Do you think smoking kills? How about the negative impact of smartphones? Or are we unconsciously controlled by technology? In the previous decade, technological development experienced a boom in the telecommunications sector, especially in the mobile technology sector. Although smartphones have changed our lifestyle by bringing convenience and some positive changes, its negative impact has adversely affected students' academic performance, social interactions, and even self-regulation. In fact, the negative impact of smartphones outweighs the positive impact on a student's life. First, the negative influence of smartphones is evident on the quality of students' education. This is especially true when it comes to language and grammatical accuracy. However, opponents of this statement claim that it is the use of innovative language for smartphone applications that helps improve students' writing skills and spelling accuracy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay To some extent they are not wrong. The argument put forward is that the benefits of some smartphone applications such as puzzles, crosswords and some correct pronunciation apps have actually helped students in pronunciation and enriched their vocabulary. On the other hand, the use of abbreviations in texting or smartphone texting has had a serious influence on students' grammar and spelling efficiency (Kate Ross, 2010). In addition to this, the frequent use of smartphones has also distracted students' attention in class. Many of them can't keep their hands off their cell phones. A study conducted by (international journal and research on education, 2013) shows that 14% of students play games on their cell phones at some point during lessons. However, some studies conclude that playing games on smartphones actually strengthens a student's critical thinking. Even if this were true, the focus of our discussion is not whether smartphone use improves a student's critical thinking, but whether smartphone use distracts a student from his or her learning and therefore affects his or her academic performance. Second, a smartphone can literally influence a student's social interactions. “Several researchers have identified social influence as a key construct that influences both usage intention and usage behavior, thus playing an important role in consumer adoption of new technology.” (Kulviwat, BrunerII & Al-Shuridah, 2009; S. Lee, 2013; Ting, Lim, Patanmacia, Low & Ker, 2011; Imtiaz, Arif & Wajeeha, Aslam, 2014). As a result, smartphone users become independent, especially in the case of students who no longer desire physical company. They spend most of their time on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. They make friends and build relationships, but mostly in a virtual world. As a result, students may also become disinterested in interacting with their instructors. They prefer to communicate via a chat application, send messages or simply express likes or dislikes with a tick. On top of that, smartphones come with Internet access capabilities, which complicates the issue. For example, when students face difficult questions they no longer ask professors; instead, they conveniently do a quick Google search to find the answers. However, these answers, taken from cyberspace, may not be the right answer to their questions. In this way the smartphone not only affects the student on a social levelbut also mental. They become mentally weak because they no longer need to use their brains as often to find and solve difficult questions. They turn to Google for everything they want to know. Eventually, socially, students will become more and more self-centered and shy because they will begin to lose motivation for physical communication. The scary fact is that they might end up preferring solitude to being with community. Finally, smartphones are beginning to reduce our students' self-regulation skills. According to the MPRA research report published by Imtiaz Arif and Wajeeha Aslam in 2014, before the launch of 3G and 4G spectrum in Pakistan in April, the smartphone market accounted for only 15% of the mobile industry. After the availability of these new mobile networks by the country's three major network operators, the demand for smartphones has increased rapidly and is expected to increase to a whopping 50% within a year. Perhaps it is because of this positive outlook that United Mobile, which had been one of the country's largest distributors of Nokia phones, recently launched its own smartphone. Mobile phone makers' optimism ahead of the spectrum fine has also been tamped down in the country's telecom imports. . Imports of mobile phones in the month of February 2014 increased by 20% to 6 billion rupees, compared to 5 billion rupees in February 2013. The opponent may put forward the idea that the acceptance of smartphones in their lives has brought them enormous benefits. They can, for example, communicate with their friends via the Internet easily, at lower costs and without any restrictions. But a survey conducted by (CHI, 2007) says the opposite. Interviews were conducted with students at a Korean university based on their dependency on their smartphones. The result was absolutely negative. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The average student's response was that even when they wanted to stop using their smartphone, they were unable to do so. They would continue to use them involuntarily. This shows that they have somehow lost their self-control and self-regulation power. Instead of taking control of the device, the smartphone in turn took control of its master. It's as if we don't just depend on our smartphones, but are completely dependent on its use. We are no longer our own masters. Einstein once said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination surrounds the world.” Technology has surrounded our imagination and our knowledge. Today we are slaves to our handmade devices. Instead of being ourselves, we trust more in technology than in our species. Works Cited Ross, K. (2010). The impact of texting on students' grammatical and spelling skills. International Journal of English Linguistics, 1(2), 142-149.International Journal and Research on Education. (2013). The influence of smartphone use on students' attention in class. International Journal and Research in Education, 1(1), 24-31.Kulviwat, S., Bruner II, G.C., & Al-Shuridah, O. (2009). Toward a unified theory of consumer acceptance technology: Implications for consumer adoption of technological innovation. Psychology and Marketing, 26(8), 661-680. Lee, S. (2013). An investigation into factors influencing consumer adoption of smartphones. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 7(3), 206-226.Ting, D.H., Lim, H., Patanmacia, D., Low, G.S., & Ker, A.P. (2011). Determinants, 36, 18-29.