The other day, I was walking along the East Campus quad during the afternoon, heading to class, when I glanced at the bus stop. There was a couple sitting together on a bench, a few small groups of people standing and waiting for a C1 and some other students resting there. All in all, there were probably around 30 people waiting for the next bus. Yet, every single person there had their neck unnaturally stretched down, the light of their smart-phones screen illuminating their face. Their eyes were glued to their phones. It was dead silent.
This isn't that rare. Next time you're walking, take a look around you and count the number of people you see looking down at their phones. It's almost become more normal than walking without a smart phone. Yet, this trend is hurting us both socially and physically. Our overuse of smart phones limits the degree that we engage with the world around us and hurts our neck and spine in ways that doctors are still learning about.
The morning after I noticed how many people were looking at their phones in silence, I was listening to a talk show on the radio. The talk show host mentioned a study done by two behavioral economists in Chicago about how people occupy themselves with their phone when in public places. In the study, the behavioral scientists gave people a $5 Starbucks gift card if, on their commute to work, they would simply strike up a conversation with whatever stranger sat next to them on the bus.
This filled most of the participants with dread. Most of the studies' participants imagined that the conversations would be difficult to start. They figured that the stranger would try to end the conversation as quickly as possible, and they felt that the entire process would generally be uncomfortable.
Yet, the results showed exactly the opposite. Not only did the vast majority of participants report that they had pleasant conversations during their commute, they also generally reported that they actually enjoyed their commute more than the control group that did not speak to strangers.
The study continues by saying, when we talk to strangers, we "put our best self forward." This means that we're less likely to have rude or brash conversations. In many ways, we actually have a better chance to enjoy conversations with a stranger.
Why, then, are our faces buried in our phones when we are alone and there are people all around us? Maybe it's easier. Maybe we've got major FOMO—fear of missing out. Whatever the reason, studies show that starting a conversation isn't as difficult as people make it out to be, and people generally enjoy these conversations more.
That's not all. My sister is a physical therapist, and she warned me that physical therapists are increasingly seeing patients come in with "text neck." When you lean forward and crane your neck to look down at your phone, you place greater weight on your spine. This can lead to headaches, spine problems, back problems and even surgery, especially if you bend your neck far to look at your phone rather than move your eyes. It can harm your posture, round the part of your back that should be straight and lead to problems down the road.
"It is an epidemic or, at least, it's very common," said Kenneth Hansraj, the chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine. "Just look around you, everyone has their heads down."
If you think about it, smart phones are a very recent invention. Just four years ago, I didn't even own one. Research focused on how the widespread use of smart phones affect us physically has only just begun. If doctors are already seeing patients come in with "text neck" just a few years after smart phones became widespread, imagine if these same patients keep using their smart phones for the next 30 years.
Smart phones are addicting. I see friends on their smart phones even when they are together, whether grabbing food or Googling random trivia during conversation. I see far too many people walking around campus with their necks craned down; these same people probably wonder why their necks are hurting them so much later in the day. Bending your neck down for hours a day isn't natural.
Do yourself a favor. Pick your head up.
Tyler Fredricks is a Trinity senior. His column runs on alternate Thursdays.
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