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What are the pros and cons of texting? and is it destroying out teenagers?
I have teenagers. If you give them a cellphone, they will text message, period. Other than the monumental waste of time that these phones cause in general, texting is no better or worse than any other method of communication.
lgbg, please proofread before sending, thank you.
I respectfully disagree with blue shirt insofar as the opinion that texting is no worse or better than any other form of communication. It is first and foremost preventing people from actually having a real conversation with each other. Moreover,they are losing their spelling skills. It is annoying to have to try to decipher the actual written words of people who are used to texting. OMG, that is JMO.
Second, and on a truly serious note, more car accidents have been caused in recent times by people texting each other while driving, than I would like to count. It should be outlawed and SEVERELY fined, if one is caught texting while driving. It is as dangerous as drinking and driving (and if you don’t believe that, you are naive), even worse than talking on a cellphone while driving, because one’s attention is diverted from the road. Anything that impairs your ability to focus on driving, means you are a danger to yourself and everyone around you.
oomis1105,
I agree with you 100%. First, I assume that if there is texting, the two parties are not close enough to converse. Since texting is less expensive by far, they prefer that. Second, I agree with you totally about spelling skills. I hold myself back from admonishing some of the young writers here on YWN who cannot trouble themselves to write “you” instead of “u”, “why” instead of “y”, etc…It is annoying, obscures their intent and reduces their messages to mindless chatter. Finally, I am horrified that there are those who text while driving. Where I live there are heavy fines for holding a cellphone to an ear while driving and still people do it all the time. But texting? Mind boggling.
What I meant was that texting from home or the street is just an alternative to making an actual call, and it will not be going away anytime soon. Unfortunate.
About the chinuch problem in texting:
In last weeks Bina Magazine was a well written article about the dangers of texting. in short: it much easier to express on text then verbal, & off course there is no boundaries then. Shocking stories was printed there as well.
Just to add picture msg. is here, and video msg. is following. And the worst through Bluetooth anyone can detect everyone.
texting isn’t dangerous for teenagers, it’s also dangerous for ANYBODY!
Proud Jew: You sit here, on the internet, and complain about the dangers of text messaging?
popa_bar_abba-
We are doing this l’shem shomayim to help our fellow jews get inspired. How can you compare it to text messaging?
I am a teenager with my phone stuck to my fingers, I will admit I am addicted to texting. It is a Terrible thing! beside the fact when i get together with friends, it is not like the good old times spending time with your friends. Every person is talking to five other people we just happen to be sitting in the same room. It is very sad.
I think the bigger problem is communication. We learn to be open and talk threw texting, but you loose your ability to talk normally to people because texting makes it so much easier. as rabbi wallerstein sais “It is so hard on dates, because they have such a hard time talking, but if you give each of them a phone they can have a 8 hour conversation”
There really is no answer to texting but it is really a terrible thing and try to minimize it, but it is not really working that well
Looks like I have to parrot popa…, but I was thinking the exact same thing!
Texting is just a faster form of blogging!
popa_bar_abba
Instead of sitting and posting on the internet, get up and exercise! Please try not to break the bench this time! đŸ™‚
Who said teenagers must have a cell phone to begin with? If parents feel that for security reasons their teens must have a phone, it is possible to get a plan that does not allow text messages or anything else, except voice calling, for that matter. As a parent, if I would give my teen a “toy” (in this case phone with all sorts of features) how can I not anticipate that he would use it? Perhaps parents should remove their heads from wherever it is head in the sand, has his/her head too.
My personal irritation is when I am engaged in a conversation with someone who is CONSTANTLY checking her e-mail or text messages, while I am speaking, or even while she herself is speaking! It’s the same way I would feel if I were trying to talk to my husband and he had his nose buried in the newspaper (he does NOT do that when we are speaking to each other).
i suppose your refering to me???
lgbg, I wasn’t referring to you specifically till now.
“I” should be capitalized.
your is a possessive word as in “your book” (as opposed to my book). You meant to write “you are”, contracted to you’re.
referring, not refering.
suppose, to and me were all spelled and used correctly. 50% success rate.
Everyone should just get Kosher Phones and then no one would be texting!
JPhone: My oil anointed head happens to be gently immersed in high quality, Persian, hand sifted sand, certified kosher (by a reliable Kashrus symbol), which is a very fine place to be. If any parents would like information about how to acquire some for themselves or their offspring, please email me at [email protected]
Tisha B’av was yesterday
Rosh Hashana is tomorrow
I can’t beleive you are so mean,
as to get me involved when I did not write anything on this page.
