Effects of Text Messaging on Youngsters

Maryyam Shahid
Cellphones have evolved from luxury to an item of daily use which is now the cheapest and the most feasible source of communication now days. It has now become a pathway to instant social interaction between groups and its wireless technology has made it easy for the people to use anywhere and anytime. Mobile phone technology has made itself such a technology that fewer people can live without. The instant connectivity of cellular phones has made itself favorite among the youngsters now days. They are texting everywhere and every time. This paper explores the negative and positive aspects of text messaging on youngsters and provides a recommendation for its growing negative effects on youngsters.

FAST-NUCES Islamabad . . .

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. ABSTRACT3 2. INTRODUCTION...3 3. OBJECTIVE3 4. EFFECTS4 4.0. NEGATIVE EFFECTS.4 4.0.1 CONCENTRATION PROBLEMS.4 4.0.2 SLEEPING PROBLEMS...5 4.0.3 BLACK MAILING AND BULLYING5 4.0.4 EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS..6 4.0.5 TEXTING WHILE DRIVING ...8 4.0.6
WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY..9

4.0.7 DAMAGING FAMILY RELATIONS10 4.0.8 DECLINE IN THE MORAL FABRIC OF THE SOCIETY10 4.1. POSITIVE EFFECTS11 5.1.1 CHEAP AND EASY WAY TO COMMUNICATE...11 5.1.2 QUICK SOURCE OF INFORMATION & TIME SAVING & RECORD
KEEPING....11

5.1.3 MONEY SAVER..11 5.1.4 INCREASE IN LITERACY RATE..12 5.1.5 DISCRETION.12 5.1.6 HELPING THE HEARING IMPAIRED12 5.1.7 AFTERCARE OF PATIENTS13 5. SURVEYS 6. CONCLUSIONS.....13 7. RECOMMENDATIONS ..14 8. REFERENCES.15

Abstract
Cellphones have evolved from luxury to an item of daily use which is now the cheapest and the most feasible source of communication now days. It has now become a pathway to instant social interaction between groups and its wireless technology has made it easy for the people to use anywhere and anytime. Mobile phone technology has made itself such a technology that fewer people can live without. The instant connectivity of cellular phones has made itself favorite among the youngsters now days. They are texting everywhere and every time. This paper explores the negative and positive aspects of text messaging on youngsters and provides a recommendation for its growing negative effects on youngsters.

Introduction
Cellphones are becoming popular among youngsters due to its instant connectivity. The companies are providing cheap packages for text messaging which is appealing the youngsters towards itself. Because of such a cheap connectivity, the youngsters (mostly) are using it for connectivity in daily life. The use of text messaging in daily life is causing an addiction in the Youngsters which has resulted in different social and political problems which needs an eye to be laid on. These include several moral issues damaging family relations, decline in moral fabric of the society and several other social issues, not to mention its effect on education of Youngsters. But there are also some positive aspects that cannot be ignored namely increase in literacy rate, discretion, record keeping etc. After conducting certain surveys, we hope to come up with a positive solution to all the negative effects of text messaging on Youngsters and to implement the solution in our daily life.

Objective
The objective of this paper is to elaborate the positive and negative aspects of text messaging, to prove that the overuse of texting is creating a bad influence on youngsters, to prove that the negative effects are far more than positive, to provide a solution to the ongoing problems of youngsters concerning this aspect by conducting proper surveys and to implement the solution in our daily life.

Effects
Text messaging or "texting" was only developed and released to the public in the mid-1990s. By 2009, 60 percent of the world's population already had access to a cellphone, and texting was the second most common way to use the technology to communicate, after speaking person-to-person. Because of the ease of communication, the rapid increase in the use of cell phones as a portable communicating device has given rise to many social and political issues which need to be eyed on. These effects are:

Effects

Positive Effects

Negative Effects

Negative Effects
Texting can be quite dangerous and hazardous especially when youngsters do it with reckless abandon. In fact, many Youngsters have regressed in their development because of texting. This is why a lot of parents have moved to limit their childs access to their mobile phones. Texting due to its overuse has the following bad/negative effects on youngsters.

