Pam Walsh does not own a smart phone. Walsh, a senior at Bryant University in Rhode Island, is a commuter student and says she uses the money that would go toward phone payments for gas instead. But, she notes, there have been situations when a smartphone, with its internet capabilities, would have been useful, U.S. News reports.
“As a commuter student, there’s always a chance that weather will be poor and classes will be canceled because of it, but I may not find out about it until I’m on campus,” she says. “The professor might have canceled right before class through an eMail. If I had a smart phone, I would have gotten the eMail and I wouldn’t have had to drive to class in horrible conditions.”
For Walsh, who has never owned a smart phone, the constant urge to stay connected to the world via phone is not an issue. “I don’t really go through it,” she says. “As long as I’m not waiting on a phone call or a text message from someone, I can just leave [the phone] aside.” But for some college students, leaving a phone behind may cause feelings of anxiety and panic, which has brought one phobia to the forefront: nomophobia–the fear of being without your cell phone……Read More