Texting Argument

This is an essay I wrote for AP Lang, works cited included :)

As texting becomes increasingly popular, laziness concerning proper language use bleeds into academic papers and conversations. An estimated 71% of children aged 12-17 own cell phones in the United States. Cell phone use is now engrained into youth culture, and is harming language development and communication. If texting was reduced among children and teens, standard grammar rules could replace negligent slang and shorthand.

Texting has become, in a way, a hybrid language, yet it hinders effective communication through writing outside handheld devices. A national study by the College Board reveals that "64 percent of teens admit 'Textlish' seeps into their writing at school" ("the revenge..." 1). The boundary between conventional language and cell phone jargon is becoming blurred thanks to technology- abbreviation is the very sum and substance of texting. "An ever increasing number of people are spending more hours per day using written- that is, keyboard- language rather than spoken language"(Roger Fischer qtd in Sutherland 2). Students are finding that cropping their words is becoming routine. They catch themselves (or, more frequently, accidentally let their teachers catch them), "writing 'u' instead of you"(Jokinen 1). Compressing words has become the norm for some students, who subconsciously view texting as a composite dialect. Simplified vocabulary, punctuation issues, and continual rambling assemble together to create such a language, one so much more elementary and effortless that students prefer it to the proper English language. Linguistic ability is moving towards shorthand only. Abbreviations such as "lol", "C U l8r", and the like are included in the long list of textisms teachers are seeing in academic assignments. "Rethinking what they wrote and having to write second or third drafts is beyond all but a handful. In fact, texting...hardly translates into good writing"(Welsh 2). Only "54% of children ages 10-11 with cell phones in the United Kingdom"(Allison 2) reach the required writing level, a scarily low percentage. Writing has "filtered down, and while students are still communicating...it's a completely different venue"(Jokinen 1). Texting is hurting their potential to write stellar papers, and ultimately to communicate effectively. Conveyance is only possible through correctness, and due to the abbreviations associated with texting, students are no longer sticklers for grammar.

Not only has texting taken over students' writing abilities, but over their mindsets as well. Pupils who text during class justify it with the "anxiety of disconnection"(Welsh 2), that they need to send "more than 200 texts over the course of a day"(Welsh 2) or the will feel concealed from the rest of the student population. Students say they experience "darkness, seclusion, [and] isolation" when their phones are taken away by teachers. However, the teachers make the right move confiscating cell phones- teens are at fault for disrupting their own learning, for their wits are only focused on who will text them next, and how quickly. Adolescents are living in "an institutionalized culture of interruption and attention is being fragmented by a never-ending stream of phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and tweets"(Maggie Jackson qtd in Welsh 2). Student priorities are out of whack, if learning comes second to their cell phones. They will "shy away from challenges"(Welsh 3) and will not concentrate on their education. An escalating number of students are relieved to find that texting will mask their near illiteracy, as a forgiving system. Poor spelling and capitalization do not matter in the texting world, and transferring such a mindset into the world of academics is their abysmal choice, and it hurts their learning.
Texting is even becoming a part of education itself, the part of society it should not even come close to touching. "Mobile phone use is now so much a part of youth culture that it has been incorporated into some education material, with summaries of classics such as Shakespeare plays sent to pupils' mobiles in text format"(Frean, 1). The truth is, classics are no longer classics if they are read on a cell phone- how can a student obtain some meaning from Romeo and Juliet if they are anxiously opening a text message while reading it? What's more is that pupils are actually writing less and less. They "can't imagine writing letters anymore"(Jokinen 2), and are taught how to type on schools, which has ultimately prepared current teens for the sudden explosion in texting's popularity. However, for young individuals who are still in the process of learning basic grammar, this could be taxing. Texting and keyboarding undermine their ability to learn. "One of the great ironies of the high-tech revolution is that devices meant to facilitate education are actually helping to destroy it"(Welsh 2). If young students are taught to type rather than write from the get -go, they won't know any other learning method besides the computer. If forms of texting continues to seep deeper into the education system, our society will become completely technologically dependent, when really, such innovations should be assisting us.
Furthermore, such technology veils not only writing and communication, but penmanship in general. "With the increasing popularity in electronic communication, some note a decline in the quality of penmanship similar to that brought on by the advent of printing. And when handwriting does exist, it tends to be a mixture of cursive and printing because the distinction between the two has been eroded as standards in handwriting instruction has declined"(Joiknen 1). Due to the reduction in instruction for proper handwriting, and the intensification of computer-related studies, penmanship, especially in young students, is suffering greatly. Students just use one simple font as they text, without worrying how torefine their script. Teachers no longer see "excitement in pupils learning cursive"(Joiknen 1) now that they do less and less practice with it. Previous generations were taught to perfect their handwriting for job applications and careers in general. Now, with the convenience of the internet, a student could apply at a company online, perhaps from their phone, much faster. Employers and teachers are not so much interested in the details within quality anymore, so students take advantage of texting, and handwriting must suffer.

Texting leads to another epidemic in the academic world as well: the fact that it cloaks student carelessness. While typing away, pupils access a spell-checker, and pay no mind to improper grammar. "[Texting] masks dyslexia, poor spelling, and mental laziness"(Sutherland 2). Cell phones allow students to communicate easily and efficiently, but without gaining any knowledge from it. If proper language has developed so much, the progress should not be thrown into reverse- teens should continue expanding their mastery over vocabulary and spelling, without the assistance of something that can do it all for them. “Texting is penmanship for illiterates” (Sutherland 2). Capitalization is not vital to text someone five feet away, so it generally isn't used. Students have the "expectation that [someone] will immediately respond to"(Welsh 2) their message, so they don't bother to include linguistic factors. Perhaps all too frequent texters will learn too spell certain words correctly, but texts will never be engrained on the mind- only writing and orating can successfully do that.

Sadly, texting someone five feet away has indeed become the norm. Teens become distant from their friends when they send ever impersonal messages to each other, when they are often in the same room. Face-to-face communication and relationships in general are being destroyed not necessarily because of the texts themselves, but as a result of people being ignored “by friends texting instead of talking”(Jokinen 2). Romantic relationships are sometimes ended by text, which just adds to the lack of couth in teens and adults who have forgotten how to communicate candidly and effectively.

Some regard texting as a positive tool concerning kinships and the grammar of frequent texters. Claims include “texting can increase children’s phonetic awareness and linguistic creativity” (Frean 1). Researchers go as far to say that “there is no evidence to link text messaging among children to a poorer ability in Standard English” (Frean 1). But isn’t there? Most studies warn that “writing text messages could hurt a writer’s command of [language]” (“the revenge” 1). Shorthand promotes carelessness and mistakes. Thus, the argument that slang could improve quality of writing is invalid.

Improvement in student academics is only possible if phones are put away, and pencils are taken out. Texting is, simply, a threat to society’s progress and intelligent. Linguistics of the English language is being replaced by slapdash slang, and this is carrying over into writing and conversation. Youth lifestyle is defined by texting, a definition that should be removed immediately.