April 12, 2018 867-5309/JENNY

Cell phones in school. I get the THEORY--CELL PHONES ENHANCE LEARNING. Now the  REALITY --CELL PHONES INTERRUPT LEARNING.  Teens are SOO DISTRACTED--by those--STUPID PHONES that they WASTE--1/3 of their day or 9 HOURS on INSTAGRAM--SNAPCHAT--GAMES--TWITTER--MUSIC--VIDEOS. Imagine what they could accomplish in those 9 hours????  Imagine what would happen if they actually paid attention in class?? Did you know that 50% of teens today claim to be ADDICTED to their phones and 56% of PARENTS KNOW THAT THEIR KIDS ARE ADDICTED.  Teens actually report that they become anxiety ridden without them while 78%  check their phones at least ONCE an hour for notifications or whatever. CRAZY.  It's a serious problem that makes me wonder WHERE WE'RE GOING AS A SOCIETY. I fear it's in the WRONG DIRECTION.

 A cell phone certainly didn't help the main character in Ruth Ware's psychological thriller The Woman in Cabin 10 because she had NO service. Lo Blacklock is a journalist for a travel magazine who just got the opportunity of a lifetime. She's been assigned to the Aurora--a luxury cruise ship with 10 cabins on a voyage to the North Sea.  The Aurora is all the pamphlet claims--magnificent dinners, parties, cabins--along with interesting guests including Lo's ex-boyfriend, a fellow journalist named Ben. One night after too many drinks, Lo  thinks she see's a woman being thrown off the balcony of Cabin 10. She brings her concerns to captain but all the passengers and crew members are accounted for the next day.  The ship continues its journey but Lo isn't convinced. Instead, she digs for evidence because she believes someone has been murdered. Did Lo really see someone murdered? Who is the woman in cabin 10? Find out for yourself when you read this book  that is full of twists, turns and suspense. I actually really liked the ending of this book. It's about a 340 page book--3.5 mile run--that you will not be able to put down.