We have all had those moments where we drop our phone, and for that quick second you pause just praying the crack is not bad. Imagine dropping your phone and picking it up, only to realize that the screen is cracked, completely white and you cannot see anything.  

Unfortunately, that was the case for me. Not only was my phone messed up, but I had to go a week before my replacement came. Like the saying goes, “you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.” I never realized how dependent I was on my cell phone. What do you do in those awkward situations when passing someone on the side walk? How would I know what time to meet up with my friends at the café? What about my Twitter, Facebook or Instagram?

I began to wonder what did our parents do without cell phones? It is something that many of us would feel lost without. Research says that “we are so dependent our phones, that we check them every six-and-a-half minutes.” Not because you felt a vibration from getting a call, but because you can not help yourself. as breathing.

According to the Daily Mail, looking at a phone is the first thing most people do each day after waking up and the last thing they do  before going to sleep. Studies from Pew Research Center show that about 91 percent of Americans own a cellphone about 17.2 million of them own smartphones. On this one device, I can listen to music, contact people, and look up random questions that pop up in my head. Are we becoming too dependent on this little device? Is Siri becoming your answer to everything?

Are you dependent on your cell phone? It is okay. You are just like everyone else on this hyper-connected planet! Times magazine’s Techland section led a huge international poll of 5,000 Americans, Britons, South Koreans, Chinese, Indians, South Africans, Indonesians, and Brazilians. They found that everyone in the world checks their phone unconsciously. The survey illustrates how obsessed we all are with staring at our tiny screen for hours and hours of the day. From this study, researchers found that 84  percent of the interviewees said that they could not go a single day without their phones. About 50 percent of Americans sleep with their phone next to them like their favorite stuffed animal, which includes more than 80 percent of 18-24 year olds. Twenty percent of interviewees check their phone every ten minutes.

Smartphones have become the norm. Good etiquette and manners in certain settings seems to have been thrown out the window during the digital age. After the first day or two going without a phone, it was nothing. Yes, I had to go back to the early 2000s and start emailing people. Not to mention, Facebook message became my go to. A week without my phone made me realize that there is more to focus on then a phone. Now, are you one of those that need to have their cell phone with them 24/7 ? If something were to happen to your phone, could you even go a day without it?

—Email Prince at [email protected] and follow us on twitter @TheATRegister

• Prince Adams, Contributor