CONCENTRATION PROBLEMS
Concentration is the ability to focus attention on a task at hand, while blocking out other distracting or unrelated stimuli. This includes insignificant sounds, visual input, and most importantly, wandering or irrelevant thoughts. Concentration difficulty is a decreased ability to focus your thoughts on something. Concentration difficulties can cause difficulty staying awake, impulsiveness, intrusive thoughts or concerns, over activity, or inattention. Concentration is one of the most powerful mental tools at our disposal - and yet, so few people actually know how to use it to its full potential. Concentration problems in youngsters are increasing day by day and according to physiologists, it is mainly due to electronic media and social interaction which is causing the youngsters to deviate from their daily schedule. According to statistics, ___ percent of the youngsters are using cell phones during their classes, driving and other daily activities which are a constant source of distraction. According to our survey, regular texters have an average GPA of ________.

SLEEPING PROBLEMS
Sleep texting is when a person sends text messages throughout the night while asleep and wakes up with no recollection of sending those texts. Texting is prevalent among youth. Recent studies have shown that the average youth spends an hour and a half texting each day, and one in three youngsters sends more than 100 text messages per day. According to an article by The New York Times 2009, there is an increase in texting among youngster since the last decade. They are texting every time, outside and at home that this has become such a habit that they could not stop texting at night. This habit has an effect of ever growing sleeping problems which is a constant source of worry to the parents. Due to tough studies, students had trouble sleeping but this effect is increasing more due to text messaging. Sleep deprivation is correlated with poorer concentration and poorer grades, as reported in a 1998 survey conducted by two psychologists. Dr. Jim Follop states Because technology is such a part of our daily lives, people have trouble separating from it at night. People reach for their phones while sleeping because it is such a habit. Sleep texting is depriving people from getting into deep sleep which is causing mental as well as physical problems. Not getting a proper sleep is causing students problems like lack of concentration, moodiness and problem in analyzing and problem solving. The physical problems include high blood pressure, obesity and depression. To prevent sleep texting, keep your cell phone out of reach when you sleep, or at least turn it off before you go to bed, said Dr. Fulop. Youll be able to reap the benefits from a better nights sleep.

BLACK MAILING AND BULLYING

The trend of blackmailing over text messages is growing since the last decade. This new habit among youngsters is getting lions share of attention by psychologists and parents. Blackmailing and bullying by text messaging is resulting in both mental and physical threats to people of all groups. The Youngsters are encouraging in the habit of black mailing by using a false identity to and participating in illegal activities such as cheating, harm other students and even taking drugs. And in the texting world, bullying never lets up. The bully
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often texts at all hours of day or night, disturbing the sleep and daily activities of other people. Bullying tactics are expanding with technology, with texting and Facebook and MySpace, said Kimberly Rodgers, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and registered play therapist supervisor (RPT-S) at Monarch Therapy in Naples. Its a safer and less intimidating way to bully people. Still the harm of bullying by text messaging has the same impact as face to face bullying. Any kind of bullying it could have a huge potential to harm someones self-esteem, said Rodgers. They can start defining themselves according to the criticism. For instance if a teen is bullied about his intelligence it could affect his study habits. Bullying can affect ability to foresee success in the future, said Rodgers. (This includes) successes like going to college and having a family may seem further out of reach. This habit is leading to the increase in social problems such as harassment,___________. Since these text messages are traceable so there is also an increase in issue of legal charges of harassment to the youngsters. Bill Spano, Collier County Principal of Alternative School Programs, suggests You want the attention of a youngsters today, (you) take their phone, says Spano. Texting is how this generation communicates and it has made students more accountable for their comments.

EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS
The youngsters (regular texters) are encountering various educational problems which are causing an obstruction in the successes of their future life (educational). Texters who have reduced their grammatical difficulty (students opinion) by using keywords for

communication have fabricated for themselves educational problems which they cannot overcome without hard work and proper concentration. These problems are:

