We have become a nation of zombies. We are all aimlessly walking around, possessed by a small contraption that never leaves our hands. Things like Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram have stripped us of concentration and quality conversation. People would rather communicate via their phone than put it down and talk to the same person sitting next to them. Lives have been ruined in car crashes because someone had to reply to that Snapchat or that text. This epidemic of phone dependency needs to stop before we’re left to wonder what has happened to the world.

According to The National Safety Council, “an estimated 1.6 million crashes each year involve drivers using cell phones and texting.” Also, “21 percent of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage.” This is expected to grow a percent every year. The fact is, no matter how good of a “multi-tasker” someone may be, they aren’t 100 percent focused on the road, which could end in deadly consequences. Texting while driving not only affects you, but also the person who is on the other end. You may walk away, but they might not.

Dr. Lee Hadlington of De Montfort University Leicester asked 210 people aged 18-65 to rate their behavior in areas linked to perception, memory and motor function. He found that “the more times a person used the internet or mobile phone, the more likely they were to experience ‘cognitive failures’”. Attention and concentration is essential to everyday life and even more important in the classroom.

According to a study done by Kent State University College of Education, it states that “cell phone usage was negatively related to students’ actual grade point average and was positively related to anxiety”. Phones in class have had the opposite effect that was intended. The goal of technology integration in the classroom was to increase student involvement and to boost students’ grades. Students are more worried to hear the phone ding than actually paying attention to their teachers and their classwork. Now, students’ grades are suffering due to phones in the classroom.

The phone craze has been going on for too long, and it has had negative effects. The dependency has not only destroyed lives, but what scientists call “conversations.” At the end of the day, there’s only one thing this nation can do to improve the quality of life, which is to put the phone down, and to live our life without looking at a screen.