"Devices Enforce Silence of Cellphones, Illegally"

The topic of cellphone jammers is a tricky subject to discuss. On one hand I see the advantages of using a cellphone jammer, but I also see the inconvenience that it could cause the victims. The article “Devices Enforce Silence of Cellphones, Illegally” (pg. 163-165) written by Matt Richtel, examines mostly the benefits to owning and using a cellphone jammer, while only showing a little bit of the its negative effects. The reason cellphone jammers are bought and used is so others can secretly cut off people’s access of their phones in situations most often when being on a phone would be distracting to others or the owner of the cellphone themselves.

The author gives various accounts of how these devices work in real life situations. One story is sadly typical of our current culture, the story of the restaurant owner in Maryland. The owner bought a cellphone jammer because his young employees would repeatedly be on their phones rather than paying attention to the customers in the restaurant. Although I understand the restaurant owner’s need for desperate measures, I honestly think that cellphone jammers are not the way to fix this and many other problems that comes with cellphone usage. This day in age, cell phones are the norm. For most people, cellphones are like another part of their body, they cannot go anywhere without it. Truthfully, there are situations where cellphones need to be turned off, not just vibrate. It amazes me how inconsiderate people are to other people. By using or leaving your phone on in a movie theater, a meeting, or during a musical performance, that person is basically stating that they do not care about the event that they are attending. It is also is very rude and inconsiderate of the people you are with to be consistently checking your phone. I think there are other steps that can be taken to reduce cellphone usage at inconvenient times. One suggestion I have for the restaurant owner of Maryland is that when he sees an employee on their cellphone during work hours, he should give them a warning for the first time, and then punish them in some way. If people could see that there could be consequences for their constant cellphone use and if they started thinking about other’s feelings as well as their own, I believe eventually we could come to some sort of medium in fixing this cellphone problem.