What Is The Real Problem With Excessive Cell Phone Use?

These days, no matter how diligent parents are about keeping tabs on what their children are doing, the rapidity with which technology is evolving simply makes it impossible for parents to keep up with everything their children are doing with their refurbished cell phones.  As much as they may hate to admit it, parents have no idea what their kids are doing or who they are talking to when they are not around.  Meeting up with people on the Internet has never been easier, and sex offenders know this fact.  While Internet chat rooms are sometimes monitored, unlocked cell phone conversations usually are not, making teens or preteens with their own phones particularly vulnerable.  It is very important for parents to know exactly to whom their children are talking and, if anything seems suspicious, what is being said.  Even if you think your child does not have a cell phone, it is important to keep in mind that kids can get used AT&T cell phones and prepaid plans without you knowing.

The communicative dangers of teen cell phone use are especially prominent in text and photo messaging.  Many people do not know that these kinds of messages can be copied and posted anywhere on the Internet to be seen anywhere in the world.  Your entire family's safety could be compromised if your child unwittingly gives out private information to the wrong person.

What Steps Can You Take?

Unfortunately, once private information is on the Internet, there is no way to effectively prevent it from spreading to anyone who might want to take advantage of it.  Pictures of your child could be circulating throughout the Web as you read this and there would be nothing you could do.  It is essential for parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of sharing private information and the dangers of talking to strangers on the Internet.  If you suspect your children are spending too much time on the phone or computer, check the contents of their phones.  If you suspect your child of deleting the contents of his or her phone, there is probably a reason he or she is doing this, and you should contact your service provider to have your child's sent and received messages and calls retrieved from the company's database, so you can determine who your child is talking to.

When cell phones first appeared on the market, they cost so much that they were only realistic for a select few people, and everybody else was simply content using landlines and payphones to stay in touch.  Likewise, there was a time when everybody simply accepted having to write letters to communicate and wait weeks to months to hear a response, if the letter even arrived at all.  Things, however, have changed.

Nowadays, society could scarcely function without its beloved cellular devices, which have become so systemic that they are even found in schools and other public places, and are used by all types and classes of people.  The degree to which new and used cell phones have gained prominence in our lives has made having one the standard, leaving those who do not have one at a very significant disadvantage.  Whereas a normal response time to a business call used to be about one business day, it has now been reduced to a few hours.

These days, everyone needs and is expected to have a cell phone - even your kids.  The world is changing as fast as events are happening, and people simply cannot stay in touch and change with society unless they have the ability to communicate with the world instantly and at will.  Imagine what would happen if you broke down on the side of the highway without a cell phone.  Sure, fifty years ago, people might have thought, 'Gee, that person looks like they need help.'  They might even have been brave enough to pull over.  But we live in different times now.  People are less trusting, and they assume every stranded motorist has a cell phone.  You could end up stuck on the highway for a very long time.  Not having a cell phone is downright dangerous.

If money is your concern, it should be noted that affordable used AT&T cell phones can be purchased from local or online retailers, and that, if you do not intend to use your phone very often, prepaid plans offer a thrifty alternative to signing long-lasting contracts with service providers.  It is time to get out from under your rock and start feeling connected with the world before it leaves you behind entirely; you will be glad you finally did.

Teenagers have enough distractions to worry about while driving. By talking on their used cell phones, they are putting everyone at risk on the roads. Typically cell phones require that the driver hold the phone with one hand and the steering wheel with just one hand. This provides very limited control over the car and the direction in which it travels. Having no real experience with the control of the car, teenagers need to have both hands on the wheel at all times.

Most cars on the market today that our teenagers could afford to drive do not come with built in cell phone holders. This means that when the phone rings within the car, the driver will again take a hand off the wheel to feel for the phone and potentially take their eyes off the road to locate the phone and see who is calling. Even at speeds under twenty miles an hour, taking your eyes off the road long enough to check your phone to see who’s calling is long enough to lose control of the car and cause an accident or death.

Many retailers of refurbished cell phones now sell Bluetooth devices that enable the phone to work without having to hold the phone while driving. While that solves one problem, it fails to prevent another. Drivers that are watching the road should not engage in conversations on the phone. If the conversation goes on it will cause the driver to focus on the call at the expense of being able to focus on the road. Even if the driver can see the road and has both hands on the wheel, if their mind is on that conversation, they will not be able to respond to road conditions nearly as fast, resulting in accidents.

