Many teenagers have their own smartphones. Does this situation have more advantages or more disadvantages?

Many adolescents own a smart device.

This

essay argues that despite the main advantage of

this

being that they have the ability to stay in contact with their

parents

, I believe that there are more disadvantages as

this

creates a lack of face-to-face communication, which has many detrimental effects. The biggest benefit of teenagers having mobile phones is the fact that their

parents

can call them and even check on their location.

This

is because

smartphones

have GPS, and many apps allow

parents

to accurately determine where their child is or simply message them to make sure they are safe.

For example

, messaging apps like Viber have a location setting so that

parents

can ask where their children are in a message and

then

check on Google Maps when their loved ones respond.

However

, I think that the lack of physical contact caused by mobile phone usage is a more serious concern. Some believe that the drawback to teens having

smartphones

is that they reduce the amount of time they spend talking

face to face

Add a hyphen

face-to-face

show examples

. Most adolescents spend too much time on their phones. Face-to-face communication allows children to develop social skills and grow as human beings, and they may become anti-social adults in the future if they stare at a screen all day.

For instance

, it is very common to go into any coffee shop and see large groups of young people sitting around and not talking for several minutes because they are so engrossed in their

smartphones

.

Therefore

, I believe that

smartphones

,

overall

, have a detrimental effect on adolescents. In conclusion, the primary value of teenagers having

smartphones

is the fact that their

parents

can easily stay in touch with them;

however

, I feel that the lack of in-person interaction is a more significant downside.