Texting and walking has become quite the habit recently. Just walking around campus, there’s a good chance you are going to see at least one person doing it, if not more.

With so many students walking and texting, there are bound to be opinions on the matter.

“If you’re going to do it, be good at it, don’t walk and text and run into people because it’s rude and disrespectful,” said Anthony Payne, a freshman here at Sacramento State.

Payne said he saw a student who was texting run right into another student because he just kept his head down.

“It was pretty funny,” said Payne.

While it may have been funny, this brings up the concern of safety.

“It’s actually kind of dangerous; I do it all the time,” said Ryan Davis, a senior liberal studies major.

Davis went on to explain that students walking and texting are not as aware of all the bicyclists and skateboarders that pass by. Even though Davis acknowledges that it is a safety hazard, she still does it, but not knowingly.

“I don’t do it consciously, I do it subconsciously… it’s there so I use it,” said Davis.

In fact, most of the students I interviewed said it was more of a habit and involved little conscious thought.

But while this explains how students can easily pull their phones out and start texting, it does not explain why.

Bryan Camuso, a senior finance and accounting major, said he thinks relationships play a large role in why people walk and text because people want to keep in touch with friends and family. In his case, his wife sends him pictures of their daughter since he is at school most of the day.

Jorge De La Cruz, a student at Sac State, runs a company and is also a leader in an organization.

“I need to be in constant communication with a lot of people,” said De La Cruz.

Because he uses his phone so frequently, he carries his charger with him.

Both of these instances involved a need for communication, either for personal or business reasons.

“It is something that has become an everyday necessity for a lot of people,” said De La Cruz.

With the ability to instantly communicate with anyone at a moment’s notice, as easy as it is, it does not look like this habit will be going away anytime soon.

William Miles can be reached at [email protected]