Monday, November 25, 2013

Bane of Texting

You see it everywhere you go in this modern day society, whether in traffic or at your local
restaurant: people with their fingers and noses stuck in a phone. Many herald it as a benefit of the tech revolution. But I consider it to be a problem that is eroding our souls and sapping our humanity.
Is this comment too extreme? Consider this:
This younger generation is losing their handle on the language. A school teacher friend mentioned that more than half of her class used text vernacular in papers for their English final exam. These are high school age kids who are losing the ability to spell from repeated exercise in abbreviating and shortcuts. Those who grew up before cell phones know there are no shortcuts in life. What happens when it is time for these kids to fill out an application for employment or to apply for a home or car loan?
California State University at Fresno did a study at their college last year citing that 50% of their students were texting during class. As a result these individuals were not absorbing class material. Is this every day act causing the dumbing-down of our nation?
Without face to face contact people tend to comment without inhibition due to lack of physical ramifications of this impersonal medium. The result is a major breakdown of social skills among teens and young adults.  It is distracting giving the illusion of being socially at two places at one time.  In reality one is at neither.
The act of texting alone is habitual enough, add to it the task of driving and you have a dangerous combination. We have all seen the commercial where the texting driver turns her car into a deadly weapon. Driving is the most important part of our daily routine that demands our most focused attention. According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, distracted driving contributes to 8,000 car accidents a day in America.
It may seem like a trivial aspect of our everyday lives but it poses a menace despite its non-threatening I. The dumbing-down, traffic hazard or social outcast generator of our humanity, it definitely is one of the elements of this modern society that is eroding the greatness of our nation. Hyperbole? Maybe. But I think 8,000 car accidents a day speaks for itself.

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