Smartphone addiction is a huge problem not only for teens, but also for adults. Government regulation is an attempt to solve this problem, but it’s controversial because it can stifle personal freedom. It is argued that individual reasoning and self-regulation are more important to prevent smartphone addiction than enforcement.
I always arrive at lectures 5-10 minutes early and habitually pull out my smartphone to check social media or reread a newspaper article I missed. Sometimes I even turn it on in the middle of class because I can’t resist. This naturally makes it difficult for me to give 100% attention to the class. I’m not alone in this habit, and if you ask my friends or look around in class, you’ll find that they’re often distracted by their smartphones. We all have a habit of using our smartphones even when we don’t need to.
Smartphones have become indispensable in our lives since 2010, as they offer so many features that they can be considered the epitome of modern technology. However, as convenient as they are, there is a growing problem of smartphone addiction, which is the inability to put them down. While this is a serious problem for adults, such as college students and professionals, it’s especially a problem for teenagers, who are often unable to control themselves. According to one research organization, about 25.5% of teens between the ages of 10 and 19 are at risk for smartphone addiction, and that number is growing every year. For teens, smartphone addiction can lead to serious problems, including poor academic performance and decreased interpersonal skills.
Smartphones aren’t the only thing in the modern world that can cause addiction symptoms. Some are socially acceptable but addictive, like drinking and smoking, while others, like drugs, cause serious social problems and are strictly cracked down on by the government. So why do humans become addicted to things that will eventually destroy them? Do human instincts have limits that cannot be controlled by reason? Or are we so irrational that we’re willing to forgo the great satisfaction of the future in favor of immediate gratification? I don’t think this is the case at all. Most humans can control their pleasure and are rational enough to get through life without becoming addicted to fleeting pleasures. We see examples all around us of people who have been able to withstand momentary pleasures, persevere, and achieve great success. This ability to think rationally is what makes humans different from animals.
However, I believe that this rationality is so developed that it creates something that humans can become addicted to, which is the process of maximizing their own interests without considering the lives of others. For example, tobacco addiction may have arisen because tobacco companies manufacture cigarettes so that consumers are easily addicted to them in order to increase profits. Almost all humans are capable of rational thought, unless they are trying to paralyze the rationality of others.
So, should the government strictly control and regulate anything that can cause addiction? Recently, the government has taken a strong stance against online gaming addiction, which, similar to smartphones, has become a huge problem among young people. This policy, which has been hotly debated for some time, is a system that completely controls the use of gaming by young people during late night hours. At first glance, this seems like a very reasonable idea to prevent young people from gaming excessively when they lack judgment. However, in a liberal democracy, every human being has the right to make their own rational decisions. If fear of negative consequences justified suppressing human freedom, we wouldn’t need to live in a democracy. Humans are capable of making rational decisions with education. If something doesn’t directly harm others, it doesn’t need to be controlled by law. Things that only affect your own life, like smartphone addiction or smoking, can be controlled by yourself. Teens may lack judgment, but we need to educate them and give them the rational ability to make decisions and control themselves.
So what should we do about smartphone addiction? I don’t want the government to step in and try to solve the problem directly. Smartphones are not as dangerous as drugs, which can fatally paralyze human reason, and it is a problem that can be controlled by human reason. Instead of banning the use of smartphones, especially for young people, I believe that human beings perform best and society develops in a free environment rather than an oppressive environment. Rather than unconditionally regulating and suppressing smartphone use, it would be more efficient to allow people to make their own judgments and adjustments. I hope that society itself will refrain from using smartphones during class or work hours and create an atmosphere where they are used only when absolutely necessary.
