According to a study carried out by behavioural scientists at Kings College London, 25% of a cohort of young mobile phone users were ‘addicted’ to its use. Mobile phone dependency can be described as addictive if you become agitated and disorientated when access to the device is removed. Such users find it difficult to control the amount of time they spend on the phone and, if deprived of its use, find life very difficult to cope with.

Addictive behaviour can have serious life consequences and if a quarter of us face this new threat, then society had better think carefully about how and when they are used.  Mobile phone companies are well aware of the downside of the constant use of their devices and Apple, for example, have developed Screen Time which gives information for users and parents about how long screens have been used on a daily basis. Once we know, we can begin to amend our behaviour if we have the mental power and inclination to do so.

Fortunately, social media use has largely passed me by.  It came too late and, at my grand old age, there was little to prove. I have little inclination to share my personal life with third parties. Yes, I have discovered WhatsApp as a great way to share family experiences; but for me that’s as far as it goes. For a younger generation, online is where’s it’s all at, and who can blame them?! A veritable cornucopia of applications bring the world and all your social contacts to your device right there in your hand. Social interaction, games, music and whatever else might take your fancy is there at your fingertips. For me, it’s the News apps which tend to be addictive and of course, having to deal with e-mails as soon as they are received. The command to ‘put away that phone’ is one I am used to hearing.

We live in experimental times. Smartphones have barely been around for a generation. Cell phones were first connected to 3G in 2001 but it’s only been in the past 10 years that their use has become ubiquitous. I did not succumb to a mobile until I became an officer of the Law Society in 2005. At the time I was trying to be a working lawyer in my practice in Liverpool whilst spending half my time in London and other parts of the UK. A Blackberry (remember them) became useful to be able to deal with e mails on the go. It wasn’t until 2014 that I got my first proper smartphone; you would guess that I was a late adopter. Most of the younger generation had purchased one of Steve Job’s devices several years before.

So, what are we to do? Every new generation has to get used to a world with novel potential pitfalls. Drug and alcohol abuse have been with us for many generations and, whilst some of us have problems and many flirt with danger, most of us are fortunate to avoid the problems. We are blessed if we have good family and friends whose examples lead us into more productive pastures. So now avoiding overuse of the mobile is added to this list of potential traps for those who might stunt their lives by overuse.

For my money, we are strengthened most if we learn to value and respect each other in a social context. That includes respect for each other in our working lives. This leads me on to the environment we create as managers in our places of work. If we encourage one other by valuing and appreciating the unique contributions of each, we strengthen individuals. If this is coupled by raising the horizon of what each person might achieve in their working lives, then this has the power to be truly awesome.  Mobile phone usage is part of the pattern of modern life but if we help build feelings of self-worth, we will not go far wrong.