UNITED STATES—Texting is just one of the new forms of technology that has consumed our culture. The funny thing about texting is it was a huge fad a few years back; it came and it went and out of nowhere it came back and looks like its here to stay. We text because it’s convenient, but that convenience can also be very dangerous.
Texting has become an epidemic that has lead to fatal car crashes because of our constant need to want to check our phones when we should be focusing on the road. Driving is indeed a privilege. You have to earn the privilege in order to obtain your driver’s license.
The road can be a dangerous place. Fast cars, people, unforeseen situations, just taking your eyes off the road for just a second can be fatal to you or someone else. Texting is a tool that we use when we’re unable to chat with someone. When it comes to driving so many of us like to believe we’re capable of texting and driving, but we’re not.
No text can be that important where you have to shift your focus from the road to your phone that may have 2 to 3 words. It can wait! No seriously it can wait. The epidemic is taking an effect on teenagers just learning how to drive, but adults are also finding themselves apart of the mix because texting has become a part of our daily lives. We want to stay technically savvy with our younger counterparts, so what better way to learn than to participate.
My biggest issue with texting is not just the fact that it’s dangerous when it comes to driving, but we’re halting communication with each other. We communicate, but it’s not personable. We text instead of picking up the phone because it’s convenient. We may not be able to chat at the moment so atext is the best way to send an ‘important’ message to someone without disrupting them while at work or if we’re doing something else. My concern is why do wetext when we can obviously pick up the phone and call? It’s a good question that I think many of us fail to ask.
We’ve become robotic, mechanical as a nation. We don’t want that interpersonal connection to people. With the continued growth in technology we are gettingfurther andfurther away from being a communicative culture. Atext is a way of us getting our message across without perhaps dealing with any harsh ramifications from the other party.
Texting is not only dangerous because it limits our face-to-face interaction with others. In addition, texting causes accidents on the road. Accidents that can have life-altering effects for the driver and the victim. Someone can become disabled, others can lose limbs and worse of all some die. Atext can wait, nothing is ever that serious when you are behind the wheel.
By Trevor Roberts
