They're Called Cell Phones Because The Phone is of Out Hot Cell Eat The Phone

    (The title is a reference, if you don't understand, don't worry about it.)

    These two articles are a bit more linked than normal, as one is a direct response to the other. Though aside from the fact that they both talk about phones and are written in English, there aren't many comparisons I can make, they differ from each other quite severely.
    First, and most obviously, their stances on cellphones are direct opposites. The one titled "Have Smartphones Destroyed A Generation?" Is, shockingly (not really,) thinks that the impact smartphones have on the youths is negative overall, whereas the response, "No, Smartphones are Not Destroying a Generation" thinks that this is not the case (another shocking revelation, I know)

    There are also some more minor differences in format, for example, the response is much shorter than the paper it's responding to, which I appreciate greatly because my attention span is garbage. The sources the original work links to are, most often, other papers about this subject, whereas the response mostly links to... definitions of words. Well, okay, there are a good few number of links to actual sources, but I don't think I needed one for the word "teen."

    One thing I found odd from the initial paper was its pseudo-idolization of stuff like teen pregnancies and underage substance abuse. It called out that this was a good, thing but it's still sends mixed messages when you're trying to write about how it's bad teens aren't doing as much anymore and half of the stuff you point to are things they probably shouldn't be doing.

    There's also this line from the original article "There’s not a single exception. All screen activities are linked to less happiness, and all nonscreen activities are linked to more happiness." that seems like it's overgeneralizing just a TAD. Like, really? ALL screen activities are linked to less happiness? ALL nonscreen activities are linked to more happiness? "Well I learned that a meteor is about to crash into earth and kill everyone, but at least I read it in a newspaper! If I had learned about it on my phone I might've gotten more upset, thank goodness I dodged that bullet!"

    For my own experience with cellphones, my friends have pretty tight schedules, so the most we can really "hang out" together is by texting. I don't have Snapchat, Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, or Twitter on my phone. I mostly just browse Tumblr and chat on Discord, so if I gave it up for a day I would definitely be inconvenienced, but I don't think I'd be particularly affected beyond that.

    As for an ultimate lesson? I suppose it would be that cell phones are alright, certainly not the greatest but not the worst, either. I'd say that the number one rule of data can be applied in this situation: never confuse correlation with causation.