CANT.GET.ENOUGH.TEXTING!
SMS Texting has become the latest craze. It allows individuals to communicate without any face-to-face interaction, no awkward silence, and no pressure. It is the greatest thing that has happened to geeky guys since, well, I can’t remember anything better!
Has this texting craze become an addiction though? Researchers from the University of Maryland reported that college students have shown signs of withdrawal that are similar to drug addicts when they agree to no longer text.
Some school counselors are concerned that children who can text have immediate access to their parents, eliminating the ability for a child to ‘feel his own feelings’. There is constant communication flowing back and forth between individuals, there is not ‘personal time’ to soak in what is actually going on, and how to actually feel about it.
Some individuals believe that texting has eliminated part of life. “If school had any universally agreed upon upside, it was that it gave a 12-year-old some much-needed space to revel in independence or struggle with rejection — space in which, presumably, that 12-year-old could start to figure out who she was, or how he wanted to navigate the world.” The constant interaction with mom or dad, or a friend, consulting each other on every aspect of their life can really take away from the individuality a person creates for themselves.
I'm not arguing that another form of communication that technology has provided us is a bad thing. However, the addiction to it is bad. Some feel that face-to-face or even over the phone communication is dwindling, that having a real conversation will be tough to come by some day. Only time will tell.
Sources
Dominus, Susan. (April 26, 2010). Encouraging the Text Generation to Rediscover Its Voice. Retrieved April 27, 2010, from New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/nyregion/27bigcity.html?ref=technology