Letter to the Editor Does Essay

Clearly there is an addiction problem here in Orange, Connecticut, and one can safely assume the same problem is persistent in Orange, California, and Orange, Florida. Pew Research reports that one in three teens sends more than 100 text messages -- a day! That's more than 3,000 a month! Girls are more text-friendly than boys, as the average texting girl sends and receives an estimated 80 text messages a day (compared with boys who send and receive 30 texts daily), according to Pew Research.

Technology Addiction specialist Dr. Hilarie Cash in Seattle explains that the "instant gratification of getting a text back floods the brain's pleasure center with the mood enhancing chemical dopamine," which leads to addiction. Some students interviewed by Dr. Cash report "withdrawal-like symptoms" if their phone's battery dies or they do not get text back quickly from someone they care about.

Doctor Michael Seyffert treats teens for sleeping disorders, and he reports that one out of five teens "have their sleep interrupted by texting" -- either they dream they are getting a text, or someone actually texts them in the middle of the night. Dr. Seyffert (of Seattle) explains, "Neuro-imaging studies have shown that those kids who are texting have that area of their brain light up the same as an addict using heroin."

We can safely assume from the empirical literature that many teens and college students as well are addicted to the texting technologies.There is little argument about that. And the practical truth about texting while driving (according to research by Nationwide Insurance) is that any brief distraction from handling an automobile diverts a driver's reaction time the same as if the driver had a blood alcohol level of .08 (the legal limit in many states).

But back to the original problem: My best idea (to stop high school drivers from texting) is to have volunteers from the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) position themselves in the parking lot after school with big white signs with red letting urging students: "Please be Safe! No Texting while Driving!" One volunteer could be walking around the parking lot showing the sign as kids get into their cars, and another could be at the exit ramp of the high school parking lot showing the sign, every day, to every student that drives onto Newton Road.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts on safety for our community. Let's not wait until someone is seriously hurt or killed to begin a campaign to stop texting teen drivers.

Sincerely,

Ms. Naeema Lee

(203) [HIDDEN]

Works Cited

Allen, Amy. (2010). Why Your Kid Can't Stop Texting: Study Shows Heroin-Like

Addiction. KCPQ. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from http://www.q13fox.com.

Lenhart, Amanda. (2010). Teens, Cell Phones and Texting. Pew Research Center. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from http://pewresearch.com.

Nationwide. (2011).….....