Essay On The Effects Of Texting On Teen Literacy

What are the some of the effects that texting is having on the teen literacy? Text messaging has increased in popularity ever since the very first text message that was sent in the year of 1933 by a student who was working for the Nokia Corporation (Druoin and Davis 49). Centre of Science Education at Sheffield University discovered that more than ninety percent of the youth have cell phones and ninety-six percent of them use them to text. (Plester, Wood, Bell 137). The establishment of cell phones and texting has made a huge encounter on the way people communicate. Most people use their cell phones to text more than they do to make phone calls. Teenagers have observed that an average teenager sends a hundred textsin a day and 3,033 in s month. (Cingel and Sundar 310). Teens have the highest numbers of sent texts and the number is rapidly going up. Studies have shown that this form of communication is destroying the way people read,
write, and think. In this research, I have surveyed numerous of college freshman’s, high school students, and a high school English teacher to see how texting have affected teen literacy.
A link is proposed between literacy and texting because texting uses abbreviation, which depends on phonological awareness (Plester, Wood, Bell 138). I asked tons of students if they used abbreviations in their papers, and sixty percent of the students said yes. One of the students that I surveyed said that she got so used to texting with abbreviations that it had become a big habit (Falls, Mikaya). Abbreviations such as “2nite” for tonight are known occurrences in this abbreviated language. Some of the common textisms are usually words such as “lol” for laugh out loud and “omg” which means oh my gosh. The abbreviated characteristics of text messaging are making teens lazy, because they do not use proper grammar and spelling. One of my survey questions was, how often have you failed to use proper capitalization, spelling, and punctuation in assignments? Eighty percent of the students said that they used incorrect spelling, punctuation, and capitalization in their papers majority of the time. A high school student said that because he texts so much, he barely notices the mistakes that creep up on his papers (Poplar, Kentario). A college freshman said that she do not even realize anything is wrong with her paper and her capability to separate formal and informal English decreased the more she texted (Smith, Tyra). A college freshman stated that she used incorrect spelling and grammar, but she broke out of it once she got to college. She said that informal writing made her feel like she was uneducated once she got to college (Anonymous). A high school student said that he have used so many shortcuts when it comes to spelling words in texts that he actually have forgot how to spell certain words (Cheirs, Denzel). Teenagers write the way that they would text because it is permanently stored in their brain. I also asked the students did they think texting was a big distraction in the classrooms. Fifty-percent of the students said that it was. A high school student said that she sneaks on her phone to text and barely listen to the teacher lectures. She also said that she believes she would perform better in her classes if she actually absorbed the information (Roberts, Ragon). A college freshman said that she does not think it is a distraction because she knows how to multitask. I asked her what was the highest grade she got on a paper, and she said a seventy-five. I asked her did she think she could do better on her papers if she stopped texting and she responded with a simple no (Anonymous). I was actually shocked that she said that because I felt that she could have improved on her writing skills if she actually payed attention in class more. A freshman said that one time she went to class and texted the whole class period. She said that she was so busy texting that when she actually stopped it was time to leave class. Statistics have shown that texting have the potential to keep students from learning in the classrooms, which also effects teen literacy. I also asked the students how often they have used emoticons in their papers. Only 20-percent of the students said they did. A high school student said that she used an emoji in her paper and the teacher counted off for it. She also said that felt like she should be able to use them in her paper and she did not feel like anything was wrong with it (Murphuy,Cordaja). All of the college freshman’s said that they have not used any emoticons in their paper.
I also surveyed my high school English teacher, and asked her did she think texting was affecting teen literacy. She said that students have problems seeing the difference between formal and informal writing. She said students turn in papers all the time with informal writing, and they are hurting their grades. She also said that it has been proven that students who text a lot scores lower on literacy tests than people who barely texts. Ms. Yopp said that she could tell informal writing was hurting a lot of kids writing abilities. She said that it was going to hurt a lot of people down the road. She said students are going to try to get jobs, and no one is going to hire them because they do not use formal writing. She said students tend to write how they would text. She also said that texting have made students forget what they have learned over the years, and it is not ok for students to use informal writing in essays.(Yopp, Cindy). Sixty percent of students said that text messaging is a bad effect on teenager’s literacy. The other forty percent said that they did not think so. A high school student said that she did not believe it was a bad effect because everyone should know the difference between informal and formal writing. She basically said that it was common sense (Hill, Jaelyn). A college freshman said that she believe it was effecting teen literacy because students have been brainwashed to believe that informal writing was actually the right way to write (Anonymous).
Texting has become an everyday task for young adults, and the use of textism is starting to become accepted among our generation. There have been many recommendations that from sources that texting might have a negative effect on teen literacy skills. I think that the problem is that students need to perceive between times when they need to write formal without textisms and times when they are writing informal and textism is acceptable. Facts have shown that students write informal papers because their brain have got so used to seeing it all the time. I, personally, think that texting have an impact on teen literacy. Sometimes, when I do assignments, I forget that I am actually doing school work, and not texting. I know plenty of times when I have used abbreviation in assignments, and thought it was ok. I was so used to using shortcuts that it slipped up on me when I was doing assignments. I can recall plenty of times that I received a lower grade on an assignment because of misspelled words, incomplete sentences and abbreviations. I can also say that texting have been a big distraction for me. I get so caught up in texting that I block out what the teacher is saying, and focus more on my texts. I can see numerous of ways that texting have had an impact on teen literacy. There are a lot of effects that informal writing is having on a teen literacy.
I surveyed numerous of students and got a lot of feedback and knowledge on high school and college freshman students. Most of the students said that informal writing have creeped up on them plenty of times. After doing research, I think that we can all agree that text messaging have made us forget some of our learning skills that we have been taught over the years. I have gained a lot of knowledge on how text messaging affects the literacy of teens. Some people would say that it is common sense not to use informal writing in papers, while other people say that if a person constantly uses informal writing it can become a habit. A lot of people that I surveyed said that informal writing have made them seen as if they were uneducated and not intelligent. Before doing any research, I would have said that I did not think that texting has affected teen literacy. After doing my research, I must say that informal writing has had a huge impact on teen
literacy.