Being a new driver is hard enough for teenagers, there is a lot that they need to learn to pay attention to on the road and the last thing they need is another distraction to take their attention off of the road. It used to be that our biggest distraction was turning the radio on in the car and talking with friends. Now, these cell phones have added a whole new degree of distraction to our young drivers. There is one final reason why no one should be using cell phones while driving their cars, in many states it’s now against the law. Put the phones down and focus on the road!

Problems with Phones at School

For the middle school and high school crowd, many teachers and administrators raise concerns that students are simply not mature enough to carry used cell phones on them and use them only as necessary for the reasons their parents may have intended. There are many occurrences on a daily basis in which students are caught making calls and sending text messages to their friends in either other classrooms or outside of the school during class. Another concern is the ability for student so exchange answers to test questions and enable other methods of cheating by sending answers back and forth via their phones.

Reasons to Carry Phones at School

The primary reason that parents allow their kids to carry refurbished cell phones to school is for emergency contacts. A large percentage of students are involved in after school activities that keep the students on campus or near campus after classes have ended for the day. Once the offices are closed, the ability to make calls home is not always readily available. Parents and their children need to be able to reach each other at a moment’s notice to make pickup arrangements and call for help in case of an emergency. It is also known that many kids have jobs after school (also drive themselves to and from school). For this reason parents and employers need to be able to reach the student to be able to keep track of where they are or to notify them or a sudden change in plans.

Personal Opinion

It is my personal opinion that there are definite reasons that phones need to be available to children while attending school. I also note that many kids try to abuse the privilege of carrying a cell phone on school property and that schools should have the right to temporarily take the phone from children during class time if they make it a distraction to the class. Cheating does present a problem but I truly don’t think that too many kids would be able to communicate test answers easily that would be easy enough to read, send, and transcribe to not get caught.

The decision to allow a child to carry a phone to school should ultimately be left to that of the parents. Parents have to make a decision of if their child is mature enough to handle the responsibility of carrying the phone on them without getting into trouble with it. In the event that you determine your child should have their own cell phone at school, consider saving money with used AT&T cell phones.

Contracted Cell Phones

Some of the benefits of signing up for a contracted cell phone include things like getting a brand new phone at sharply discounted (sometimes as low as free) rates, having no interruption of service from month to month, have customer support that is available around the clock, and have typically lower rates than that of a prepaid phone.

Some of the major downfalls to having a contracted cell phone include:

• Being locked into a plan that you usually cannot change for two years
• You cannot change phones without paying the full retail price on the phone
• You can’t take advantage of new rate plans and feature changes without paying a additional fee or extending the contract for another two years
• And, the overwhelming termination fees if your decide to cancel your service before the minimum time frame.

Prepaid Cell Phones

The primary drawback to prepaid cell phones is that the per-minute fees for their services are typically more than the estimated per minute costs for contracted phones. The only other problem with prepaid phones it that typically prepaid phone service comes with an older model used phone when you buy them from a retail outlet. After that, it is all good news for prepaid phones. If you don’t use the cell phone as primary source of communication, then owning refurbished cell phones has many advantages. For example, you can purchase a handful of minutes at a time and they are good to use for up to ninety days. This way you are not paying for minutes each month that you just don’t need. In addition, you can change your phone at any time regardless of how long you have had your current phone. The best advantage to prepaid service is that you have no long-term contracts to deal with. You can have service for your phone for as little as a month or renew each month for as long as you would like to have a phone.

Personal Opinion

Over the years I have owned both prepaid and contracted phones from a variety of providers. Personally I see more advantages coming to prepaid phones than with contracted service. This is especially proven with the latest feature to prepaid plans allowing for unlimited minutes for as little as $60 a month! If you are in the market for a prepaid service provider start by shopping for used AT&T phones (or whatever service you want) and then looking around at various service providers for more information.

Antenna Size Does Matters

Believe or not, size does matters when it comes your cell phone. If you have a small antenna, you're not going to have a strong connection with your service provider. Before you buy a used or refurbished cell phone, you need to do some Internet research to determine what the consumers of your "intended" purchase say about the reception of the phone.

Network Capabilities

Different used phones can be connected to entirely different networks, even phones within the same model family. For example, if you purchased a refurbished Blackberry Bold and connected it to the AT&T 3G network, you will most likely have far better reception than if you purchased a used Blackberry 8310, which connects to the AT&T EDGE network. If you plan on purchasing a refurbished cell phone to connect to your current service provider, make sure to make a note of the network it uses and ask your service representative if that network has a strong enough presence in your neighborhood.

