By NICOLE KASANDRA A. LIPAWEN

Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and many others. In different sizes, colors, and ring tones. “CP” is the commonly used term. CP’s are found almost everywhere!

Digital information technology has greatly affected and improved our lives, bringing so many advantages in our present way of living. Nevertheless, are we aware of the disadvantages CP’s can cause especially to subscribers and loyal users?

Cell phones truly help our community processes run faster and with less effort, by enabling ordinary folk to send and receive information to and from so many places whether near or far (so long as they are reached by signals).

The lives of youth today are so connected with cell phones. Whether we admit it or not, students from college level down to high school and even elementary school levels are greatly involved with CP patronage. They comprise the highest percentage of CP usage in our community.

But we are overusing cell phones.

One news item reported that the cell phone is dirtier compared to a toilet bowl. Imagine that? Yet many of us, especially students, are cell phone addicts. Students today bring their cell phones to school and may even use it – even if it is strictly proscribed or banned – even during class hours!

Just think of it: students using their cell phones and doing other CP stuffs while their teacher is having a hard time getting their attention and trying to explain the lesson to them. When they get home, some disregard take-home activities and instead continue their preoccupation with cell phone keypads until bedtime.

As a result, many of them are slowly neglecting and taking their studies for granted.

Constant text messaging has also affected our spelling and grammar. Whether we like it it or not, we now tend to forget the proper spelling of even simple words because of texting short-cuts.

Most of the youth today may even abuse it by engaging in undesirable cellphone usage. For example, they can easily take video and still images and pass them to friends, until the images spread among a large number of people – “scandals” as they are often called. Young people will experiment out of curiosity, and sometimes the results are not good!

Some students may even disregard or sacrifice their food, and take the “load” as their more essential needs as compared to having regular breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Discipline is the key to solving this problem. We should stop using our cell phones for superficial matters. Let us use it at the proper time, after we have finished with our school work and other important daily tasks. If we have to bring our cell phones to school, we ought to observe the restrictions, such as turning them off or putting them in silent mode inside the class. In case of emergency calls or texts, or if you need to wait for an important call, inform your teacher.

In these ways, we can wisely manage our time, we can concentrate on our studies, and we can truly help the long-term progress of our community and country. #

* Nicole Kasandra A. Lipawen, 17 years old and a 2nd year AB Communication student of Saint Louis University (SLU), hails from Moncada, Tarlac.

Editor’s note: We encourage the youth to speak up by publishing their writings to Nordis Weekly. For this purpose, we have set up this “YouthSpeak” corner. Students and other young people can send us their essays and other short writings through email, postal mail, or hand-carried. Please include your full name, age, applicable contact information (address, phone, email), and name of school if you are a student.