“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” This famous quote was said by Einstein and today we live in a world where technology has definitely surpassed human interaction. There are lots of distracting forms of technology like a TV or a computer, but I think the most distracting of all is a cell phone. Cell phones are truly an amazing device but they also cause many many problems. They cause car wrecks, stress, procrastination, and they cause bad communication skills. Most people know about those effects but not everyone knows that cell phones actually produce radiation which can cause genetic damage and even brain tumors according to lifeextension.com, and that is pretty scary. I know that almost every teen in America has a phone and we love our phones but when you think about it, they can really ruin your life if you give all your time to them.
      

The problem with phones is it is hard to pull yourself away from it once you are on it. Thus, instead of doing your homework or instead of getting up and doing something productive, you just sit on your phone texting someone or checking your social media. I am very guilty of procrastinating because of my phone. I am sure that everyone has been there at least once, and it’s only human to do that now days. Then there is the issue of checking your phone while driving. This is a very big problem in America. Cdc.gov says there is around 650,000 people using their phones while driving everyday. Phones lead to 1.6 million car crashes every year and at least 11 teens die each day because of texting and driving.  Another problem is people often get stressed because of their phone. I know that when I am not near my phone I get nervous and I feel like I am gonna get an important text or call. Or I just feel like someone might mess with my phone, so I have a hard time myself leaving my it anywhere out of my sight. It is crazy, how getting a phone can affect a life as much as they do. I know when I was younger I worried less and I was more active and I even talked to people more, before my mom bought me a cell phone.
      

I am not saying I wish that phones would just go away, because we all know that could never happen anyway. But, we could definitely set it down and go for a walk or put it to the side while we work on our homework. And something that I really need to work on, put it down when someone is talking to you. I know that my friends and my parents always get mad at me because they’ll be talking and mid-sentence I start texting. I completely miss everything they say and I know I am not the only one who has done this. Also, if we would put our phones out of reach when we are driving we wouldn’t be as tempted to pick it up and read a text. Or just let everyone know who you are talking to that you can’t talk for a while because you are gonna be driving.
    

Something I thought was interesting was Buzzfeed wrote a page on 22 ways to break up with your phone. Reading through them made me find out some good ways to get a little space from your phone. A good thing to do was make a list of actual things you need to achieve over the day without the use of your phone. Finding a hobby was another good thing. For those of us who don’t play basketball that would be a good one. Putting your phone on silent or just shutting off your notifications is a good way to not check your phone. And if you are feeling super brave, you can just delete all your social media apps for a little while.
    

While writing this speech I actually never got out my phone which I am actually kind of proud of myself. Just by putting my phone away I got a whole speech done and I actually learned a little bit too. It almost makes me relaxed to put everything down sometimes and just go sit outside. Sometimes, I take my dog on a walk instead of sitting down texting and after I feel like I did at least one active thing that day. I hope that everyone was influenced by my speech. Maybe go on a walk or try to just put away all electronics and just have an actual conversation with someone. Or just get some work done. If we work on the bad habit of always looking at our phone, then we would no longer have to fear a generation of idiots.