Cell Phone Syndrome

By Kim See-bong

There are two sides to everything that happens in the world. If the sun is setting in the twilight, it's also rising at daybreak. If somebody dies, there's a new life crying at birth. If there's a believer in God, there's one who is not. Such double-sided social phenomena are impetus to the development of our civilization.

From the simple discovery of the abacus to the supercomputer to substitute for the human brain, all human achievements are miracles to the eyes of ordinary human beings. Breakthrough after breakthrough is taking the world by surprise everyday. Life is a sequence of miracles these days.

For me, the first Korean astronaut in space being interviewed by a person on the ground and the extraordinary promotion of our traditional food kimchi in space seemed as great as the miracle Jesus performed in the Bible by feeding five thousand people with two baskets of bread and a few fish.

At this time one thing is clear, that this kind of advancement in civilization will continue without interruption. But this adventurous journey does not know its destination. We are only moving forward at full speed, just like a vehicle running out of control. However, neither can we regress nor stay put.

Amid the wonders of this century, the cell phone is the most comprehensive product of human invention. In a small matchbox-size piece of equipment is condensed lots of scientific knowledge. It replaces a TV set, a jukebox, a game machine and computer. Whatever you want you can find in this small and handy device.

Today there's almost no one in Korea who doesn't have a cell phone. Even a first grader has one. We may be called a ``cell phone republic.'' For convenience sake no one will object to the cell phone. However, in my classroom, the convenience is turning into an aggravation to the smooth running of my class.

Young students as well as adults are completely dominated by the cell phone. The magical device captivates all and it has become indispensable. The young often say they can live without their parents but not without the phone, and for the adults they can live without their spouse but not without this tiny piece of equipment. The machine replaces human partners.

Without the machine they feel uneasy as if something important is missing. Deprived of the machine, their hands hang idle and they feel its absence to be threatening. So the machine has turned into a necessary evil.

The silent message sneaking in on the machine during class always distracts students' attention. TV shows on the cell phone rob them of the time to read books. The games they can play so easily and undiscovered during recess time deprives them of the chance to talk with their peers.

Their ears are occupied with a headset connected to the phone listening to downloaded music. Their two ears are closed to other sounds around them. They are moving away from their real life and into the small machine, into a prefabricated life. It's becoming an addiction.

A housewife does the washing-up with her cell phone in the pocket of her apron, or does all the banking business with the machine at home. She is frequently checking where her kids are with the magic phone. It is unimaginable to think of her without it nearby. The machine is something indescribably dependable. The machine has been turned into a solace.

Here's an old woman watching the midget phone, waiting for a call from her children who are living separated by marriage. Or she is lost in searching her directory for a number to call as a means of relieving her isolation. It has become a solution to her empty nest syndrome.

And the small machine turns into an object, which provides her with anticipation, expectation and anxiety for a ring from the unknown. When completely devoid of all these, she feels completely lonesome and starts to be nervous until the first bell sounds from the machine. Thus the syndrome gets worse.

With the strange invention out of sight the whole world would stop moving. Sense of loss, uneasiness and anxiety would captivate all. They are already victims of cell phone syndrome.

Once human inventions for convenience transform into fetters, they do nothing but consume human life. All the inventions gushing in everyday are nothing but changes and who can be sure whether the changes are for the better or worse in the end? The more we try to live in harmony with nature, the greater peace we can achieve.

The writer is the principal of Polyglot Day School in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at glsacademy@dreamwiz.com.