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Text messaging hurting communication
By Ben Coltrin
February 27, 2008 | There hasn't been a more annoying
trend within the past few years than text messaging.
There have been a few articles that have been written
in the past with the purpose of bringing some sense
into what has turned into the text messaging age. Ask
any young man who is trying to date young women in this
state or anywhere else for that matter what they think
about the situation. More likely than not, most of them
would be greatly annoyed by the prospect. There is nothing
more annoying than trying to call someone, and they
text you back. It is one thing when they are working
or aren't available, but is another thing when they
just "prefer" to text.
Usually that person is blowing another one off when
they prefer to text.Not only are text messages annoying,
but they can also be a safety hazard. There have been
a few cases in the past couple years that Joe Schmo
was driving and hit someone which just happened to be
fatal. That person was charged with unintentional homicide.
As a student at Utah State, technology has obviously
changed the way the students communicate with one another.
A few years ago, everyone would look up at each other
when walking past each other and they would say hi and
everyone's day would be better. People were more friendly
with each other. Now, the majority of students you walk
past are either talking on the phone, texting, or using
their ipods. It is a disturbing trend.
As a faculty member it must be a pain and a slap in
the face when you have that prissy girl that is texting
the whole class period not really caring about anyone
else around her, but the sounds of her texting send
a creepy noise to everyone's ears. Not only is she disrespecting
the instructor, but she is being a royal pain in the
process. It isn't just girls, it is the boys too. For
example, one USU adjunct instructor Jeremy Gordon did
a great job of using proper discipline of the courageous
ones who continued the horrendous act of texting during
class. He simply asked them to leave. However, some
courageous ones continued to do so even after that.
Not only that, but there was an article in the BBC
that said excessive texting hurts
your fingers. Now the article probably wasn't saying
that our fingers would be cut off, but excessive amounts
of texting maybe could lead to carpel tunnels.
Brock Bybee of the Dixie Sun in St.George
wrote a very
impressive article on the subject last February.
He added a quote from Jonathan Morrell, the Dixie State
director of student support services. He said, "Text
messaging is a very ineffective way to promote and encourage
meaningful relationships." Morrell nailed that one right
on the dot one year ago. The only sad thing is that
the people informed enough won't be reading the newspapers
or the online articles. They're too dumb to even care.
Maybe we just have to accept it and live above the
norm. It is amazing how things have changed over the
past few years. Text messaging hasn't been that popular
until recently. It used to be cell
phone talking was the problem. Things will continue
to change and many of the things that we consider ultramodern
will soon be outdated.
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