National Cell Phone Courtesy Month
Bone up on cell phone etiquette and do your part to make our society less annoying. Keep your volume down, don’t use speakerphone in public, and be self-aware.
Position your brand as a champion of workplace mindfulness and digital wellness by promoting cell phone-free zones and respectful communication practices during July.
- 'Digital Detox Challenge': Encourage teams to establish phone-free meeting hours and share wellness wins
- Etiquette guide: Best practices for professional communication in an always-connected world
- Workplace wellness: How cell phone courtesy boosts productivity and team morale
- Statistics-driven content: Highlight smartphone addiction trends and solutions for better focus
National Cell Phone Courtesy Month can trace its beginnings back to 2002, when the day was founded by Jacqueline Whitmore, who is a manners expert from Palm Beach, Florida. In fact, just four years earlier, Whitmore had founded her own etiquette school and she was beginning to include some of the issues related to cell phone use in her curriculum.
Back in the early 2000s, mobile phones were just beginning to become a regular occurrence for people but, even up until the mid-late 1990s, they were often relegated to use inside of vehicles. But in the dawn of the new millennium, the number of cell phones appearing in public began to grow exponentially.
The problem was that folks had never really been taught etiquette of what was expected and how to use them courteously. Of course, this was during the time of talking, before texting really caught on and certainly before smart phones allowed for all sorts of other uses for the phone.
National Cell Phone Courtesy Month was established to help educate people on how to be aware of their surroundings and adjust their conversations with this in mind!
Establish a Cell Phone Free Zone
At work, at school and even at home, it might be a good idea to make the world a slightly better place by building boundaries around where cell phones may be used during National Cell Phone Courtesy Month. This allows people to be much more present in the place where they are, and encourages better cell phone manners. Get family members, coworkers or colleagues on board with the idea by hosting a conversation about the topic and coming up with ideas to create cell-free spaces. Perhaps they’ll want to continue the project even after the month is over! Learn Some Statistics About Cell Phone UsageDifferent people have different ideas about where, when and how cell phone usage is appropriate. Consider some of these statistics that have come from various surveys regarding cell phone use: As of 2022, 85% of adults in the United States own a smartphone and there are more than 6.5 billion smartphone users all over the world.On average, an American will check their cell phone more than 300 times per day! Up to 47% of Americans would say that they are “addicted” to their cell phones and 74% feel uneasy if they leave their cell phone at home.
Apply Some Cell Phone Courtesy Tips
Celebrate National Cell Phone Courtesy Month by following these tips for cell phone etiquette: When you are in a meeting, don’t check your phone constantly for texts and emails. Concentrate on the people you are with.Set your cell phone to silent or vibrate when in a courtroom, theater, or place of worship.Don’t embarrass yourself; if you need to make a call which you know is going to get intense and emotional, save it for when you are somewhere private. The rest of the world doesn’t need to know about your relationship issues!Finally, check your personal volume control. It’s all too easy to start yelling into your cell phone. Everyone in your vicinity will appreciate your good manners in avoiding “cell yell”!