Power Supply

A drained battery will negatively affect cell phone reception as well. So, avoid all of the cell phone functions that use a great deal of battery juice including your camera, mp3 player, GPS, internet browser, etc. Only use the functions that you need. Pay attention to functions that might be running in the background (i.e. Bluetooth) as this could affect your battery life without you even being aware of it. Another factor that zaps battery life is cold weather. Avoid using your cell phone outside in cold weather if at all possible and if you do spend a lot of time out in the cold, try to keep your phone in a pocket versus a bag or purse to keep the battery warmer and longer lasting.

When you have a used or refurbished cell phone, there's only so much you're going to be able to do; after all, your phone might be defective or you could move somewhere where you have little to no reception. You can't prevent all disasters that come with cell phones but you certainly can reduce your chances of getting a bad reception by doing some research ahead of time and before you make a cell phone model purchase.

Email Your Photos To An Email Address

When you're trying to get your pictures off your phone and onto your computer, consider sending yourself a message to your email address, making sure to attach them to that message. It's easy to do but not the best option. If you've got a lot of pictures, it can become a very tedious task attaching each photo to your message; in time, you'll become quite annoyed by it. Another problem going with this option is that your cell phone provider may not offer you an unlimited picture-messaging plan for your used cell phone. Send pictures this way and you may find a very huge cell phone bill in your mailbox.

Establish a Direct Connection with Your PC

Newer used cell phones come equipped with a USB cord that you can use to connect your phone directly to your PC. Once a connection has been established, you can transfer photos from your phone to your computer in one, easy step. Don’t worry about having software or an instruction manual. All you have to do is establish the connection and follow the prompts.

Bluetooth Wireless Transfer

Even simpler than corded transfer is the ability to send all your photos wirelessly utilizing Bluetooth technology. If both your computer and unlocked cell phone have built-in Bluetooth ability, then simply enable both devices and send  your cell phone photo collection directly to your computer.

Photo Booth Kiosks

If you'd rather print off your pictures without transferring them to a computer, you can go to any number of photo booth kiosks seen in many different retails stores such as Target, Wal-mart, etc.  All you need to do is remove the memory card from your refurbished cell phone and insert into the device's dedicated slot. The kiosk should, without hesitation, recognize photos from your card, displaying them for you to choose which ones you would like to print.

Most used Alltel phones come equipped with or are compatible with a memory card that is not yet compatible with photo-print stations. The cards are called MicroSD cards. Phones with this type of memory card come with an adapter that allows you to connect the card to the photo station. Always carry your adapter with you if you have this type of memory card as you will need it to perform most photo functions at department stores.

Photographs capture a moment in time, and being able to share those moments with your friends and family is always something to look forward to. With these steps, you can now take as many photos with your phone as you desire without having to worry about actually retrieving the images from your cell phone.

Following the Rule of Thirds

Many times you'll hear that you need to center your subject in the photo to get a good picture but you don't need to do this with your cell phone. Rather, use the rule of thirds, which means drawing two imaginary horizontal and vertical lines into the frame of your photo; you'll have three columns across and three down much like a tic-tac-toe board. Any important elements in the photo such as trees or friends, etc. need to be placed along these four lines or in a place where they intersect. By doing this, you can create a better overall balance visually and it allows you to take a more interesting, alluring photograph.

Keeping it in the Forefront

Another common mistake made by amateurs is pushing everything to the background of the photo. If you wish to highlight something that is in the distance, such as an ocean or sunset, there should be something interesting in the foreground as well. Perhaps, a shot of the ocean with a beautiful piece of driftwood in the forefront would balance things out perfectly.

Finding New Perspectives

The best thing about cameras on unlocked cell phones is that you can take them anywhere and not have to worry about clumsy gear getting in the way. With this in mind, don't be afraid to explore new perspectives and angles. Try getting down on the ground and take a photo of your pet at eye level, or stand up on a rock to take a cell phone photo of your friends while looking down.

Getting A Close Up Photo

When it comes to rules, they are intended to be broken and this rule applies to photographs with new, used or refurbished cellular phones. First, don't be scared to take an up close picture of the people you know; this way you can get every detail of the facial expression. Keep in mind that you don't have to do a head to toe photo unless you want to. You can, if you desire, crop their head so that the distractions are eliminated and the person looking at the photo will concentrate on the subject's eyes not their body. This rule can also be applied to landscapes. You can always capture the lakeside sunset or a beautiful mountain range; however, see what other things you can focus on. Get a close up picture of a flower or an insect. Perhaps you can get a picture of the rain on a window.

