The Internet Made You Stupid

I am now officially a student of communication sciences. This semester I am taking Language development 0-8 years and though I am only two days into the semester, I've started to fear for language development of younger generations. After coming across this link, which was intended to be humorous, it hit me that these kids are serious. In recent a correspondence with my 13-year-old cousin via facebook, I found that she replaces g's with q's because "it looks cooler." The thought of this threw me into a research frenzy; I spent hours trying to find a decent source that detailed the effects of "e-communication" on the development of reading and writing skills. Apparently I am not alone in my concern. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, suggested that electronic communication might be damaging "the basic unit of human thought- the sentence" (Writing, Technology and Teens, summary of findings) The best source I found regarding this subject was a 70 page study done by the Pew internet and American Life Project in cooperation with the National Commission on Writing. Though the study was full of excellent information, it was not quite what I was looking for. We may have a sequel to this piece, if my additional research goes well.

I suppose, although it may seem obvious, I should note that I am an advocate of technological advances. I believe having a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips has improved my pursuit information and improved my quality of life. After all, I can spend my afternoons knee-deep in my idea of exciting research, or at any hour of the day or night, in the privacy of my own home and that is how I bring you all of this fantastic content! With that said, I trust that you will understand that I am in no way criticizing technology nor am I discrediting its contributions to society.

In the article OMG! TXT TLK BL33ding In2 Teenz Forml Riting, Walaika Haskins of TechNewsWorld mentions that the bleeding of informal electronic communication into academic writing is nothing new. For decades educators have struggled to teach young children and teenagers that slang is not acceptable in formal writing. In many cases it was the educators who lost the battle. As language has evolved, slang has been integrated as an acceptable part of common and even formal writing. This evolution of language is particularly obvious when you compare the classic American novels of decades past to the modern novels of today. Will integration of emoticons and "internet speak" into formal language ever be acceptable? With "Google" receiving nearly official status as a verb, I can only expect the worst and brace myself. As someone who has great appreciation for language and literature, the thought is appalling. I understand that language and writing evolves just like technology, but have we not butchered our language sufficiently? Would we not be stripping written English of the last bit of eloquence that remains? If the youth of today have difficulty comprehending Shakespeare, imagine the difficulty that people of our parents' generations, or even our generation, might endure trying to decipher a "modern" novel written by LOL cats 20 years from now! Maybe that's an exaggeration, but when I think about the novels of the future I think, "all your punctuations r belong 2 me."

It may not evolve in such a dramatic manner. After all, employers still put a lot of value on those who express themselves articulately in writing and punctuate accordingly. I am of Generation Y and I would never employ anyone who did so much as use one "lol", "ttyl" or ":)", in their correspondence with me. This goes to show that proper grammar, spelling and punctuation still holds some merit. Even the teenagers and parents that were surveyed in the study conducted by Pew Internet, placed a great deal of importance on writing. The majority of parents believe that writing is even more important today than it was when they were in school. I find it interesting that despite the noteworthiness of the art of writing, so little is being done to preserve it!

The results of the research study that I have read and re-read implies that teenagers are able to make the distinction between the language they use in their electronic communication and that of their formal writing assignments. Judging by the 50% of teens who say they sometimes use informal writing styles instead of proper capitalization and punctuation in their school assignments, the ability to distinguish between one form of communication and the other does not mean that they do not develop bad habits. We are being reactive. Kids are using the internet before they can write proficiently. They do not make the distinction between what they read and write on the internet and what they learn in school as well as they think they do. Unfortunately, their integration of "internet speak" is not corrected until high school. This reactive rather than proactive approach leaves college professors shaking their heads. According to Writing, Technology and Teens, "administrators and writing counselors at four-year public colleges and universities uncovered widespread concern that students at these institutions are failing to produce good writing defined by clarity, accuracy and logical thinking" (1).

There is such a disconnect between much of what has been researched and what I have observed. I am certain much more effort was put into the research than my petty observations, but I can't help but wonder. I found some of the research to be contradictory. For example the large group of teenagers surveyed seem to think that they are able to distinguish between the way they write when they are using technology and the way they write academically. However, the researchers conducting the study found that the teenagers have trouble recognizing that they are even using technology to begin with. It's difficult for many of us to imagine, but these kids do not remember life before the internet, mobile phones and mp3 players. How can they distinguish their informal e-communications from their academia, if they are hardly aware that they are communicating electronically to begin with?

Though, "teens who view their electronic communications with friends as "writing" are significantly more likely than teens who do not view these communications as writing to use informal writing styles," both types of teenagers are still merging the two types of communication (29). Whether the problem is moderate or monumental, it still exists and it is still unacceptable. The questions "who is to blame" and "what can we do about it" should be up for discussion. If children are using the computer at home prior to being introduced to electronic forms of communication at school, then parents need to choose to be responsible. While a teenager may not be comfortable with Mom or Dad watching over their shoulder, a seven or eight-year-old does not have much of a choice. I respect that parents need to work and they are tired when they get home and the computer is an easy and interactive way to keep children occupied. However, with as beneficial of a tool as the internet may be, parents need to be aware of the negative aspects of letting their children use instant messaging, chat rooms and yahoo! answers as forms of communication. There is no sense in shielding them from the perils of the internet, but if you want you child to do well for himself as an adult you may want to point out that LOL is an abbreviation not to be used in communication with a professor and definitely not to be used in a term paper. Let your daughter know that the smiley face she "draws" at the end of every sentence she types is also known as a colon followed by a right parenthesis.

I'm sure it is to no one's surprise that, once again, we can not leave every aspect of properly educating children to educators in a public school system. The responsibility falls on those of us who care. Everyone has children in their lives. Use your communication with them as a form of mentoring. When I speak to my cousins or my boyfriend's younger siblings, I use proper spelling and punctuation. Though an "lol" may slip into the conversation, I make sure it is separate from my complete sentences. If you have children, read with them, write with them and show them the very defined differences between what is appropriate and what is not in formal writing. It will surely benefit them academically and professionally and considering my bleak prediction of the future of the "Great American Novel," you may be doing the world a favor by preserving the eloquence of written language -or at least what's left of it.