Cell Phones and Social Media: Black Death for Young Minds

By Frosty Wooldridge

July 21, 2025

You see adults and teens staring down at their cell phones at every conceivable location in the world. You may see them tapping on their cell phones at bus stops, in the park, while riding their bicycles, while skiing, in the weight room, at the pool, on the beach, while attending a lecture, in church, in classrooms…virtually everywhere in America and around the world.

Cell phones may prove more deadly than the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century.

“The Black Death was the bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as 50 million people perished, perhaps 50 percent of Europe’s 14th century population.”

Today, “Currently, more than half of US teens spend an average of 7 hours and 22 minutes of daily screen time on their cellphones.” The other 50 percent spend anywhere from an hour to five hours. The horrific use and hours of cellphone usage may prove to “kill” normal thought processes, creative ideas, critical thinking, rational understanding and common sense.

In other words, cellphones and social media addict children and adults to a life of staring into a small screen…with nothing to show for it…nothing gained from it…and, an astounding waste of 40 to 50 hours a week. It ruins workplace productivity. It also degrades interpersonal relationships and one-on-one communication, and community among humans beings.

It’s pretty deadly, too. One of my colleagues crossed Broadway Blvd in Denver while tapping away on his cellphone. He wasn’t looking for traffic. A car ran over him. He now lives in his wheel chair with brain damage that dropped his mind to about a five year old.

As reported on the news (The Middle), a high school teacher suffered when one of her students took a picture of her in class, and then, converted it to AI that rendered her as a nude Playboy model. Then, he circulated it to the entire school. She was devastated! She resigned and may never recover from the trauma. What happened to the student? Nothing. What happened to the teacher? Her life-path drastically and tragically changed for the worse.

While I taught school in the 70’s through the 90’s, students passing notes made for a tiny distraction in my classrooms. Today, those same students in their classrooms watch Netflix movies, play games, watch pornography, and generally pay little attention to their teachers. Thus, they fail to learn math, science, history, writing, chemistry, biology, computer science, art and physical education. Or, they become mediocre students with a mediocre life in front of them.

Another issue surfaces called, “Text Neck”, as reported by chiropractors across the nation. A healthy human being enjoys a “C curve” from his or her 5 cervical vertebra in his or her necks. But when a person spends seven hours a day with his or her head bent down, they destroy the “C curve” by straightening it out. You’ve probably seen old people whose neck forces their heads forward with a straight extension. They’ve lost their “C curve.” It messes with their nerve impulses that direct the body’s functions.

Additionally, when I hit the weight room six days a week, I have to wait for teens tapping on their cellphones while resting on the sitting benchpress, sitting on the lat pull-down, sitting on the sit-up machine, sitting on the curling machine, and sitting on the quad machine. They sit and tap up to 10…even 15 minutes. Once I asked a teen to let me use the benchpress after he had been tapping for 10 minutes. He said, “Dude, I’m between sets…don’t get your pants in a twist.” Not wanting to get really p*ssed off, I just walked away. I don’t care to get into confrontation in the weight room. I’m there to exercise and work my body…not get into a conflict with an addicted cellphone user.

At the same time, I tried to get cellphones banned from the weight room. That didn’t work, either. It’s a different world where etiquette has been replaced by arrogance, and/or self-importance. It’s going to be interesting how it’s all going to work out in the coming years.

As reported, texting while driving caused: “In 2024, distracted driving, including texting while driving, continued to be a significant safety concern in the US, contributing to thousands of deaths and injuries. Approximately 3,000 deaths and over 400,000 injuries were attributed to texting while operating a vehicle.” I actually saw a bus driver texting while driving once in Denver traffic. I reported the bus, the time and plates. They wanted a picture…which I didn’t have because I was driving my motorcycle at the time. Tell me that 3,000 annual deaths and 400,000 injuries don’t add up to another form of “Black Death.”

“In the U.S., there are approximately 372,682,000 cell phones in use, according to World Population Review in 2022. This number represents a significant portion of the population, with a large percentage of Americans owning smartphones. A Pew Research Center report indicates that 98% of Americans own a cellphone of some kind, with 91% of those being smartphones.”

In other words, the Black Brain Death of children and adults in the 21st century may be greater than the Black Death of the 14th century.

When you look at how it’s twisting our young peoples’ minds, will it not change the way they operate in the world? Will they enjoy learning how to think critically? Will they learn reasoning? How will their bodies be healthfully sustained? Will they develop common sense? How will they learn to communicate beyond speaking to an AI girlfriend or boyfriend who isn’t real? What about their physical well-being? What about the mass shootings in schools?

If you read Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, or George Orwell’s 1984, I think young Americans and America are tripping into an entirely new “Black Death” that’s killing our young peoples’ minds. It’s also affecting their bodies with horrific consequences such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease from eating junk foods, no exercise, and mental/emotional problems exploding our teen suicide rates.

At some point, we need to get out in front of the “Black Death” of the 21st century: Cellphones and Social Media.

What are my solutions?

No child needs a cellphone before the age of 18. Make them pay for their own cellphone after age 18.
All cellphones should be banned from high schools. Either check them at the door or don’t bring them to school.
No cell phone use while driving. Make the fine for driving while texting $10,000.00 on first offense, and $20,000.00 on second offense, and loss of license for five years on third offense. If that doesn’t do it, for a 4th offense, loss of license for life.
If parents allow a cellphone, they must buy blockers from pornography sites, from violent movies, from violent apps, and anything that would be detrimental to their children’s minds.

Finally, if parents are too stupid or careless, it’s anyone’s guess as to who their children will kill while texting, or become perverts, or school shooters, or commit some crime they learned from their cellphones.

I’m sure I haven’t covered all the solutions. What other factors did I miss? What are your solutions so that I may write a Part 2 for this series? We, as a society, NEED to address this “Black Mind Death” of the 21st century before it destroys any chance for normalcy, decency and commonality for all Americans.

© 2025 Frosty Wooldridge – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Frosty: [email protected]