The over-usage of cell phones on campus by all students is a conundrum at BYU.
Students walk from building to building with their heads down and eyes focused only on their mobile devices. They text each other while on campus, or even spend time taking “selfies” to send back-and-forth between friends.
Students who are glued to their phones end up walking — usually without realizing it — at a slower pace than the crowd, thus being a hindrance and slowing down the flow of student traffic.
They’re less-aware of their surroundings and more likely to cause accidents with other students or end up walking into poles.
Students become entranced and less likely to interact with others in their immediate surroundings when faced with having to choose between Twitter and greeting an acquaintance.
These are, of course, the blatantly obvious problems. Come winter, when “freshman hill” ices over, the casualties are sure to stack as many Tweeting, Facebooking, Tumblr-ing victims misstep and slip on the unforgiving surface. As a university, we should make a more conscious choice to focus on our surroundings and not on our own personal distractions.
Jessie Dean
Germantown, Wis.
