Good morning everyone, my name's Robert, and this is Step.
Today we are going to talk about something we're all familiar with; smartphones.
What do you think of when you see this?
Audience: Smartphones are bad for you! That's what many people think, but we're not
so sure. That's right, so we're going to talk today
about the impact of smartphones on human health.
I'm going to give you some brief background on the issue, and explain the negative impacts
of smartphones on our health. Then I will bring up some of the positive
impacts that smartphones have had on human health since they were invented.
After that I will give a quick summary of our findings, and we will answer any questions
you may have on the issue.
Okay, first of all, let's start by looking at the use of smart phones in our daily life.
Two questions first: What is a smartphone?
And, what makes a phone "smart"? Well, this is Backer's definition of a smartphone.
Google's research on smartphone user behaviour
in 2013 showed that we do use our smartphones in our daily life in various situations,
which include: searching for information on the internet, communicating with each other, keeping
ourselves updated with news and information, entertainment and shopping.
Moving on to the situation in Hong Kong, the penetration of smartphones is quite high.
According to The Office of the Communications Authority in 2013, 65% of mobile phone
users were 3G or 4G service customers. That means there are 10.9 million smartphones
in use in Hong Kong. The reason that this is more than the population of Hong Kong is
that many people own two or more mobiles! Google's research also found that four out
of five people in Hong Kong use their smartphone every day, and three quarters of
smartphone users carry their phones with them at all times.
As the smartphone becomes more popular and people are spending more time on smartphones,
debates have begun about their usage. One debate is on the relationship between
using smart phones and human health. So now, I would like to explore the points
that support the thesis statement. I'm going to talk about two main points.
First, mobile phones may damage body structures. Researchers and experts have pointed out that
improper use of smartphones may cause damage to different body parts.
Meral, in an article from 2007, found that radiation from mobile phones may produce oxidative
stress in brain tissue, which can lead to a higher risk of brain tissue damage.
And more research by the team led by De Luliis discovered in 2009 that the radiation from
mobile phones may lower the fertility of males as the radiation destroys the DNA and mobility
of sperm cells. The second disadvantage of the smartphones
is that smartphone apps may lead to a misunderstanding of health issues.
A study by O'Neill and Brady shows that a considerable number of apps are releasing
health information without the approval from medical professionals.
Some apps are designed for advertising purposes and may contain misleading information.
So, smartphone users may also have difficulty in distinguishing between advertisements and
verified health information. They may be misled and buy some unsuitable
health products. Okay, that's all I have to say about the points
and evidence that support the statement. I've shown you two main points; first, the
radiation of mobile phones may cause damage to our body (tissue), which includes brain tissue and sperm cells.
Then, the smart phone apps may spread unreliable
health information that may mislead users. Now I shall hand over to Step, who will discuss
the points that go against the statement. Step, over to you.
OK. Thank you Robert. So, I am Step.
I am going to introduce evidence showing that smartphones are not harmful to our health.
There are three main points here. First, although smartphone use may potentially
be harmful to human health, smartphones can also help to improve physical and psychological
health. The paper by Lee and colleagues from 2012
argued that smartphones can help monitor the body condition of elderly patients.
Smartphones allow users to send data about their condition to medical professionals and
receive medical advice anywhere and anytime. And, in case of an emergency, smartphones
assist in locating the users by GPS or mobile networks and can help to save lives.
The second reason is that smartphone apps may promote positive behavioural health habits
and improve psychological health. As Luxton and colleagues describe in their 2011 paper
the apps can motivate users to engage in healthy behaviour, such as sports
and keeping fit. Another team from Spain have also shown that
smartphone apps have helped in developing a healthy life style.
By using the apps regularly, users were able to develop healthy eating habits within three
months. That brings us to the last point that support
the health benefits of smartphones: smartphone apps can enhance psychological health.
Luxton and colleagues also point out in their paper that smart phones encourage communication
between people as they can browse social networking sites anywhere and anytime.
People who are unwilling or unable to communicate face-to-face can still get support from friends online.
Research led by Park further confirmed in
2012 that smart phone apps have positive effects on strengthening the cohesiveness of social
networks among users because they are able to maintain connections with each other all
the time. These may relieve psychological pressure and
anxiety, and foster interpersonal relationships. Well, I think that covers most of the things
we want to say about smartphone use and human health.
Turning to the last part of the presentation, let me go over the key points.
In our presentation, we have discussed the points that are for and against the statement
"Frequent use of smartphones is harmful to human health".
My partner, Robert, talked about the points that support the statement, mobile phones
may damage body structures, and smartphone apps may lead to misunderstanding of health
issues. I then explored the points against the statement:
smartphones help in monitoring health, and smartphones promote behavioural and psychological
health. Taking all the points into consideration,
it appears that the positive side of using smartphones outweighs the negative side.
We do think that smartphones should be used in moderation.
But, all in all, we support the use of smartphones and disagree with the argument that
smartphones are harmful to human health, as (the use of) this device can actually improve
our health in different aspects. OK, that's all for our presentation.
Thank you for listening and I hope that you've found it interesting.
You can find more details in our reference list.
And now, we'd like to open it up for discussion. Would anyone like to raise a question?
Audience: Yes, you have showed us that there is a high usage of smartphones in Hong Kong. Is it also
a global trend? Thank you for your question.
Yes, it's a global trend. There is data showing that smartphones have
become more popular in many societies. The research results from international marketing
company, Gartner, showed that there were more than 960 million smartphones sold in 2013
all around the world. The company has estimated the sales of smartphones
will reach one billion in 2014. So, we believe that (the number of) smartphones
users will rise globally. Does that answer your question?
Yes, thank you. Okay, (are there) any other questions?
You have mentioned in your presentation that radiation from phones may damage body structures.
Audience: There was a recent news story that reported that the blue violet light from smartphones
may cause blindness. So, is there any way that we can use the phone safely?
That's a good question. Well, there is certainly a safe way to use
smartphones. That is "don't over use them".
Doctors and opticians have said that the eye problems resulting from smartphones is caused
by not blinking enough and putting the smartphone too close to your eyes.
So, they have suggested that phone users should take regular breaks from using smartphones,
hold the device in your hand and keep the distance between your eyes and the phone no
less than 30cm. Yes, they're all good points.
And there are two more easy things, suggested by WHO experts, that we can do to reduce the
influence of radiation from phones on our body.
First, we should use a wire or speaker when we are using the phone; this keeps the phone
away from our head. Second, we can keep the phone in our bag,
instead of putting it in the pocket of our clothes.
This will reduce the radiation that we may receive from the phone.
Have we answered your question? Audience: Yes, that's fine, thank you!