Blog 9

I am 16 years old. I am a spartanette and I am planning on auditioning for the summer musical put on by Center Stage Performing Arts Academy. I might even get a job. I NEED my drivers license. However, I can not get it until I am 17. Why is that? Well, my parents never paid for driving lessons for a permit. So that was never available to me. Getting a permit now is out of the question anyway because you have to have it 6 months before your license or when you turn 17. And I turn 17 in less than 6 months so it would be pointless. Since I have all of these extra activities I am going to be doing this summer, I need my license. But since I’m not going to have it and there is no chance I will, then I have to keep relying on other people to bring me places and to bring me home.

Cell Phone Use (8)

Cell phones are used frequently by people all around the world; they are relied on as one of the main ways of communication. The cell phone industry claims that their products are safe for use; however, research comes closer to prove the exact opposite. Scientific evidence suggests cell phones are not healthy for the brain. Cell phones are very helpful for communication purposes, but they should be relied upon less because the amount and effects of radiation that the brain receives from cell phones are harmful.

In fact, there are many things harmful to the brain, such as television and computers. They, too, have radiation, similar to that of a cell phone. Nevertheless, the brain receives, at the highest, sixty percent of the radiation emitted by the cell phone. Some of this radiation is absorbed an inch, to an inch and a half, in the brain. So, cell phone radiation is much worse than that which the brain absorbs while watching television or working on the computer. The reason there is such a large percent of radiation absorbed by the brain while using a cell phone is because the proximity of the antenna to your head. The theory of using a headset instead of a direct cell phone to reduce risks of radiation is false. The headset acts as its own antenna, and therefore increases the radiation by 300%. Watching television and working on the computer for long periods of time does not affect the brain so much because the radiation is further away from the brain. So television and computers do not have to be less relied on.

The amount of radio radiation waves absorbed by the brain makes cell phone usage very dangerous towards anyone’s health when too much relied upon. A study published in the June 2003 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives showed the effects of radiation to a rat’s brain. Twelve to twenty-six-week-old rats were used in this study because their developmental age is comparable to that of human teenagers, who are considered the heaviest users of cell phones. After cell phone exposure, the rat brain had damaged neutrons and protein leaks through the blood brain barrier. Most doctors and scientists ignore the fact of cell phone use as a contribution to illnesses, because those illnesses can be so easily traced to other causes. However, there are many illnesses that have been directly linked to too much cell phone information-carrying waves, such as fatigue, headaches, sleeping disruptions, autism, and possibly even cancer.

Yes, cell phones are a great convenience of communication and very helpful. However, many people—mostly teenagers—abuse cell phones and take them for granted. They are a great advancement of technology, but cell phones should not be abused and relied on so frequently, so as to avoid the possible illnesses and damages radiation causes.


Works Cited

Nielsen, Torben. Healing Water Online. 18 Aug. 2008. Dr. Mercola. 8 April 2008. http://healingwateronline.com/health/how-cellphone-radiation-affects-your-cells-2.html

Dr. Mercola. Mercola.com Take Control of Your Health. 2008. http://www.mercola.com/forms/ferrite_beads.htm