The cell phone ad featuring the family with a daughter and a grandma who actually talk like text messages, may not seem so funny in a few more years.
OMG! The shortcuts and symbols that teenagers use in electronic conversations are creeping into their schoolwork!
That’s one of the conclusions of a study released Thursday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the National Commission on Writing, and it’s no surprise to Sacramento teens.
“My drama teacher gets papers that use “b/c” for “because,“ said Katie Talbot, a senior at McClatchy High School in Sacramento. “Sometimes I get text messages and I have no idea what they mean. Why can’t people just use a few more letters and have it make sense? I think writing is very important. I guess my generation is just super-lazy.“
Talbot herself is anything but lazy. She texts and e-mails “pretty much all day,“ she said, but takes pains to use proper language. “I always use full, grammatically correct English,“ she said.»
Teens’ texting symbols invade schoolwork
As do I. Then again, when I send text messages I don’t try to cram a 400-word thesis into 136 characters (spaces included). If I exceed my character allotment, I edit for brevity and clarity, drawing on a wide-ranging vocabulary and a respect for my recipient and for the English language.
Still, even if there were a practical reason for “txt-spk” in SMS text messages—which, given the lack of actual content, there isn’t—kids need to learn where it is and is not appropriate to use slang.
I simply will not take anyone seriously who uses “txt-spk” unironically while typing on a full-size keyboard.
