School Zone: Cell Phone Use Prohibited
Per Texas Transportation Code 545.425, the use of cell phones while driving within school zones is prohibited.
This law has been in effect since September 1st, 2013 and it exists to protect kids and other pedestrians at the start and the end of school days. It makes sense and it passed unanimously.
Assuming you live in Texas, hopefully you will have noticed the “Cell Phone Use Prohibited” signs under school zone speed limits.
I drive through several school zones any time I leave my apartment. I’ve always followed the signs’ commands. I am, after all, an upstanding citizen, a guy with a health fear of a $200 fine, and a guy with a bet with a friend about not being the first to get ticket. I intend to win that bet.
So I acknowledge these signs all the time, but recently I’ve started to think about them in a new way.
One thing I tried to observe throughout Lent was more awareness of my phone usage and working on some unhealthy phone habits. To that end, I removed all apps for streaming and I took my phone out of my room. Yes, that means my old alarm clock was resurrected.
I admit I haven’t kept a perfect track record the past month or so, but I have seen some serious benefits to prohibiting some of my own cell phone usage.
I’ve embraced more silence
I’ve read more.
I’ve had more productive mornings.
I’ve gone to sleep faster.
I’ve slept more.
I’ve had less nightmares.
I’ve journaled more.
I’ve enjoyed more small things.
I’ve noticed more birds and rabbits and other critters.
When I have streamed things on TV, I’ve enjoyed them more and I’ve paid more attention.
Phones are a double edged sword. We can’t deny their necessity and utility but we also can’t deny their negative influences on life, like anxiety and shorter attention spans. I’m not going to dive into the data here, you can go research that for yourself, but I’ve seen enough proof in my life to know I’m not the same when my phone is around. Let’s look at how my phone affects me in two common scenarios—
Reading.
I realized how much my phone affected my reading when I was in college. Being a triple major in liberal arts, I often had weeks with 1000+ pages of assigned reading. It was a battle to get through it all, let alone comprehend it. Eventually, I figured out a hack: if I left my phone in my dorm room and walked to the library across campus, my reading would be DIALED. It felt like a super power. The hack also worked with writing papers.
I realized this again in the past month or so. With my phone around, I can get through 10-20 pages until I have to check my phone. Without it, I find myself capable chomping through books in one or two sittings. And it is way more engaging and fruitful to read than to spend that time mindlessly scrolling. Now I try to keep a book close at hand no matter where I’m at so that I have something better to pick up when I find myself in between moments.
Presence with People.
Back in the day, I had an awesome iPod Touch. It was loaded with the best games— Doodle Jump, Temple Run, Jetpack Joyride, Subways Surfers, Minecraft, and a plethora of Star Wars games.
My mom set an important rule: when I’m in the room visiting with people, iPod was to be put away. Particularly when we were with my grandparents. It was really helpful to keep me engaged in the room I was in and not zoned out in some other world.
And how much more is that needed now. I’m a work in progress when it comes to this. It’s hard, but so worthwhile. Some of the best conversations I’ve had this year have come when phones were off or out of service or in another room. Those conversations have been marked by creativity, curiosity, authenticity, and vulnerability. It’s hard to get there when my phone is constantly trying to interrupt and pull my attention away.
It would be awesome if we would commit together to take some time to put the phones away and enjoy times like we did when were kids.
Some ideas to challenge your phone use: turn your phone off for an hour this week, have a meal without your phone, go somewhere without your phone, call someone instead of texting, facetime instead of call, write a letter, read a book.
Let me know how it goes.