Texting and chatting... decrease ability on spelling

I abbreviate & use text speak in texts simply to say as much as possible for the text charge and will sometimes use the numbers 2and4 instead of to/for in an informal email or scribbled fridge note. Yes, I think texting has made people lazy - they can express themselves quickly and be understood so there seems to be no real 'need' to spell correctly. To be fair, a lot of English words are spelt in a more complicated way than is necessary. I wonder if we will see a reading scheme introduced based on text speak ?? 'Ths is K8. C her txt. Can U txt? K8 sends txts 2 evry1...' Its the sort of thing the education decision makers who have not set foot in school for years would do! I can imagine it being held up as the solution to illiteracy rates. They seem to like 'dumbing down' to let everyone 'achieve'....

It may influence on their skills on being able to spell words right but, if they still get educated properly, either at school or from family and friends that such kids are associated with, I think that it could work out. I mean, that's why they get into schools, to be educated spelling words properly would be among the lessons that they should learn and teachers should be teaching about even with all the technological advances and effects ongoing. Convenience of typing words even though they shouldn't be abbreviated can only be applicable to those who communicate is such a manner but, they still do have to know how to spell words correctly especially when it is required.

i believe that texting influenced the way young kids spell today especially if they are exposed to these text formats.... whenever i text my cousins i really spell things out eventhough it's a text message and i usually use text formats for my friends but sometimes whenever i'm writing an article or sometrhing i mispell and with nd hehehe

I honestly do not believe on the fact that it decreases spelling ability. Language is basically said to be dynamic, it does a lot of changes to adapt. Remember Old English? In my personal experience, I am a fan of texting and chatting and I have been doing it for six years and so far I have no problems with my spelling.

Ya what you say is true. Even I follow that. Its just to increase the speed of texting. Some people will follow the same in their test papers also. In the place of You they will write U. In the place of For they will write 4. Actually only for simple words like this we use short form. Other words will be properly spelled I guess. So there won't be any problem in their spellings. They have to be little careful while writing exams or somewhere that is so important.

Everybody spells like babies on the internet because well, they are babies. Either that or the internet has Scrambled their brains so badly that their frontal lobe is actually at the front of their head. So, yes I think it does decrease children's, and even adult's ability to spell.

I admit that i myself got stuck up with these.. when im online when im chatting or mailing someone for casual things i just go by using short terms, its not that im fascinated to do that but i can save my time by doing that and i feel even my friends do it just because they can save time and chat more speed with josh.. lol.. and yes it had really impacted me when im writting my exams it really gave me short cut usages and i really have to strike out and once again i have to write the original words.. say because= coz or cz , and = nd , for = fr or fa.. etc these words really help me to save time but anyways in mylot i cannot use these words so now im back to the original form again

This is really a great challenge for parents of today. Kids of today have these kind of inventions which we didn't have in our childhood. By texting or chatting, there is alot danger of making spelling mistakes. Childhood is a age when you learn and whatever you learn in that age is fixed in your brain permanently. If kids in this age start chatting, their spelling mistakes will become permanent , thus, creating problems for them in their coming life of higher education.

I do not think that it is the first reason to deteriorate the ability of the child for the spelling but as well it will make them wise enough to understand because I always chat with my children but they were good in spelling and they even spoke in English although they only study in the Government School but it is the house rule to have a exchange way of tutorials......

Hi friend, I do agree with you that texting and chatting reduces spelling ability not only in children but also adults.I never give my child a mobile or allow her to chat on the net.what is the purpose for them in this young age to chat and text?If all the parents bring down this practice for their children .they would excel in all fields.In this modern age cell phones and internets spoil children to a great extent.thanks for sharing.happy mylotting.

if you talk noobish. yes you might decrease your ability. hahah :) good grammar FTW!

That's true because nowadays, in our modern world texting and chatting is so in that we forgot to use the right spelling. In my highschool days My teacher would get angry because of our "text word". Sometimes we even forgot the righ spelling even if it is simple.

I myself have been living on the internet since I was young, and while texting may have had a negative effect on young people's spelling, rather, typing on the keyboard had the inverse effect on myself, and improving my vocabulary, spelling, etc.

First of all as a parent/teacher you must ensure that a child must know how to differentiate between chatspeak and proper English. For me, I know and understand that there is a clear, distinct line. When I chat online, I use chat-speak that will allow me to convey what I want to say in a quick manner. However in formal discussions or when doing assignments, I revert easily back to standard English.

In a way, I think it does decrease ones ability to spell. My opinion on why they do it is short cuts. Texting on phones only allows you a certain number of characters per message. So they take short cuts to save space. Liv

yeah.,.,.,super decreasing in ability in spelling.,.,even though the grammar are affected and the pronounciation...