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How many texts do you think you send? “The number of texts being sent is on the rise, especially among teenagers age 13 to 17. According to Nielsen, the average teenager now sends 3,339 texts per month. There's more, though: teen females send an incredible 4,050 texts per month, while teen males send an average of 2,539 texts. Teens are sending 8% more texts than they were this time last year” (Parr).
       
                 Students are communicating by social media and text messaging in ways we have never seen before. Due to this new trend our classrooms are beginning to be affected. Most instances can be found creeping into the high school classrooms. "64% of teens admitted to using techspeak in their classroom writing assignments" (Knapp).  Slang terms such as IDK (I don’t know) or BTW (by the way) are popping up in formal writing. It has become common to see it at least once a day in a student’s assignment. Due to this the teachers are beginning to become concerned for their students learning when it comes to these grammatical errors.  It seems like texting codes and using slang in papers is a bad habit a student may have and there is much evidence to prove that students’ academic knowledge is taking a toll due to this. The communication skill is far worse than any other time period before, we would rather use texting or social media to communicate rather than being face to face. Text messaging and social media is being used continuously is creating an issue by forcing teachers to be concern for student corruption, dramatically decreasing student’s academic level, and communication skills with others.

             Firstly, teachers are very concerned on the student’s behalf. They believe the student’s do not even realize they are using texting language on their assignments. “It’s acceptable because it’s in their culture. It’s hard enough to teach them the arm of formal writing. Now we’ve got to overcome this new instant messaging language”(Lee).  Younger teachers that are just now beginning to teach believe it is okay to use LOL and other forms of text slang in formal writing. They have faith that as long as students are writing  it is okay and they will learn accordingly.  I personally believe slang should not be placed in formal writing and it is not okay.  The longer students are able to write this way the hard it will be for them to correct their grammar once their schooling has ended. The more experienced teachers look at the texting language and say what in the world is this? Students spend more time texting than they do in the classroom and even sometimes in the classrooms students are texting. As a result this can force teachers to really crack down on their students to not use slang while in formal writing. Teachers have every right to be concerned when students use text slang in formal writings it can greatly harm them later on down the road.

            Furthermore, the student’s academic level is dramatically decreasing. More than ever before on the assignments students turn in all you see is red marks or circles all over the paper. Although the teachers continue to point there informal writing of text slang out students will continue turning in the same abbreviations they where just advised not to do in there formal writings. “It stops being funny after you repeat yourself a couple of times"(Lee). Why is it that students can not break the trend? In my personal opinion I believe it is due to the fact that texting has become such a huge influence in our lives. We are using this form of writing far more than we use formal writing just because the amount of time students spend texting or on social media. Just like the picture points out on the left, as text-speak use increased scores on grammar assessments test decreases(Kharbach). Students do not put much thought into the way their writing have been submitted because the text slang is much more common to them than the formal writing. When a student is reading over their work it is a habit to just know what the abbreviation is saying and they quickly glance over it not even realizing it is an issue. Many of these examples can be found in this YouTube video done by CBS6 News.  http://youtu.be/Zuc6RJXEyec The more text slang becomes involved in students school work the greater likely hood they will score will continue to decrease on grammar assignments. 

             Lastly, as a whole communication has taken a major toll due to the increase of texting, social media, and other forms of none face to face interaction. "It's been said that 93% of communication is non-verbal. Written internet communication removed the use of hand gestures, facial expressions, volume, pitch, and intonation. This is where emoticons step in, allowing online conversation to become easier, more effective, and more natural. The other issue is speed. Even if you are a fast typist, it's likely that you can speak faster than you can type. Internet acronyms like LOL, BRB, and TTYL, as well as other kinds of internet slang and shorthand, make it easier to have rapid-fire conversations while typing" (Fanelli). This form of communication has many affects on us from not being able to understand the full meaning of what someone is trying to say to  the fact that we can now talk to someone without every having a intimate face to face conversation. It is crazy to think about how much communication we do by texting. Just like the picture on the left states we sent 8 trillion text messages in 2011, that is over 15 million per minute. Which is insane to think that number rises every year. Think about how much are communication has already been affected. I can not imagine what a years down the road will look like. Communication has been and will be greatly effected by by texting, social media, and other forms of  none face to face interactions. 

           In my final analysis, it is proven that on average we send thousands of text messages a month, and that number will continue to rise. Texting and social media are playing a role in our students lives like we have never before witnessed. Texting has affected every part of our lives and is even beginning to leak into our school systems. Text slang has put teachers on the edge and looking for answers to fix this issue. Students academic success is decreasing due to the text slang used in formal writings. Lastly, one of the great effect texting and social media have had is on communication and this will likely continue to decrease. Teacher concern, academics suffering, and communication hardships are all a result of the great increase of texting and social media in our society. 

                                                           




                                                                        Works cited

CBS6 Albany, "Language of Texting Entering English Class." Youtube. 26 Feb. 2013 Web. 5 Mar. 2014

Fanelli, Tom. "The Evolution of Human Communication in a Post-Digital Age: Emoticons, Internet Slang, and Texting." Internet Marketing. 10 Feb. 2013 Web. 5 Mar. 2014

Knapp, Andrew. "Does Texting Hurts Your Grammar." OnlineCollege.org. 29 May 2013. Web. 5 Mar. 2014

Kharbach, Med. "The Effects of Texting on Your Grammar" Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

Lee, Jennifer S. "I Think, Therefore IM" New York Times. 19 Sept. 2002

Parr, Ben. “The Average Text Teenagers Send 3339 Texts Per Month(STATS).” Mashable.        
               14 Oct. 2010. Web. 5 Mar. 2014

Raj, T.V. Antony. "“The Chaos” by Charivarius (Gerard Nolst Trenité): The Classic Concordance of Cacography"  Tag Archives:Communication. 11 Sept. 2013 Web 5 Mar. 2014