Teen Texting

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Teen Texting
Technology is always growing and changing and in the 1990’s, texting became the new phenomenon. Texting is the ability to send a brief message from one cell phone to another. It has allowed people to be more efficient and independent. Teenagers can know immediately if there is a problem, or simply and quickly send a text to let someone know they will be late. Over the years, texting has grown in popularity and is now one of the main forms of communication for teenagers. However, this form of communication has resulted in long lasting, negative social behaviors for some teenagers.
The number one social behavior that texting has affected is face to face communication. Some teenagers struggle with the ability of effectively communicating with peers and especially adults when they are talking in person (McWhorter). It is much easier for them to express their feelings over text. Because of the frequency of texting, teenagers tend to be more comfortable communicating with their fingers than with their mouths. For many, texting is easier than talking face to face because of the fear of what the other person’s response may be. For example, if a teenager becomes upset while texting it is easy to hide their emotions, but when they are face to face it becomes nearly impossible to do so. In an article for global post, Sheryl Faber agrees with this fact by saying, “The flat language of texts has removed the one-on-one, in-depth talks filled with feeling or emotion”. This impersonal form of conversation leads to miscommunication between teens and their peers.
A problem that has also been found with those who text often, struggle in formal settings. Many employers believe the young generation of employees struggle with job intervie...

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...chool and also for the rest of their lives. They cannot talk on the phone comfortably because they are unpracticed in this. All of these effects from texting are having a significant negative impact on teenager’s lives.

Works Cited

Blanchard, Jayne. "How Has Texting Affected the Social Lives of Teens?"LIVESTRONG.COM. Livestrong Foundation, 16 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.

De Valenzuela, Julia Scherba. "Definitions of Literacy." Definitions of Literacy. N.p., 30 July 2002. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

McWhorter, John. "Ideas." Ideas Is Texting Killing the English Language. N.p., 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

Morone, Lindsay. "News." TODAY'S TMJ4. N.p., 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

Villines, Zawn. "How Texting Changes Communication." GoodTherapyorg Therapy Blog How Texting Changes Communication Comments. N.p., 26 July 2012. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.

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