No to Extremism...
Yes to Progress
INTERNET:
A NEW
DRUG?
Our country faces an unspoken crisis. An addiction. The Internet. Social media. There’s vague awareness there is a problem, but we are oblivious to the extent of it. If we call drugs a dangerous addiction, why not 200 million Americans spending dozens of hours a week staring at their cell, TikTok, Facebook, fake news online? Why not call millions of school children obsessed with their phones, unable to concentrate on schoolwork, an addiction? In cities, it’s common to see people walk on crowded sidewalks, train platforms, streets with car traffic, staring at their cell. Dangerous. Is this not addiction? What’s so important to justify staring at a cell… as they walk in front of moving cars…
Millions of people are obsessed with their phones. Some studies show they can barely go minutes without looking, so obsessed they are. So addicted. A new text, a message on TikTok... distracted from schoolwork, math, reading, studying, instead obsessively looking at phones. Or thinking about it. Teachers nationwide will attest to the challenge of getting students to concentrate - to get their minds off their cells and focus on school. Is this not addiction?
Adults obsess over social media posts, a new text, inattentive to work or driving 50 or 60 miles an hour. Adults obsessively reading dubious news sources, perhaps created by bots, China, Iran, Russia. They believe what they read. It breeds political extremism, anger, crazy ideas. Is this not addiction?
Daily I see in subways and streets people staring at their phone, walking in crowded stairways… subway platforms as trains approach… crowded sidewalks… busy streets. Dangerous and terrible judgment. Disregard for others.
Not a word is said to them… no public service announcements. Their whole lives parents never said it’s dangerous, irresponsible? Schools never mentioned how dangerous it is? Even more sickly: people staring at phones while driving 65 mph on highways. Flagrant recklessness. And what is ever said?
Of course, loudmouth politicians are too busy spitting out rage, never thinking about helping others or public safety. Anger… yet another dangerous addiction.
So what can we do about it? Free speech and First Amendment rights cannot allow government to intervene, yet government can help through education - encouraging people to look less at their phone, pay attention to their surroundings, schoolwork… life itself. And the psychiatry profession can recognize obsession with cell and Internet as an addiction that needs treatment.
It’s time to acknowledge the obvious. That cell phone in your hand is a permanent part of life. There’s good that comes from it, but harm we overlook. Too much of anything, from food to alcohol, is dangerous. This is equally true of our cell.
You don’t have to be high on cocaine or heroin to be addicted. All you have to do is be distracted, obsessed, unable to concentrate on your surroundings - like a teacher in the classroom or looking when driving a car. Or knowing the difference between truth and fakery when reading a news story.
It’s time for us to look in the mirror and see what we have become... and get addiction under control. It is time for millions of parents to take a closer look at their children. Take action!
