Chelsi May
My younger sister was 10 years old when she got her first cell phone.
She was ecstatic.
I was furious.
After all, I had to wait until the ripe old age of 14 before I was presented with my first cell phone: a prepaid flip phone that didn’t even have the ability to text. Kids today would rather be caught dead than with that phone.
It took me years to finally upgrade to a phone that I could text on and then even longer to get to a “smartphone.” Somehow, my sister seemed to have jumped these steps and ended up with an iPhone at the age of 11, just a year after she had first been inducted into the cell phone carrying club.
Now that she’s 13, it’s becoming apparent that my sister has developed an addiction to this cell phone. She’s on it so much I find myself checking to make sure her fingers haven’t fused to the screen. A recent trip to the theater found that she couldn’t even find the restraint to put the phone away for a two hour movie.
However, it seems to be more than just my sister that has developed an infatuation with the world of cell phones. These technological wonders have found their way into the hands of younger and younger owners. According to a 2010 New York Times article, “about 75 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States own a mobile phone, up from 45 percent in 2004.” Chances are that the number is still rising.
So, the question arises. Are these phones helping or hindering our youth?
On one hand, these devices allow the people who carry them reach a new level of communication. Parents can stay in touch with their kids at all times of the day and their kids can talk to their friends whenever they please. However, a problem is beginning to arise from students sending text messages. The lack of correct spelling and grammar in these texts are causing students to become careless in school work and other formal documents. Students are beginning to use incorrect grammar and spelling and text lingo more frequently in these settings.
You can see the grammatical problems in action with a recent text conversation between my sister and friends. They desperately wanted to meet Michigan basketball player Trey Burke.
“LET’S GO TO ANN ARBOR AND FID OUT WHAT DORM HE LIVES IN AND DEMAND AN AUTOGRAPH”
“OMG YES OGNGMG AND A PICTURE WITH HIM”
“Yess or sneak in and take pics of him”
“LETS TAKE PICTURES OF HIM SLEEPING”
“LETS GO SHOPPIG IN ANN ARBOR THEN SECERTLY STALK HIM”
“Omg yess”
“HAHAHAA YESSSS!!!! Guys I have a question”
“What”
“Why is trey so hawt”
“Because he is hot. Some r born hot others born ugly”
“Guys call me Harlie Burke and you can also call me harliepoo”
*Insert picture of Trey Burke*
“Kayy call me Riley poo and whatever else you want. My motto is twerk for Burke”
Overall, though, I do believe that it can be beneficial for preteens and teenagers to own a cell phone. The problem comes when parents don’t set limits with them. From my own experience with my sister and my own cell phone, I have found the following to be good guidelines:
Cell phones should never be allowed in schools. They become too much of a distraction.
Cell phones should also not be allowed at the dinner table. Yes, kids usually find their friends more interesting than their parents, but they should respect the time they have with their families.
Kids, younger than 18, should never have a password on their phone that their parents don’t have access to. That is just causes too many potential problems.
Hopefully a grammar check for cell phones will be invented before all of our youth starts wandering around talking like gangsters.