I was visiting with my little sister (who is expecting her first baby, by the way) and we were discussing kids. Somehow in the course of the conversation she asked if it was true that kids were writing as if they were texting. I began to laugh….
Kids today communicate in a whole new way. They text, IM, MySpace, Facebook, and who knows what else. They are pros at keeping social connections via technology. This shows in their writing. Students write things in their paper in the text shorthand all the time. On tests, for example, I have seen students write IDK for an answer. In journals and letters to me I will find – repeatedly – LOL. Of course, some kids are ROFL instead. In writing about relationships it is not uncommon to see BFF used as a reference point.
Students have also lost the capitalization and punctuation use through texting. The word “I”, for example, is rarely capitalized and ending punctuation is simply omitted. Some students like to mix up various smiles in their writing such as 😉 (that is a wink, by the way).
I have also seen numbers replacing words as found in 2nite and 2morrow. 4eva is very popular, as well. Usually at some point someone is simply JK. I believe it is spreading to verbal communications now.
“Where is your homework?”
“IDK.”
“What?”
Eyes rolling, “I don’t know. Get it?”
“Um. Yes, I get it.”
“I GTG – BRB. Ok?”
I just know those kids are LOL at me. In the meantime, I will continue to remind them the word “I” is capitalized and “you” has three letters, not one. TTYL…I GTG bcuz my BF4eva is calling. HAGD.
Christine Moore currently holds a degree from Howard Payne University and is actively working toward a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. Married with four children, Christine teaches 6th grade reading in Brownwood and has been working in education at various levels for the past 14 years. Her husband, Jeremy, owns a local company that specializes in web design, custom computer builds, and on-location repair called DreamSoft Design at www.dreamsoftdesign.com. Christine welcomes your questions and comments and would love to hear from you!
