If you take a look around NYU’s campus on any given day, the flood of students glued to their phones is overwhelming. This trend has been confirmed on many college campuses, most recently at the University of Pennsylvania. The vice president of public safety, Maureen S. Rush, said, “We’re seeing people totally unaware of their surroundings, walking around streets with ear buds … their face totally in a different zone.”

The effects of this trend are not to be taken lightly. Rush noted that the University of Pennsylvania hospital “has seen many a broken ankle because of people not realizing they’re walking off the curb.”

A recent study released in August 2013 by Safe Kids Worldwide echoes the concern that young people have become distracted. The study shows that one in five high school students and one in eight middle school students were found to be crossing the street while distracted.

Of the 34,000 teens, 39 percent of distracted walkers were engaging in texting, 39 percent were wearing headphones, 20 percent were talking on the phone and 2 percent were playing games on their devices.

The statistics from this study are daunting, as they show the degree to which young people are distracted. This distraction might be used as an explanation for the increase in injuries at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ironically, it is these very devices designed to keep us connected and increase our awareness that are distracting us from our potentially dangerous surroundings. We are losing an important facet of life that technology has no way of repairing — our common sense. The idea of looking both ways before crossing the street has become a secondary concern for young people, less important than looking down at the text messages or games on your phone.

It is highly unfortunate that broken ankles and overall unawareness are the side effects of technological advances. Yet it is more regrettable that that these issues are not sufficiently addressed. We warn against texting and driving and have taken severe legal action in 41 states to tackle distracted drivers. But these same strict standard should be applied to walking while texting.

This is a serious issue and should be tackled with the introduction of state laws. This may seem to be an extreme step, but it would certainly ensure that more eyes would be on the streets, rather than on our devices.

For now, the best thing we can do is raise awareness. It should be discussed in the household, in schools, among loved ones and transmitted to police personnel. Only then can awareness spread and legal action be implemented.

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Oct. 1 print edition. Brittany Sherman is a staff columnist. Email her at [email protected].