living. This also captivates the minds
of the youth.
- Gender Differences
While both males and females use the phones as an inseparable part of their
lives,they use them with different intentions. Boys see a mobile as an
electronic gadget and spend time trying to utilize its every function, where as
girls, use the phone more for communicating, glamour, looks, music etc
- Patterns of Communication
Parents provide phones to their children as a sign of 'Maturity'. It helps
them to know where their children are and also it helps children inform parents
of any untoward incident or emergency. Among peers the communication is not all
that short and straight forward. Social conversations and texting contain
numerous topics and consume numerous hours of the day.
- Adolescent Identity
There,we can relate to role identity that all adolescents seek during this
age. Adolescents view having a mobile as a source of freedom and growing up.
They feel encamped from parental guidance and supervision and tend to draw
identity from this fact.
- Prestige
Having a phone and receiving numerous text messages and calls can add to an
adolescents social prestige. also having the latest most up to-date phone can
also make a teenager feel more prestigious and important among peers.
Encompassing all these views it is my opinion that teenagers identify
themselves with having a phone. Many of them also voice out that by texting they
avoid socially unapproved behavior. For example,picking up a call and talking
at a social gathering.
Keeping all these aspects in mind,a teenager is neither an adult nor a
child. It is a stressing period of growth. Identifying with others and being
accepted is the main focus. It is because of these reasons that teenagers are
indeed inseparable from a mobile phone.
I conclude by stating the famous proverb 'Too much is too bad'. indeed ,I
hope that all teenagers world wide understand that a mobile phone has its
advantages and disadvantages and therefore, choose wisely the path they wish to
tread on the road of this new subculture.
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