Introduction
Technological advancements have brought many changes in the modern world. According to Ling (56), technology has greatly changed the way various activities are undertaken. One aspect that has undergone significant changes is the mode of information transfer. Initially, people wrote letters in case of a need to pass information to another person, or use messengers to deliver such information later. This area has continued to advance, and currently there are very many ways of passing information from one person or place to another.
The most common means of communication in the modern society are Facebook, Twitter, cell phones and many others. Through these modes, people are able to share ideas and information from different corners of the world. Among all these means of communication, the most reliable and convenient one is a cell phone. Through cell phones, people are able to pass and receive information at any time, and in any part of the world.
Cell phones have many benefits to the users. These users include business people, government officials, and all individuals who use the cell phones for one reason or another. Several arguments have been raised concerning the dangers of cell phones to social health. Some of these arguments may be true or false depending on the validity of the studies undertaken.
It is, however, important to have the correct information on the relationship between the use of cell phones and personal health. My claim is that cell phones have no impact on people’s health because it is supported by a number of researches, in particular on the psychological influence of cell phones on pregnant women and the role of cell phones to play in the development of cancer cells.
Criteria-Match Arguments
The issue of cell phones and health has raised a lot of concern from many scholars. As a result, many researchers have come up with several arguments on the health issues related to cell phone use. In this section, some of the arguments of the researchers will be analyzed.
The argument of Glotz (65) claims that cell phone radiation causes deadly diseases like brain tumor, breast cancer, traffic accidents, and some behavioral change in pregnant women. This case claims that there is a link between the use of cell phones and human health. However, it does not meet the criterion of a standard scientific research because their hypotheses were not empirically tested.
The second case is about the findings by Richard S Ling. The research was done in Cambridge University, and it showed that the cell phones have a serious negative effect on the reproductive system of men, and caution should be taken when using it. This scholar argues that cell phones have been found to reduce the number and quality of sperms in males. Thus, the use of cell phones can be claimed as the main cause of low fertility rates among men today.
Ling (84) also points out that apart from causing cancers; cell phones have been identified as the main cause of traffic accidents among the users. This researcher further explains that in most of the developed countries like the United States, cell phones led to poor performance in schools.
This is so because young learners in such countries are allowed to use cell phones in schools, which makes them spend a lot of their time on mobile phones rather than spending the time with their books resulting in the low performance. Although I do not agree with his first argument on the effect of mobile phones on men’s fertility, I think the argument about accidents has some truth in it. I believe that this case meets the criteria on what a valid social research should entail.
The third case was based on the arguments made by Horst and Miller (23) that there is a close relationship between the use of mobile phones and breast cancer, especially among lactating women. These scholars developed a hypothesis that closely relates to increase in the number of breast cancer cases to the increasing use of phones, in particular chances of getting breast cancer in women. This case does not meet the criterion because the argument was not based on a scientific research, but a general believe that has not been tested empirically.
Response to My Objections
In the three cases presented above, I make a concession in one, but refute the other two. I believe that some of the arguments that associate the use of mobile phone to various health problems are not genuine. I disagree with the arguments of Ling that relates the use of mobile phones to low productivity in men.
This argument is not good because it fails to meet the standards of a scientific research. An independent research by Hales (65) explains that the number of cancer cases has not changed, but it has remained the same as it was before cell phones invention. This research report is good because it meets the requirement of a phenomenological study that embraces close comparison of incidents when deriving a conclusion. This is a clear indication that there is no relationship between cell phone use and cancer as many researchers are claiming.
The opinion that the cell phones have a carcinogenic effect may be true, but there is no valid study to support this argument. Burgess (51) argues that the microwave radiation emitted by cell phones is too weak to affect the DNA structure. This research is good because it is a scientific investigation that meets the criteria for an empirical study. It supports my argument that cell phones have no carcinogenic effects.
This also explains why cell phones cannot be said to have an effect on the quantity and quality of sperms in males as many researchers prove. If there are any such related effects of cell phones, than those results are long term, and are yet to be reported but as per the current state, such effects do not hold any ground.
The only impact of cell phones that I may support is that, its use has some relationship with road accidents. It is true that when using a cell phone, driver’s attention may be directed to the phone, and this may result into an accident. This also applies to the pedestrians who use cell phones while crossing or walking along the road.
Conclusion
Cell phones have many benefits and their importance to the users should not be corrupted by invalid arguments that they are dangerous to health. Since there is no valid research to support this negative argument of some scholars, the users should not be misled by the information that cell phones have negative effects on their health, unless proven otherwise. Researchers should come up with valid empirical research to support their claims.
Works Cited
Burgess, Adam. Cellular Phones, Public Fears, and a Culture of Precaution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.
Glotz, Peter. Thumb Culture: The Meaning of Mobile Phones for Society. Bielefeld: Transcript, 2005. Print.
Hales, Dianne. An Invitation to Health. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Horst, Heather A and Daniel Miller. The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication. New York: Berg, 2006. Print.
Ling, Richard S. The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 2004. Print.