Stop Phubbing!

I am not sure if you have come across this word “Phubbing”. But this is such a serious issue in our present age where almost all have been impacted by the same. In fact, it is the result of a major breakdown of etiquette and ethics of all time. Let’s see, what this word means? According to Cambridge Dictionary it means, “the act of ignoring someone you are with and giving attention to your mobile phone instead.”. Researchers have found almost half of relationships are affected by phubbing.

Phubbing was first coined as a term in May 2012. An Australian advertising agency created this word to describe the growing phenomenon of people ignoring their friends and family who were right in front of them and instead scrolling through their phones. Soon after, the “Stop Phubbing” campaign was launched. One study found that more than 17 percent of people phub at least four times a day. Almost 32 percent of people being phubbed two to three times a day. Phubbing and smartphone use also can have an impact on marriages. A study found that spouses who phub each other experience higher rate of depression.

What’s the driving force behind those feelings? Phubbing is a threat to four “fundamental needs,” the study Trusted Source found. Those core needs are:

• belongingness
• self-esteem
• meaningful existence
• control

When someone phubs you, you may feel rejected, excluded, and not important. That can have a significant impact on your mental health. Research also shows that people who are phubbed are more likely to reach for their phones and try to engage with their social media network in order to fill that void. This is the start of a vicious cycle.

We seriously have lost our basic decency. Man’s egocentric nature is growing day by day. We care no more of how others feel while we exhibit such behaviour, as long as it satisfies us. The problem with ethics, etiquette, creed, and religion is that they don’t speak to each other and operate in boxes of their own. If ethics, creed and religion is not impacting our etiquette i.e., our mannerism, then they are questionable.

The Bible lays a principle which says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.”.  You may ask, “this sounds great, but is it that easy to follow?” It is possible if you are impacted by the life of Jesus who was not just a great moral teacher and a spiritual guru, but He is God Himself who resurrected from the grave and lives. All who met Him while He was in body were healed from all diseases, raised from dead and many lives transformed too. In one incident the guards were commanded to arrest Jesus. Returning without arresting Him they make a sweeping statement, “No man spoke like this man”. When you follow Jesus the God of universe, your life is transformed with love and respect for one another.  You become kind, compassionate and honest in all your dealings.  Most importantly our lives would reflect the nature of a true God.  

 

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