For all of you grammar and English freaks it’s called a POETIC LICENSE (blue shirt).
Dear NOW are you happy; thank you for taking up my cause. that certainly is an excellent place for your head. enjoy.
and how DID i get involved?
lgbg,
First thanks for taking it in the manner I meant, no hard feelings, sorry if I was a little gruff.
Poetic licenses are for poets who by the nature of their profession are permitted to create new variations and nuances in language.
Maskim to postsemgirl, all the gedolim have assured the treif phones and everyone should get kosher phones.
This is hilarious. Look how hypocritical we all are. We are saying that its dangerous for our kids to text because in a text you can say what you want and you don’t develop the skills to socialize and communicate properly. But…where are they learning that from. (Hint: We are anonymously “texting” write hereon this discussion board!!!)
Maybe if we change ourselves to not be so trapped by technology our kids will follow, but without that change in ourselves…you can dream on about your kids.
Additionally, for those members of the grammar/spelling police I noticed I have the wrong
“write” in my previous post but I noticed it too late. It should read “right” instead of “write”.
what about facebook ? do you know whos on your teenagers’ “friends” list ?
Texting definitely affects one’s spelling. By trying to save space, you start attaching compound words, until you end up forgetting how they’re really spelled.
Willi, I think you’re right on that one. I find texting to be cumbersome and irritating (I much prefer email, an instant message, or a telephone call), but the times that I do text, I make certain not to get into those bad habits. I have gotten emails from younger relatives using the compounded texting form, and I always make it a point to comment on it and make sure they understand that they need to maintain the ability to communicate normally, including proper spelling and grammar.
Texting is a poor substitute for communication, because it involves the use of crude symbols in place of real words. The fact that we are posting here on this forum is NOT hypocritical, as asserted by “Careful,” as we are a) not writing short text messages in shortand form and b) we are not sitting here all day at the computer (or at least, I sincerely hope that that is true), with our fingers ont he keyboard. Kids who are texting are doing it ALL DAY LONG, openly, furtively, in the street, in class, and I would even assume, while in the bathroom. It is SO prevalent that humerous commercials have been made about that very issue.
E-mailing or posting is actually a superior form of communication in the sense that it resembles the lost art form of LETTER WRITING, which no one seems to do anymore. the written wrod has a great deal of power. I know that when I e-mail a friend, I choose my word very carefully and really think about what I want to convey, especially as there is no real emotional thermometer in a piece of paper, by which the reader can accurately assess what you mean by a specific turn of phrase. Emoticons notwithstanding, people havbe to read and re-read what one writes, in order to get a feel for the writer’s intentions, at times. When I have a verbal conversation with someone, I don’t have the luxury of a great deal of time to respond when speaking. I cannot pause and think for a few minutes, as I do when I am responding by e-mail.
Texting, by its very nature, is a quick response, no deep thought required. For that, and other reasons, I think it should be limited.
oomis1105: you are so full of yourself and hypocritical. because you have to read and reread a text message to understand it, the younger generation does. sorry, but a message board is not letter writing. the reason text messaging is short bursts, and tends to have words abbreviated or slang usage is because of 2 simple reasons. 1. it helps, because until recently most phones did not have QWERTY keyboards. 2. text messaging is SMS. SMS allows only for 160 characters, including spaces, so this type of writing was needed. funny you should say that message boards are more like writing a letter, those abbreviations and slang you see, it comes from message boards. it has become more uses in SMS texting because of character constraints, but outside of “yeshiva world” when you go to more techno savvy boards, ones used for technology especially, abbreviations are all over the place. (some are very off-color.) email would be more like letter writing. message board posting is more like putting a message on a bulletin board in a college, hence the early term for message boards, “bulletin boards”. as for the emoticons, girls especially have been using smiley faces and frowns in their letters and cards for decades. as far as texting not having any deep thought involved, that is simple as well, the question usually isnt very deep either. you again only have 160 characters, so usually its a question about fact, as if are we going to lunch, or what do you want to eat, or did you hear about what that person did, etc. no one has deep conversations on text messaging, it would take for ever. teens gossip, and that may go on and on for hours, but it isn’t deep and thought provoking. you may not be able to tell from the message the tone, so that is why emoticons are used. saying they are not withstanding would be like saying without punctuation withstanding, i can never understand any book i pick up, because its just words written in a funny order. emoticons are used for that exact reason, to let the reader know the intent. in a way it is the punctuation mark of texting.
I dont think texting is as bad as everyone makes it out to be… I think that, in general, if someone wants to do something bad- they’ll do it….the question is, with what? yes, texting is a method of doing bad- but i dont think it should be banned…it’s actually good for someone like me, who likes to get a message out without all the unnecessary conversation
oomis: it’s spelled humorous.
