Give Me that Cell Phone! Text Messaging and the Classroom

Back in high school, there was a regulation that banned cell phone use by students during school. More than once I saw a mobile be confiscated and never to be seen again until the end of the school year. Why were cell phones in school in the first place, and used daily by students? More often than not it was to text, or "txt" as it is known by the various wireless services, other students rather than pass notes during class or just wait until class was over. To be honest, I miss the days of where a note was passed halfway around the classroom to reach the intended recipient. Even though it was mainly done in middle and high school, it was fun to be part of the chain delivering the message. There was an air of sneakiness and urgency to it, but that has disappeared to the triumph of technology over old methods. With a cell phone discreetly under the desk and in your hand, you can type out a short message and have it instantly sent out to the addressee. Quick, yes, but it can be annoying or distracting for others and troublesome for both the sender and receiver. There would be a return to the good old pen-and-paper message system, not to mention a return to normal language, if cell phones were removed the academic environment, or severely hampered.

Cell phones became popular in the mid nineties, but the features we see today did not come around until just before the turn of the century. The portability of a mobile phone is primarily the reason why almost everyone has a cell phone, and allow anyone to be reached practically anywhere in the world. The advent of services like short messaging service, the official term for text messaging (SMS) further propagated the spread of cell phones. This allows for contact with others without having to speak, and is convenient for communicating short messages to and from people. Younger people especially like this as they can be talking with their friends next to them and talking to friends that are not with them, without being overly rude to the friends that are with them right now. Another reason why text messaging is popular is that parents, who often buy the phone to keep in touch with the teens in the first place, can periodically send messages to check in on how Junior is doing while with his friends. However, text messaging can get very costly without warning. It's not unusual then to have parents (or whoever is paying for the cell phone lines) to restrict text messaging.

One of the biggest concerns over text messaging is the influence it could have on the English language. Due to the impressive number of people that know what text messaging is and knows most of the shorthand, there has been a noticed increase of "txt" lexicon that has trickled into daily conversation, especially written dialogue. One of the most humorous examples of this comes from an online BBC News article: A Scottish girl handed in the following as part of her essay: "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc." The translation? "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/281). This alone would be sufficient evidence for some in the academic English community to argue that text messaging is responsible for the degradation of spoken/written English among younger people such as college and high school students. Others debate that it is fostering a new aspect or dialect of the English language that is appropriate for this age of "instant everything" (instant communication, instant gratification, etc.) I myself see this as a new language as in itself since there seems to be a wide array of new words and symbols that constitute text messaging. Simply look at the combination of letters, punctuation and numbers and you see what I am implying at. Could it be possible instead of writing "Honey, went to the grocery store to get milk" will turn into something like "huny wnt 2 foodstore 2 get mlk"? What will become of common handwritten language exactly? Personally, the discordance of numbers, letters, and punctuation bother me and don't make for smooth reading, as I feel like I am translating another language while trying to read. There happens to be apprehension over how text lingo is affecting schoolwork, work memos, and other places where professional communication should be conducted.

Another effect of text messaging comes right home in the academic environment with the topic of cheating with technology. More than once students have been caught with phones that had inboxes full of test answers and questions. Since many school administrators fear this situation, it is why many cell phones have been banned or restricted from many schools. This is understandable and not at all overreacting in order to curb cheating. In fact, when students often take standardized testing, such as the SAT or ACT, they must give their cell phones to the proctor before taking the test and retrieve them afterwards. It may seem a bit Draconian in this technological age, but unfortunately warranted. Since coming to college, I have seen more prevalent use of cell phones in class than anywhere else, with the exception of weekend parties. Most of it has been for keeping in touch with that significant other or making plans for the evening, but I myself have seen answers or text questions being sent from a test-taker's mobile. Surprisingly, many professors don't seem to have any policies on their syllabi regarding cell phones, and this is a change for me since I came from a school environment with practically no phones allowed. I am willing to bet that many freshmen are pleasantly surprised with this absence of this restriction and subsequently go wild and communicate wirelessly with friends outside of class while ignoring the teacher inside of class. What's more sinister is that some of these freshmen realize that they can collaborate and cheat off tests using a system of people and mobile phones. Many teachers are oblivious to the frenzy of finger mashing on keypads every time they turn their back to the class. I do admit however some professors are smart enough to request that phones be turned off for the class period. Another way to curb cheating is imagining the cost of "texting" a 100 question test with answers. Not cheap, this could discourage cheating with mobile phones. It wouldn't matter if you had unlimited text messaging, but it would curtail some would-be cheaters and make them think twice. If cheating persists, then it would return to the old fashioned methods of writing on your body or smuggling slips of paper into class the day of the test at least.

The advent of the cell phone has changed much in our world, and that includes the way we communicate. In schools and with the younger generation they can instantly talk or write to friends, without too much worry of getting a note caught in class and read aloud (the horror!). Gone are the days of passing notes, writing on hands, and simply waiting until after class for the hot gossip. Now there is instant messaging which has seems to cut down communication between all of us, as we are concentrated with talking to people over the phone and through a tiny screen rather than with each other. With cell phones becoming more prevalent than ever, it is no surprise to see them in class and everywhere in on campus. Text messaging has become both a boon and a bother to people, but more of an annoyance to the academic environment. Of course text messaging however is now vital to cell phone service and just may create a lasting impact our English language :-) .