Cell phones can take beautiful pictures, but you need to get creative. Follow the above rules and try new angles and perspectives. Remember; beautiful photography is not the result of expensive equipment. It is the result of your imagination.

Tip 1 - Make It Personal On Your Voice Mail

When you make your voice mail personal, you show your clients, co-workers, bosses, potential clients, etc. how confident you are. Don't go with your used Verizon phones or Blackberry pre-recorded system since it makes people think that your work ethic isn't very strong or worth getting involved with. Now when you personalize your message, make sure to be strong and clear; talk slow so that your listeners can hear all your words. Above all else, do not use cuss words.

Tip 2 – Change Ringtones

People love to hear the latest music but it's very unprofessional to have it in an office or meeting where all can hear it. Instead of using downloaded rock tunes or offensive cartoon bits, consider using the phone's pre-recorded ringtones. By choosing these, you won't perturb anyone with your ringtone in the middle of a call, meeting, etc.

Tip 3 – Delete Ring-Back Tones

Many phones come equipped with ring-back tones; no matter what service you are with, these should be deleted. It's fine for family members and friends but certainly not for clients, present and future. These tones are considered very annoying and most unprofessional.

Tip 4 – Spruce Up Your Phone's Look

While you may think it's stupid, you should fix up the way your phone looks. You want to be taken seriously but no one is going to be able to if you have red flower stickers or other decorations on your refurbished cell phone and/or used blackberry. You never know when you may accidentally leave it out or need to show your clients something.

Tip 5 – Shut It Off

Whenever you're at work or you meet a prospective client, take the time to place your phone on vibrate or silent. This lets people know that you respect the time they have together. If you've forgotten this step, apologize quickly and hurriedly turn off the ringer and shut off the phone. Now if you need to leave it on, don't answer your phone. Of course, if you have an emergency, most clients, future and present, will understand.  You should never walk away from your client to start a conversation on your phone.

It's important that you appear as professional as possible in every aspect of your life. Remember that the world we live in is impressionable and you certainly don't want anyone to get a bad impression of you just because your phone lacked professionalism. By following the five tips above, you're on your way to building your professional reputation.

1. Record Phone Calls

You may not know it, but your cell phone has a useful record feature that will allow you to record phone calls, in-person conversations and any other form of audio that you wish to save to your phone. For example: If your boss calls with an important list of things he or she wants you to do, you can record the phone call instead of frantically searching for pen and paper or trying to memorize the conversation. Note: Some states require full disclosure when recording phone calls, meaning that you will need to inform the person that you are speaking with that you are recording the call.

2. Make digital Copies

You can take photos of any document that you wish to scan and save it to your phone. Free online services, such as Qipit.com, will take the image of the document and turn it into a jpg or PDF file and send it to your online account. The files are cleaned up until they are clearly legible, negating the need for scanning.

3. Call Information for Free

You can access a free phone directory by calling 1-800-FREE-411 and listening to a short advertisement.

4. Convenient Flashlight

If you need to shed a little light on your dark condition, you have two cell-phone options. You can turn on the backlight of your cell phone by pushing any key. The light will remain on for a few seconds, allowing you to locate your keys in the dark or a main, steady source of light. Your refurbished phones may also have a feature that allows you to keep your flash for your camera on for a long, steady period of time. Check your manual to see if your phone possesses such a feature.

5. The Power of Google, Anywhere

You don’t need a computer or an internet connection to Google. All you need is a phone with text ability. Text any questions to 466453, and wait for the results. The number spells GOOGLE on the alpha-numeric key pad.

6. Track Packages

A free online service, provided by TrackThis, allows you to track packages via text messaging while you are out and about. To sign up for the service, simply log onto www.usetrackthis.com and sign up for a free account. Enter the package tracking information for the packages you wish to track, and wait for text messages to roll in. Texts will be sent to alert you whenever the delivery status for the package changes.

7. Send a Voice Mail without Calling

If you need to send a message when the timing is not ideal, you can send a voice message without directly calling the number. Your voice mail instructions should outline the process for you. If not, contact customer support for your used cell phone service provider.

Imagine, seven different ways that you can use your refurbished cellular phones to simplify your life. And the best part is that it’s all free!