First of all, Mariner,I am really not full of myself. Second, gonisoheiv, I really do need to proofread my posts, as I have many more errors than “humorous,” which was the only one you seemed to have caught. Oh well… đŸ™‚
Just for your information- I do not text and I have a cellphone. I had one since highschool (necessary for carpool and safety) I am not sure if I ever texted. But I still think it is terrible! Ask the people who sold it to you to see if you can take it off! Students use it during class to communicate or C”V cheat during tests! They stopped talking and will only text! They forget how to speak normally and will not call people, only text.
I unfortuanately can say I am one of those teens who just fell into the trap of texing beign so simple, but now it is so much harder to work on having normal relationships with my friends again. but there are goods like i became friends with people i would never have.
Dont know about texting cons, but one thing’s certain: NEVER TEXT WHILE DRIVING!!! Im sure many of you heard about this crazy train crash in California where the conductor was busy texting on his cell, missed a red light and collided with another train. The tragedy was heartrending- many dead and many injured.
muchcommonsense, just to let you know, that technically just because a text went through a little before the crash, doesnt necessarily mean he sent it then, it could also mean the phone got reception then, and sent it. that is why there is an investigation still pending over the text. but you are right, texting, or emailing while driving is insane. pull over if you can. i pull over onto the side of highways when i must email my boss. no message is as important as your life.
Everything is possible. But why did he miss that red light then? A bit suspicious sounding, but ok, we’ll give him that benefit of doubt.
In California I heard it was illegal for a child under 18 to text while driving (just like it is now illegal to talk on the cellphone that isn’t handsfree)
While I am against texting in general, this rule makes sense. I asked a teenager a question and she said she would get back to me but “what’s your number so I can text you the answer” Imagine her shock when I said I do not know how to receive texts (and please dont post the way you can…i dont want to know) and I asked her why she couldnt just call me…its a cell phone for a reason. she responded that she doesnt speak on the cell anymore… just texts people….
It is an epidemic that this younger generation faces…
Now what about students texting in class? teachers need to be more aware of it! It is unacceptable! Does anyone have any solutions to solve this issue?
bump
You can’t just say texting across the board is bad. I personally have texting and am NOT addicted to it. I try not to text when I’m with my friends, and I’ll always ask if I do. I also have some friends that I became much closer too, through texting since otherwise we wouldn’t speak at all. If I’m not in the mood of talking to someone, then I’ll text them to ask them a question. (That’s besides the fact that it saves minutes if you have unlimited đŸ™‚
Yeah of course texting does have it’s cons. I know people who have used it to speak to the wrong people and all, but that doesn’t mean no good has come of it.
I text my sister because she is deaf. Is that supposed to be assured?
The simplist solution to the texting problem in class is to have the students hand in their phones at the beginning of class, and take them back after class.
I definitely agree that texting has its pros and cons-like everything in life. It has to be done in moderation. My suggestion to any one that is “addicted” to it is NOT to take it away completely-thats way too too extreme and not necessary. Have on your plan a limited amount of text mesaging per month (say 100/200 or so)instead of unlimited, and if they go over they will have to pay it. Hopefully it will work.
SJS, I also have a friend who is deaf. Texting is a lifesaver for her. It makes communicating so much easier.
Everything has its pros and cons. If you use (and don’t abuse) texting, I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with it.
Texting is electronic communication. It is the same form of communication as sending an email, posting a reply on YWN or posting a message on Facebook (the speed of communication is different and sometimes what is written is moderated – such as YWN – and sometimes it is not)
I completely agree with those who write that texting is not inherently bad, it is how you use the form of communication that makes it “good” or “bad”.
For Mod 42 and real Israeli,
Bump™
SiDi™
Alot of people say texting is bad becuase people dont have time to think and say things they wouldnt say actually infront of the person but when i text I usually read it a few times over and can backspace or delete what i say before i send it. In person I cant necessarily delete what I said. What are peoples opinions on this? btw i am so not saying that texting is better than talking in person!
txtng is gud 4 me wen I cannot spik and must get a msg to someone.
or if Im in midl of a meetng or lecture where ringng or spkng wud b quite disturbng.
I also like to txt when, what I hav to say is not an emrgncy and cud b ansrd at ones leasur.
and I nevr ansr anyone who asks ‘who is this?’
if de no. is not familiar i do not ansr..
mom12, what did you say? Seems like a very good example of “no texting values”! Try to write in English. Not in some other weird language. Thank you!
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SiDi™
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