Texting : How Distracting Can It Be - Research Paper Example

(Section) Due) Introduction The rise of technology use especially in the communication sector has not only brought with it myriad advantages but also a series of disadvantages. The disadvantages have affected various societal sectors beginning from the transport sector to the educational sector hence leading to loss of lives in through road accidents and poor academic performance respectively. The road accidents and the poor academic performance resulting from the use of communication channels specifically emerge from texting activities on mobile phones as a result of distraction.

DiscussionThe distraction from the use of mobile phones in texting especially in areas that require the complete attention of a person can be physical or psychological. For instance; it requires a mobile phone user to hold it, giving the mobile device a visual attention, cognitive processes of developing thoughts, typing the formulated ideas into texts, the reception and examination of the written texts as well as mental processing of the received texts and providing responses.A research conducted by the American Auto-mobile Association indicated that approximately forty six percent of the entire American Teen drivers use mobile phones to text as they drive.

Additionally, further research conducted by the same association provided results showing that an average of nineteen percent of the entire American drivers text as they drive by using their mobile phones (Scarola 2009). Another study carried out by the Virginia Tech Technical Institute (VTTI) in 2009 showed that: The behavior of texting as a person drives results to an increase by four times in reduction of drivers’ attention from the road; the probability of a driver texting to cause an accident is one-sixth, almost the same as a drunk driver and texting while driving is among the most disastrous situations that frequently causes road accidents which is approximated to be 200,000 annually.

It is apparent that texting has also had a tremendous negative impact on the academic performance of most students as a result of reduced attention. As mentioned before texting requires a high level or cognitive and physical attention in; mental processing of messages, texting as well as provision of responses to received texts (Scarola 2009).A research conducted by Laura Keenly of the Pittsburg Post-Gazette has shown that most high school students will afford to sneak in their mobile phones into the classrooms and hide them under their desks which they use to text.

The results of the study also showed that each American High School Student send an approximate of 2,272 text messages every month; this has been facilitated by the introduction of unlimited text message services introduced by service operators like the AT&T and the Verizon. The negative impacts of texting among high school students have also been asserted by some local teachers and doctors who have confirmed that indeed texting has resulted in sleep loss, anxiety and reduced academic performance among the students (Pittsburgh Post Gazette n.d)This kind of psychological distraction can be ascribe to the distraction – conflict model which connotes that if a person is performing a duty when others are present, there is a tendency of conflict on whether to perform the task or give other people his/her attention hence leading to a distraction.

Texting is a mode of interacting with others which hence is related to the concept of this theory (Baron 2010). An instance occurred to me when I received a text from a friend informing me of her birthday party as my Lecturer was dictating instructions concerning a certain assignment; I tried hard to have the attention of both the Lecturer and the message but I could not manage. This led to my poor performance in the assignment as I could not also refer to my desk mate who was also texting at the same time and therefore missed some imperative points.

ReferencesBaron, R. (2010). Distraction-Conflict Theory: Progress and Problems. Social Psychology (Vol. 16, pp. 1-4). Iowa: SciversePittsburgh Post-Gazette. (n.d) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from http://www.post-gazette.comScarola, D. (2009). Texting and Driving. Florida: Sitemap.