by Rebecca Stussman ‘12

Each day, Facebook users collectively partake in more than one billion chats. Every year for the past four years, the number of text messages sent annually has grown by 250 percent. Over 75 billion text messages are delivered each month. The average teenager sends or receives 3,339 texts a month, or eight messages every waking hour.

The age of electronic communication is here. In our fast-paced world of Facebook, Twitter, cell phones and IM, when a viral video can mean instant fame and information moves faster than the speed of sound, full words slow us down; complete sentences hold us back; proper grammar becomes obsolete. Yet amidst the increasing saturation of hi-tech forms of communication into teenage life, academic basics of writing and extended thought remain essential components of education. Consequences arise out of polarity, and some students find their “digital mindset” extends into their academic performance as well.

“I think concentrating for extended periods of time is more of a challenge for kids each year,” said English resource teacher Shelley Jackson. “The big-picture logic of assignments is harder for students to grasp now than it used to be.  I have no doubt that this is due to technology use.  I don’t think texting or any other technology is inherently bad, but the fact that students are so connected to quick tidbits of information means their tolerance for understanding and completing long, involved tasks has become a much bigger challenge.”

Jackson reports that her students over the years have seemed to experience growing difficultly incorporating correct grammar into their writing. While direct texting abbreviations such as “u,” “r” “b4,” etc. occur only a few times each semester, misuse of apostrophes—punctuations virtually unused in texting or IMing—is a much more common phenomenon among students and one that has worsened over time.

Senior Cindy Lopez, a frequent user of Facebook, IM and texting, has accidently included text phrases such as “b/c,” “tmrw,” and “u” into formal writing assignments. She feels technology has significantly affected her academic performance. “It distracts me too much … [I make mistakes such as] forgetting what I’m going to write in an essay,” said Lopez.

Lopez is one of hundreds of Sherwood students who find themselves having difficultly separating new technologies from academics. In a Warrior survey of over one hundred students, nearly all reported experiencing distraction due to technology while completing homework assignments and thought that, overall, their use of digital communications affects their educational performance. “[Technology has affected me in that] if I’m doing my homework and thinking about something and someone texts me, I will just forget what I was writing about,” said senior Stephanie Michaud, who, like Lopez, has accidently included words like “b4,” “2marro” and “u” on formal assignments. Distractions while performing tasks can lead to fragmented products and decreased comprehension of big-picture academic themes.

But this generation’s technological immersion has benefits as well. Senior Javier Martinez feels his academic performance is bettered by his frequent use of digital communication devices. “It helps me continue doing my homework because if I primarily only focus on my homework, I eventually stop doing it and do not finish,” said Martinez.

English teacher Beth Dibler often sees texting language and terse writing leak into students’ assignments. She feels this can be resolved if schools acknowledge the problem with a nonjudgmental attitude and incorporate technology into school curriculums.

“Maybe if we integrated in technology to the classroom, kids would understand when abbreviations are and are not appropriate. What teachers need to start doing is to acknowledge these trends [caused by technology] and start approaching them instead of just being so appalled by it,” said Dibler. “We need to recognize the benefits of these technologies so we can combat their unwanted effects.”

The world is changing, and so are students’ thought processes. As digital communication’s widespread influence impacts some people’s academic performance, for better or worse, it marks a societal evolution into an age of both productivity and potential fragmentation. Technology transforms culture, and evidently education as well.