Negative Influences on Basic Writing Skills

Today’s teenagers grow up in a technological savvy world. Technology benefits teens and their parents in many ways. Learning can be interactive, so it is much more entertaining. Benefits of technology are not limited to the classroom; it is much easier for teens to communicate with their parents.

It is great that teens are on the leading edge of technology, but this is certainly coming at a cost. Today’s teenagers lack basic writing skills, due in large part to technology.

Teens are able to communicate with friends with the click of a few keys on their cellular telephones. As texting requires diligent attention and takes some time, teens started looking for ways to text more efficiently, and they have developed their own lingo that consists of abbreviations and symbols that mean words. For example, a common abbreviation is “brb,” or “be right back.” Click here for a common list of abbreviations that are used in text messaging, instant messaging, and email correspondence.

Such abbreviations allow teenagers to text more efficiently, but such abbreviations have begun appearing in students’ formal writing. Texting, therefore, becomes detrimental to the job that English teachers do. Many students have grown up in a world of technology, and many have grown up in the age of cellular telephones, so this problem is more pervasive with younger students than older students, and as time progresses, it will likely become a major problem.

Well, one actions that teachers can take is to provide students with a list of abbreviations and let students know that these abbreviations are not allowed in student writing. Teachers can tell students that if an common abbreviation is not listed in the dictionary, then such abbreviations are not to appear in student writing. Other teachers might take a different approach and tell students that no abbreviations should appear in student writing, apart from the standard A.M. and P.M. abbreviations. If individual students have a habit of using the ampersand “&” instead of the word “and,” you may want students to practice writing using a list of three items using the word “and,” instead of the ampersand.