Too Much Texteen

Pew Research Center recently published a study revealing that one in three American teens send more than 100 text messages a day. Text messaging becomes centerpiece communication nowadays, as it is the first channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, before cell calling.

That trend keeps on growing since 88% of teen cell phone users do text messages compared to 51% in 2006. That sharp rise doesn't really suprise me, as I'm pretty addicted to texting myself. But I'm not a teenage anymore and I still remember the time when I didn't own a cell phone. Even if this memory is getting blurrier and blurrier, it makes a difference. No matter how much I depend on mobile communication, I'm from the generation that discovered cell phones. I mean that when I got my first one, I was excited about it and didn't take it for granted, it was a major event. But now, it became totally normal for teens to own one as soon as they enter mid school, and maybe even earlier. I think this habit has an impact on many levels of our society.

Another study made by the University of Maryland reported that college students using social media showed signs similar to drug addicts. To avoid this dangerous trend, Riverdale Country School took a really interesting initiative by lauching an experiment in text-free living. They asked the kids not to use their cell phones for texting or chatting on social media for two days. As difficult as it was for teenages to keep their phones away, they were all suprised to see how fast they would finish their homework.

Texting and chatting with friends on social media are a part of our daily language. Although I recognize it can be really convenient to communicate this way, I also think it tends to narrow our thoughts and ideas. It's a really distracting activity that makes people use simple vocabulary, and that's why it's scary that so many teens are addicted to their smartphones. I believe we should encourage young people to express themselves in a more complex way, so that they always know the line between digital communication and traditional one.