Texting: A New Addiction of Youth 1

“What’s not so great is that all this technology is destroying our social skills. Not only have we

given up on writing letters to each other, we barely even talk to each other. People have

become so accustomed to texting that they’re actually startled when the phone rings. It’s

like we suddenly all have Bat phones. If it rings, there must be danger”, Ellen DeGeneres

said.

As the availability, affordability, and popularity of mobile phones have increased in the

last decade, text messaging has become one of the primary means of communication among

adolescent peer groups. As such, it can be speculated that mobile phones and text messaging

have become an integral aspect of the culture of youth today that can have positive and negative

effects on their behavior so it is very important to teach these youth the acceptable and

responsible use of technology.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2013) and BusinessDictionary (2013),

technology is the responsible application of information in the design, production, and utilization

of goods and services in a particular area of knowledge that can help in the organization of

human activities. Nowadays, technology can be seen everywhere-- in school, work, home,

restaurants, and even parks. Technology can help us support our business activities, go to

different places, communicate with our loved ones, live longer, work easier, and relax that it can

help us in our everyday situations and support our rapidly growing needs in order to survive.

Under technology is media technology.

Media technology refers to the technology that supports human communication over

distances in time and space. In this generation, media technology is present everywhere. As said

in the speech of Jose Javier Reyes (2012) about the future of media, media technology can be

used for communicating and exchanging thoughts from a person/group to a person/group

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Texting: A New Addiction of Youth 2

anywhere and anytime. But the moment we cut off our connection to media, we feel being

disconnected to the rest of the world so many people use media most of time. Thisexcess use of

media technology can cause addiction that can result to more severe condition (Nestor &Schutt,

2011).

One type of media technology are mobile phones (also known as cellular phones and cell

phones). A cell phone is a device that can transmit messages and other files with the use of

different connections. Nowadays, a cell phone, especially if it is a smart phone, can have

different uses. It can be used for entertainment, communication, educational purposes (like using

it as a calculator), navigation, and business (like paying bills) (Porath, 2011). But the most

common use of cell phones is for communicating with other people through texts or calls. Text

messaging or texting is an act of typing and sending a brief, electronic message between two or

more mobile phones using short message service (SMS) or multimedia messaging services

(MMS)(Nestor &Schutt, 2011).

Nowadays, Youth are very addicted to technology especially to cell phones. According to

Nancy Lublin (2012) in her speech about texting that saves lives, the average teenager sends

3,339 text messages a month or almost 108 messages a day. Although email more effective way

in communicating than texting (Windermere, 2013), many teenagers prefer texting because it is

eleven times more powerful than email because cell phones are portable and we can access

texting even without internet connection. It has become the most preferred channel of basic

communication. Although texting might take some youth away from actual social interactions, it

can open the doors for many other youth to communicate with their peers through a way that

makes them feel safer and relieve their social anxiety, loneliness, and shyness (Hogan, Gilbert,

Leckington, and Morris, 2011). Texting can also be used to share information, to report a crime,

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Texting: A New Addiction of Youth 3

to get a ride, to communicate with others, to pay bills, for loading, for checking weather updates,

for advanced orders, for teaching, for saving lives, for business purposes and for surveying. With

the use of texting, one can send information in seconds, anywhere and anytime.

Although we live in the year of globalization, we still need to control our use of these

technology especially cell phones. These cell phones, specifically texting, also have negative

effects on youth. For a number of years, teachers and parents have blamed texting for two ills:

the corruption of language and the degradation in spelling of youth writing (Vosloo, 2009)

because, according to John McWhorter (2013), texting ignores the rules of punctuation and

capitalization so the youth tends to adapt it and using it in their daily communication. Also,

because texting has 100% open rate (Lublin, 2012), one cannot hide secrets so it is very

dangerous because anyone can get someone else’s information and use it for bad acts. And

because cell phones are very common nowadays, students can easily text to their friends during

classes so as a result, their focus in studying decreases. Also, texting can be used for cyber

bullying, escaping problems, and sending explicit images, information, and messages (Gilbert, et

al., 2011) affecting youths minds and behaviour negatively.

In order to stop the addiction of youth in media technology, especially in texting, adults

must teach youth and the future youths on how to use media technology responsibly and in

acceptable ways. They must learn how, when, and where cell phones must be used and also,

parents must learn how to discipline their sons/daughters because if the youth learns the

acceptable and responsible ways in using media technology, it can be a big help or contribution

in their personal and social growth as cell phones and text messaging quickly becoming an

integral part of a young adult's identity formation. This is especially true as cell phones are here

to stay, and are already playing an irreversible role in shaping young adults' lives.

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As a conclusion, as technology is still advancing these days, the youth must learn the

acceptable and responsible ways in using technology, especially cell phones, by dialog between

adults and youth or parents and childrenbecause when they learn the responsible use of it, it can

be a big help in their personal and social growth but when the technology controls them, it will

be big problem that can result to addiction and more severe illnesses.

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REFERENCES

Blake, H., Gilbert, E., Leckington, M., & Morris, C. (n.d.). Text Messaging: The Effects on Our

Society. Retrieved from http://chrislmorris.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/group-project-

study1.pdf

Lublin, N. (2012, April). Texting that saves lives [video file]. Retrieved from

http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_lublin_texting_that_saves_lives.html

McWhoter, J. (2013, April). Txtng is a killing language. JK!!! [video file]. Retrieved from

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk.html.

Porath, Suzanne. (2011). Text Messaging and Teenagers: A Review of the Literature. Journal of

the Research Center for Educational Technology. Vol. 7, No. 2.pp. 86-99. Retrieved from

http://www.academia.edu/1156350/Text_Messaging_and_Teenagers_A_Review_of_the_Literat

ure

Reyes, J. (2012, November 5). The Future of Media [video file]. Retrieved from

http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/The-Future-of-Media-Jose-Javier.

Technology - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (n.d.). Dictionary

and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/technology

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Vosloo, Steeve. (2009). The effects of texting on literacy:Modern scourge or opportunity?

Shuttleworth Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.siu

voss.net/Voslo__effects_of_texting_on_literacy.pdf.

What is technology? definition and meaning. (n.d.). BusinessDictionary.com - Online Business

Dictionary. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/technology.html

Windermere, A. (2013). Texting vs. E-mail in Business | Chron.com. Work - Chron.com.

Retrieved July 27, 2013, from http://work.chron.com/texting-vs-email-business-9217.html

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