The Dangers of Cell Phones - Persuasive Speech — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:06It's your constant companion.
2. 0:08It's in your pocket, in your bag, in
3. 0:10your hands, or against your head.
4. 0:12You use it at home, in class, at the
5. 0:14gym, before you go to sleep at night,
6. 0:16and first thing when you wake up in the
7. 0:17morning.
8. 0:18I'm talking, of course,
9. 0:20about your cell phone.
10. 0:22According to my class survey, everyone
11. 0:24in this room has a cell phone, and all
12. 0:26of us use it dozens of times every day.
13. 0:30But what if your constant companion is
14. 0:32dangerous?
15. 0:34What if it's hazardous to your health?
16. 0:37Evidence is piling up that long-term use
17. 0:39of cell phones can lead to tissue
18. 0:41damage, tumors, and even brain cancer.
19. 0:44Given that there are well over 4 billion
20. 0:46people worldwide using cell phones,
21. 0:49we're looking at a problem of
22. 0:50potentially staggering magnitude.
23. 0:53According to Devra Davis, epidemiologist
24. 0:55and author of the 2010 book Disconnect:
25. 0:58The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation,
26. 1:00we may be watching an epidemic in slow
27. 1:03motion.
28. 1:05I never thought much about the possible
29. 1:07perils of cell phones before I saw a CBS
30. 1:10news report on the subject earlier this
31. 1:12year.
32. 1:13But doing extensive research for this
33. 1:14speech made me realize that cell phones
34. 1:17do, in fact, pose a danger to our
35. 1:19health.
36. 1:20Now, don't worry. I'm not going to try
37. 1:22to persuade you to abandon your constant
38. 1:24companion.
39. 1:25I still use mine on a regular basis, and
40. 1:27I probably always will.
41. 1:29But I do hope to persuade you to make
42. 1:32one simple change in the way you use
43. 1:33your cell phone.
44. 1:35A change that will protect your health,
45. 1:37and could even make the difference
46. 1:39between a long life and premature death.
47. 1:43But first,
48. 1:44let's look more closely at the health
49. 1:46risks posed by cell phones.
50. 1:50Those risks stem from the fact that cell
51. 1:52phones emit small amounts of radiation
52. 1:54that, over time, can damage tissue.
53. 1:57Every time you use your cell phone, you
54. 2:00expose yourself to that radiation.
55. 2:02The amount is minuscule in comparison to
56. 2:04that given off by x-ray machines, about
57. 2:071/1 billionth of the intensity.
58. 2:09However, Ronald Herberman of the
59. 2:11University of Pittsburgh Cancer
60. 2:13Institute explains that the problem with
61. 2:15cell phone radiation is not how much is
62. 2:17emitted at a single time,
63. 2:19but how much we are exposed to with
64. 2:21repeated use day after day, year after
65. 2:25year.
66. 2:26It's this long-term use of cell phones
67. 2:28that has led researchers to warn about
68. 2:29their danger.
69. 2:31In one study, for example, the World
70. 2:33Health Organization tracked 10,000 cell
71. 2:36phone users over the course of 10 years.
72. 2:39As reported in the New York Times on
73. 2:40November 13th, 2010, the data in this
74. 2:43study indicated that subjects who used a
75. 2:46cell phone 10 or more years doubled the
76. 2:49risk of developing brain tumors.
77. 2:52Other studies have reached the same
78. 2:53conclusion.
79. 2:54Perhaps most important is a 2007 study
80. 2:57in the Journal of Occupational and
81. 2:58Environmental Medicine that surveyed all
82. 3:01the previous research on cell phone use.
83. 3:04It found a consistent pattern of
84. 3:06increased risk for developing brain
85. 3:08tumors among people who used cell phones
86. 3:10for more than 10 years.
87. 3:13Alan Marks is one of those people.
88. 3:16A 58-year-old real estate developer and
89. 3:18father of three,
90. 3:21he talked on his cell phone an hour a
91. 3:23day for 23 years.
92. 3:26Two years ago,
93. 3:28doctors found a golf ball-sized tumor in
94. 3:30his brain.
95. 3:32"There's no question what caused it," he
96. 3:34says.
97. 3:36"It was my cell phone."
98. 3:38And Alan Marks isn't the only person to
99. 3:40conclude that he's sick because of his
100. 3:41cell phone.
101. 3:43Ann Gittleman's 2010 book Zapped, which
102. 3:46deals at length with the health problems
103. 3:47of cell phones, catalogs people who
104. 3:49developed blinding headaches, dizziness,
105. 3:53circulatory problems, nausea, and cancer
106. 3:57from the kind of radiation emitted by
107. 4:00cell phones. Still not convinced about
108. 4:03the potential dangers posed by your
109. 4:04constant companion?
110. 4:07Take a look then inside the thick manual
111. 4:08that comes with your phone. You'll see
112. 4:10that all cell phone manufacturers warn
113. 4:12against keeping the phone right next to
114. 4:14your body.
115. 4:16Apple, for example, recommends keeping
116. 4:18the iPhone 5/8 of an inch away from your
117. 4:21body. Makers of the Blackberry recommend
118. 4:23that you keep their phone a full inch
119. 4:26away.
120. 4:27Cell phone manufacturers don't publicize
121. 4:30this information widely, but they
122. 4:32clearly recognize that their products
123. 4:34are potentially hazardous.
124. 4:37So, what's the solution?
125. 4:40As I said earlier, it's not to stop
126. 4:42using cell phones altogether. I still
127. 4:44use mine on a regular basis, and I can't
128. 4:46imagine being without it, and I'm sure
129. 4:48you can't imagine being without yours.
130. 4:50You can, however, take seriously the
131. 4:53risks of cell phones and find a way to
132. 4:54minimize those risks.
133. 4:57Time and again, experts point out that
134. 4:58the single most effective way to reduce
135. 5:01the risk is not to press your cell phone
136. 5:03against your head while using it.
137. 5:05Since the phone emits radiation, the
138. 5:07closer you put it to your head,
139. 5:09the more radiation you expose yourself
140. 5:11to.
141. 5:12At the very least, you should hold the
142. 5:14phone 1/2 an inch to 1 full inch away
143. 5:17from your ear, but ideally, you should
144. 5:20get in the habit of not putting it up to
145. 5:21your head at all.
146. 5:23I now use my earbuds almost every time I
147. 5:26use my phone.
148. 5:27Another option is to use your speaker
149. 5:29phone.
150. 5:30As with breaking any habit, changing the
151. 5:33way you talk on your cell phone may be
152. 5:35slightly inconvenient at first,
153. 5:38but will soon become second nature.
154. 5:40You'll be able to enjoy all the benefits
155. 5:42of your constant companion
156. 5:45without suffering the fate of Alan
157. 5:47Marks.
158. 5:48If Marks had known the dangers of
159. 5:50prolonged cell phone use, he would have
160. 5:52done things a lot differently.
161. 5:54"I wouldn't have held it to my head," he
162. 5:56says.
163. 5:57"I would have used the headset. I would
164. 6:00have used the speaker phone,
165. 6:02and I would not have had the problems I
166. 6:03had."
167. 6:05So,
168. 6:07please get in the habit of keeping your
169. 6:09cell phone away from your ear when
170. 6:10talking,
171. 6:11and encourage your friends and family to
172. 6:13do the same.
173. 6:15Start today with your next phone call,
174. 6:18and continue every day in the future.
175. 6:21We can avoid the slow motion epidemic
176. 6:23that doctors and scientists are warning
177. 6:24us about, as long as we remember to keep
178. 6:27this away from this.