Tag: mobile phone trends

Carrying your mobile phone in your pocket? You may not after the latest research

| January 18, 2016

The result of a recent study has suggested that wearables are leading people to make uninformed choices.

An American scientist, Dr. Devra Davis, has now released a report that has recommended that consumers may not want to continue habits of storing a mobile phone in a pocket as the radiation from the device may put their health at risk.

The truth of the matter is that it is not known, for a fact, whether mobile technology causes harm or not.

The majority of studies on the health risks of using a mobile phone have had to do with holding a device up against the head. Therefore, they would be considering relatively limited lengths of time, as these devices are held up to the head only when using a calling feature. However, only a smaller number of studies have been looking into the impact on the body from keeping smartphone in a pocket. When the device is tucked in a pocket, it may not be up against the head where it can affect the brain but it might be exposing any number of other body parts to electromagnetic radiation.

Dr. Davis spoke at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science about mobile phones.

mobile phone in pocketsAt one of those talks, she spoke of the increasing trend of carrying mobile devices in pockets, bras and even headbands, which has increased the exposure to electromagnetic radiation beyond what the majority of studies have examined. As a result, she has cautioned consumers to learn more about smartphone radiation and its impact on the body before they decide to store it against the same part of the body every day for hours at a time.

She pointed out that radiation exposure can be associated with certain negative health risks such as a change in the metabolism of the brain as well as impotence in males. There is also a growing body of evidence suggesting that radiation from smartphones could have an impact on heart diseases, diabetes or even depression in humans. Placing a smartphone in a pants pocket may even have various types of impact on the pelvic area, such as changing bone density there.

Davis indicated that device users should consult the manuals for their smartphones to learn about the types of radiation produced by their own device models and then to find out more about the impact of that specific kind of radiation on the body. It is true that many of the risks have not been conclusively proven but neither has the safety of storing mobile phones in this way. Therefore, the recommendation is being made to err to the side of safety instead of being the guinea pig that allows science to prove that storing smartphones in a pocket is, indeed, damaging to human health.

Should mobile phones be banned in school? Research says “no”

| January 13, 2016

Professor Paul Howard-Jones has been speaking out against the banning of these devices in the classroom.

According to Academic, Professor Paul Howard-Jones, banning technology, such as mobile phones, in the classroom is “moving in the wrong direction” and parents should be paying closer attention to the way their children are interacting with other people and with their own tech.

Instead of trying to “demonize” these devices, the professor said it is more important to understand its use.

Howard-Jones cautioned that children are going to continue the use of mobile phones in the classroom regardless of what the rules say. Therefore, he feels it would be much more effective to allow the use and build an understanding of the way these mobile devices are being used by children. He explained that “I share concerns of parents about the effects of leisure technology on sleep and homework and exercise but it’s important that we don’t demonize it completely.”

Instead, Howard-Jones says parents should start looking at the ways their kids are using mobile phones.

Mobile Phones - SchoolThese statements about mobile devices were made by the professor at the same time that he released the results of one of his most recent studies, in which he discovered that playing computer games have the potential to boost the concentration levels among students, giving them an improved ability to better their grades. The research indicated that when learning is presented in game format, the mind of a student is less likely to wander, providing an improved ability to study.

Following this research, Howard-Jones said that over the last number of years, computer games have been “trivialized”, but that if they are properly implemented, they could actually help to enhance a student’s ability to learn. He stated that it is more important to understand the ways in which children are using mobile device and the internet. By banning these gadgets in the classroom, it makes it impossible to gain that information.

“We have to accept that technology is part of children’s lives. It isn’t about restricting it but about how they should be using it in a healthy way,” he said, when discussing the real-life implications of the results of his study.