How Does Texting Affect Teens English Language Essay

Can texting effect teens? The answer is yes, yes it can. Texting can affect teens in many ways. It can affects them in some good ways and also in some bad ways. Texting has grown to be a very large issue ever since cell phones started showing up in everyone’s hands, from 10 year olds all the way to 85 year olds. According to many researchers and doctors that have done multiple tests, texting effects teen in many different ways. The top four things that are affected by texting are grammar, driving, relationships, and sleep.

The first major thing that really effects teens when they are text messaging is their grammar. It is because of texting that teachers have been complaining about their students turning in important papers that have simple spelling mistakes and they are also full of texting lingo. Most texters use letters instead of words, for example: you- u, are- r, your- ur, etc. Some teachers even claim that their students say that “five word sentences get the job done”. Researchers did find a significant correlation between increased usage of SMS and instant text messaging and increases in punctuation and grammar mistakes. This helps prove the statement that texting affects teens grammar.

Another thing that texting affects, is teens when they are driving. “21 teens between the ages of 16 and 18, took part in a series of simulated driving experiments. Each teen sat in the bucket seat of a simulated car. They were driving the vehicle through simulated scenery, in rural, then urban settings for 10-minute time blocks. Their driving was worse when they were texting. This is probably because texting forces people to look down in addition to moving their fingers” (Donald Lewis, MD, chief of Eastern Virginia Medical School’s) Each of the students in these tests had at least six months of driving experience already. Anyone diagnosed with an attention disorder or who had a history of unsafe driving was excluded from the test, as were teens who reported they used alcohol or excessive amounts of caffeine. With this exclusion, the researchers get a better look at the normal teens driving skills and skills they have while texting. People who send text messages while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a crash (or what they call a near-crash event) than a non-distracted driver who is not texting. In crashes or “near-crashes”, texting took a driver’s focus away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. This is enough time to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph.

The third thing that really affects teens when they text are their relationships. Texting can cause major miscommunication between people, especially people in relationships. Most people like to use as little words as possible while they text, which also can causes major confusion. “The lesser the words, the better.” If you can’t hear the persons tone, you won’t understand when they are serious or when they are kidding. Research has shown that if a person feels his or her likelihood of being rejected for a date is high, there is a better chance he or she will ask through a text rather than a “higher risk way” (face to face). More people are relying on text messages to get their word across, especially teens. Communicating online can be overused and is beginning to replace real-life relationships with virtual ones has also become a big problem along with texting.

The last major thing that affects teens when they text is their sleep. A recent study revealed that text messages on mobile phones are making an impact on the quality of sleep for almost 50% of the 16 year old people. According to a report, the sleep of 25% of 13 year old young people can also be affected as much as it can affect teenagers. In the 13 year old children, 13.4% reported that they wake up at least 1-3 times in a month, 5.8% wake up one in a week, 5.3% wake up many times in a week and 2.2% wake up every night all because of text messaging. In the group of 16 year old children, 20.8% wake up 1-3 times in a month, 10.8% wake up at least one time in a week, 8.9% wake up many times in a week and 2.9% wake up every night. These studies prove that text messaging teen lose a lot more sleep than a teen that does not text (at least at night).

It is very true that texting affects teens. It affects teens in many different ways and it keeps growing and growing. I think that texting is not a bad thing but a quick reliable way to communicate with someone. But if you overuse texting or emailing, then it will become a problem and you will have trouble sleeping, driving, writing and driving.

Work Cited

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