Accidents
Attention tends to be divided when one uses a smartphone either as a pedestrian or as a driver. Most of the times, we are tempted to reply important mails and chats while driving. Driving requires high consciousness of our senses that a split-second of distraction can be very disastrous. Most of us are so confident of our ability to focus that we drive and use our phones simultaneously; endangering not only ourselves, but other road users. According to studies carried out by National Accident Helpline in the UK, about 43% of people bump into obstacles while walking and accessing their phones. Pedestrians who use their phones tend to be four times unaware of road road and traffic signs. About 1.5 million people end up in the hospital as a result of using their phones while driving.Posture Disorder
The use of smartphones can result to posture disorder. Maintaining a particular posture for a long period of time can be hazardous to our muscles.While using our smartphones, chances are suspend our neck and arms are suspended at a particular angle. This could lead to muscles spasms and chronic diseases.Screen Fatigue
Looking at our phone screens for too long can result to fatigue. The backlight from our phones can cause hazy sensations. Screen fatigue can pose a great discomfort to us. It always comes with persistent headaches( especially on the forehead region), and burning sensation to our eyes. To avoid this, never look at your phone screen for too long especially phones with small screens. This will also go a long way to avoiding dry eye syndrome- a condition where the eyes do not produce enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly.Sleeping Disorder
We enjoy going to bed with our phones either to read about the latest happenings around, watch videos or play games. This is the last thing we may wish to do if we intend to get a good sleep as these could trigger our brain's intellectual activities and increase our alertness which can consequently lead to restlessness and insomnia.Social Disorder
Before the advent of smart phones, most of our conversations are done orally in our immediate environment with our family and friends. Nowadays, smartphones have made conversation with our friends who stay thousands of miles away from us possible. Ability to send pictures, voice notes, videos and files across the internet with our phones has added to the addictiveness of our smartphones that we tend to disconnect ourselves from our immediate environment. We now prefer to share our feelings and updates with people of "the outside world" than our families and friends. Even when we try to engage in a conversation, we tend to lose concentration midway as our thoughts have been divided across the real and the virtual world.Do you wonder why people (especially the so-called internet trolls) chat like wolves on social media but ironically appear to be as calm as sheep while conversing in the real world? The reason is that the internet world is like an ideal world where our phone appears to serve as a shield from realities. It denies us the opportunity to learn human interaction skills which are necessary for socialization.Identity Theft
Our phone stores a lot of data ranging from pictures, videos, browser histories, bank information, passwords etc. When our phones are lost or stolen, we are at risk of losing some vital information . These information can be used by hackers against our wish to steal money from us or expose our privacy.
Final Words.....
We cannot dispute the fact that smartphones have facilitated our lives tremendously.However, we should also be aware that despite the advantages, their are attendant dangers associated with the over use of smart phones. Moderation should be applied while using these gadgets in order to avoid these calamities