Short Message Service - "Texting"
 

Students at Howe Public Schools are not to have
cell phones turned on between 8 AM and 2:45 PM.

 

texting owl

Links related to SMS:

 
Cell phone text messaging, Internet chat rooms, and instant messaging have produced a whole new language tailored to the compactness of these forms of communication. With most cell service providers limiting text messages to 160 characters, users have developed an intricate, universal short-hand to allow them to say more in one message.

A recent AP poll showed that cell phone and text messaging usage is greatest among those between 18 and 29 years of age. Text messaging is the number one use of cell phones by young people. The number drops off by more than half in the age range between 30 and 49. The number of people over the age of 50 who are "texting" is very small indeed. While the poll did not survey anyone under the age of 18, it is obvious that the only thing limiting texting in this age group is their access to a cell phone.

For teenagers, texting is like knowing another language. Since it is an online language, it is global in nature and is quickly becoming a universal from of English. While everyone agrees that language evolves, there are groups of highly educated people who are dead set against the presence of texting in schoolwork and who are arguing for ways to stamp it out. Other educators are encouraging students to use this style of writing, especially in "first drafts" of school work. It is the position of this group that anything that encourages young people to write must have some value.

According to Nielson/Net Ratings, 60% of the online population under age 17 uses text messages. They use it primarily to socialize and communicate, in other words, for recreation. There is a culture associated with this style of writing, and that culture is important and meaningful to our youths.

Teenagers have long pushed the boundaries of spoken language, now they are pushing the boundaries of written language. Youths like the feeling of knowing something that not everyone knows and sharing that with their friends. The Internet and online communication is very real for them, they don't see it as a technological revolution...they're actively using it everyday.

 

Some basic text lingo "rules":
 

1528 students from a metropolitan area with four high schools were surveyed. The sample was comprised of 52% males and 48% females, whose ages ranged between 12 and 19 years. The average overall for both genders was 15 years old.

 
Mainstream public education is still trying to work computers and the Internet into the curriculum. There has been little or no decision about how to use texting and small display devices (like cell phones). However, there is at least one company already offering SMS services to schools.

A texting device this webmaster MIGHT be able to use! rotary texting device