03-04-2003, 02:38 AM
This one hits pretty close to home for me since my little brother just recently got into the AIM-craze - the latest fad at his middle school (along with "50 Cent"... I am seriously beginning to contemplate breaking that godawful CD).
The way he spells and communicates in general while using that vile program is just completely mind-boggling to me. All caps, spelling "call" as "kall", "g2g", "lollys" (haven't even begun to decipher that one yet), and so on. I don't know if it has affected his English grade in school or not, but at the middle school level, it's rarely challenging enough that it would seem to matter.
(All I have to say is, thank God I went to a private school that beat me into shape academically... I still have nightmares of how underprepared public schools made me for a private high school my Freshman year :) )
Then again, I was never into the whole "instant messaging" wackiness. I currently have 11 people on my AIM list (6 of which are duplicates, same people just different screen names) and only log onto it when I accidently click on it. My brother, on the other hand, is complaining about the 200 buddy limit and has only had it for a month... *shudder*
Anyhoo, I'm straying from the point. The problem is not just solely the instant messaging programs, but rather, that these schools are not instilling the proper foundations in spelling, grammar, and the English language early in these childrens lives.
"Colloquialisms" will always develop, but since these young kids don't have the proper foundations, they don't stay in the vernacular and rather become the English language itself to these kids. They begin to think that "g2g" is something that's okay to say all the time and not just when you're with friends.
Schools are often the ones complaining about AIM, ICQ, etc. but they're a big reason it's having such a negative impact upon grammar and spelling and they just don't seem to see that. Or perhaps they don't want to.
The way he spells and communicates in general while using that vile program is just completely mind-boggling to me. All caps, spelling "call" as "kall", "g2g", "lollys" (haven't even begun to decipher that one yet), and so on. I don't know if it has affected his English grade in school or not, but at the middle school level, it's rarely challenging enough that it would seem to matter.
(All I have to say is, thank God I went to a private school that beat me into shape academically... I still have nightmares of how underprepared public schools made me for a private high school my Freshman year :) )
Then again, I was never into the whole "instant messaging" wackiness. I currently have 11 people on my AIM list (6 of which are duplicates, same people just different screen names) and only log onto it when I accidently click on it. My brother, on the other hand, is complaining about the 200 buddy limit and has only had it for a month... *shudder*
Anyhoo, I'm straying from the point. The problem is not just solely the instant messaging programs, but rather, that these schools are not instilling the proper foundations in spelling, grammar, and the English language early in these childrens lives.
"Colloquialisms" will always develop, but since these young kids don't have the proper foundations, they don't stay in the vernacular and rather become the English language itself to these kids. They begin to think that "g2g" is something that's okay to say all the time and not just when you're with friends.
Schools are often the ones complaining about AIM, ICQ, etc. but they're a big reason it's having such a negative impact upon grammar and spelling and they just don't seem to see that. Or perhaps they don't want to.
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London