As I sat at my computer browsing the Internet for an article worth writing about, I began to think about writing itself. Isn’t writing about formulating a coherent and cohesive thought and then writing about it in a proper format? Growing up and attending school I was taught to properly use the English language whether it was spoken or written, but a new form of English has emerged that has decimated an otherwise perfectly good language.

Text Messaging has become a new form of communicating what an individual wants to say in a shorter form. Texting is a language of its own created as the need for shorter ways of saying simple phrases arose. A simple word such as, “ok” or a phrase like, “see you later” has been replaced with letters and numbers that would make an English professor cringe at the very sight of this language.

Fifteen years ago two men by the name of Neil Papworth and Richard Jarvis sent and received the very first text message, respectively. Fast-forward fifteen years and that one text message has multiplied to nearly one billion messages being sent every week - an increase by 25 percent over last year.

It’s from this need that the disintegration of the English language has developed. The use of this language as stated above has created a new shortened form of writing, but at what cost? The average teenager knows how to text and read the language as if by second nature. It becomes so second nature, that this jargon eventually ends up in the student’s formal writing. Articles have been written showing that the more a student is saturated with this language, the more apt she is to bring this form into the classroom.

So what’s the problem with texting? Students who learn how to use this language grow accustomed to reading it and eventually see past it, thus allowing the student to forgo the proper forms of punctuation, capitalization, spelling and many other proper grammatical nuances. The idea is that not only students, but grown adults are not distinguishing between proper English and texting language. In formal writing there is no place for texting lingo.

Basically, texting is a shortened form of the English language that has crept its way into standard writing. Gone is the time where students are taught how to properly write and its enforced everywhere they go. But instead of enforcement, these kids and adults alike are becoming more lackadaisical and its irritating when I receive a text message and I have to think about what these letters might mean. How hard is it to just type a simple sentence such as “I’ll see you later” instead of saying “c u l8er”? The answer is quite simple - It’s not hard.