This is my list of reasons why not to own a cell phone. If you want to know about my personal reasons for not owning a cell phone read why I don’t own a cell phone.

1. Cost: The average person spends between $50-80 per month for their cell phone. This can skyrocket if you do not follow your specific phone plans, which are designed to confuse and trick you into large fees and overcharges. This does not include the initial cost to buy the actual phone itself.

2. Dependence: Cell phones combine a dozen different electronic appliances into one small device. It is easy to understand why cell phone owners find themselves at the mercy of the cell phone itself, ‘never leave home without it’. The world seems to revolve around the cell phone, instead of the person. It is common to hear a cell phone user saying they would be lost without their cell phone, and that is a scary thing.

3. Cancer:It has not been proven that cell phones are linked to cancer, brain tumors or other psychological imbalances. However, recent tests also can not prove that cell phones do not cause these things either. It is clear that there are some health risks that we are not fully aware of, and that more testing needs to be done. It could be minor, it could be major. I would wait until they figure it out, before you are simply a statistic.

4. Replacing electronic devices: A cell phone is a calender, a phone book, a telephone, a camera, the internet, a beeper, an answering machine, a calculator, an alarm clock, and a daily planner. The simple fact that a cell phone can replace so many electronic devices is frightening, because if you lose the one cell phone you are losing so many tools. It really makes your cell phone something indispensable, and furthers a dependence on a fabricated device.

5. Annoyance: Cell phone users seem to be able to ignore this aspect. For me, cell phones are great for interruptions, and can happen at the most inopportune times. During a lecture, a speech, or a movie. People can also elect to answer a call in the middle of a prior engagement, which can be annoying for the crowd, or even be annoying to the cell phone owner.
6. Distraction: I think cell phone use in a motor vehicle should be illegal. 85% of all cell phone users use their phone while driving and ‘each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year’. Cell phones can literally kill you.

7. Laziness: People often use their super phones to be lazy. Instead of paying attention to directions, you can simply call someone to guide you through the city. Instead of learning how to solve a problem you can look it up on the computer or phone a friend. Cell phones instant access to answers creates laziness.

8. Impersonal: I find conversations on all phones to be impersonal, and text messaging to be a lame excuse for communication at all. Face to face contact is all but extinct nowadays and we have the cell phone to thank for this.

9. Memory loss: Going along with laziness it is also proven that owning and using a cell phone on a regular basis will cause memory loss. People memorized more numbers and facts before cell phones and the internet. Unless you are actively trying to counteract the memory loss your cell phone will slowly turn your mind into mush. But at least you’ll still have a killer razor phone for show your friends.

10. Trackable: Everyone seems to be against trackable chips in our licenses or identification cards. Meanwhile, we all carry around cell phone that are connected to service towers and account numbers that are easily traced and tracked. Your cell phone is like a tracking device no matter where you go and what you do. I have no idea if they use this technology to track us, but it would be easy to do, and we would have no idea.