Educational Problems

Effects on soft skills

Concentration problems

Grammar problems

Grammar Problems
Text messaging was originally designed for commercial use, to alert people when they had received a voicemail. Crystal (2008) Text messages are usually 160 characters, and sent through mobile phones instantly . Tagliamonte & Denis (2007) Texters who have created a new form of shorthand often called chat-speak which uses numbers, letters and incorrect grammar have gotten so used to this writing that they are using it in their daily work e.g. quizzes, assignments and job applications. One critic says that This type of communication is destroying the way our kids read, think, and write (Tomita, 5). She goes on to say that It also does not require critical thinking or analysis. OConnor, another critic, reported that the More students use tools like instant messaging, the less they are able to separate formal and informal English. For example they abbreviate y-o-u, u. What the teachers are noticing is that students are making grammatical mistakes in their exams. They have no sense of capitalization, punctuation and tense which is ruining the basis of English literature in students. Experiments were conducted on general English literacy from age group of 10-21. The experiments included several tests including conversion of simple English sentence into chat-speak and conversion of chat-speak to an English sentence. The results proved that the people who were frequent texters scored less as compared to less frequent texters. They made mistakes such as missing words, missing punctuation, textisms left un-translated (hav), and simple misspellings. Critics have also highlighted the effect of spell-completion in phones which is causing further problems in grammar. The phones containing auto capitalization, auto spell-completion is affecting the way students spell and punctuate on hand written assignments. This can also be true of the new iPhones. Technology has become so advanced that now cell phones automatically correct spelling errors. People who own iPhones dont have to worry about spelling anymore. All the iPhone owners have to worry about is speed. The lack of conciseness when it comes to writing a text message is outstanding. Texters no longer have to worry about what theyre writing. They can breeze through a long text message and not
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have to worry about spelling errors. This is negatively affecting the way people write shorthand. When it comes down to writing shorthand, these texters and IM-ers have no clue how certain words are spelled. They are so used to the phone or computer writing it for them.

Concentration problems
The over use of texting is also causing concentration problems in students during their classes. The students cannot concentrate on their lectures which is causing decline in the overall results of students. The future effects of this lack in concentration is lesser GPAs and in turn results in reduction of youngsters finding jobs. This is causing a lot of frustration in the minds of students who are subjected to various social and moral issues which is destroying the moral fabric of the society. Our survey showed that regular texters have a ____ percentile of disturbance in classes which is leading to lower GPAs.

Speaking Skills
Because people are spending more time texting and interaction on social media, they are losing the confidence of face-to-face interaction. This is creating a bad influence on the society which is resulting in deficiency of hiring of those personals in social associating jobs. They are not able to communicate and are becoming shy, nervous and fearful and are not able to open up to the world. It doesnt matter how much knowledge they have or how productive they can be to the society, because they are not able to express themselves to the people. Survey shows the ____ % of regular texters dont have the heart to say out loud their own opinions.

TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

The tendency of texting while driving is rapidly growing due to more and more facilities provided by cell phone companies such as cheap sms packages, long talk times etc. This trend has been seen more in Youngsters than in other age groups. Youngsters are so fond of texting that they just wont let go off it even during driving. This outcome of this rising tendency is increased number of vehicle accidents per year. Driving skill is measurably impaired by text-messaging. Writing text messages creates a significantly greater impairment than reading text messages, but both are harmful.

According to statistics A 17-year-old texting driver in New York State swerved into oncoming traffic and hit a truck head-on, killing her and her four passengers. A texting California train engineer was involved in the collision near Los Angeles that killed 25 passengers and injured 130 others. A 27-year-old Arkansas texting driver crashed his vehicle into another car, killing its driver (the Arkansas man was charged with negligent homicide, and had been also drinking a beer at the time). An 18-year-old texting driver in Texas slammed full-speed into a stopped vehicle, sending a 3-year-old passenger in that vehicle to the ICU at a local hospital with a broken skull. A 16-year-old texting driver in California lost control and dies in the ensuing crash (she was also speeding and had been drinking). Drivers talking on their cell phones were 18 percent slower braking than other motorists (University of Utah, 2005) Talking on a cell phone while driving caused impairment on par with driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent (University of Utah) Due to texting, the drivers were less able to keep a constant distance behind lead vehicle which resulted in large increases in variability of lane position. In actual traffic, these driving errors dramatically increase the likelihood of collision. Reaction times are slower when reading or writing a message. Reaction time for drivers trying to compose a text message increased from 1.2 to 1.6 seconds. At highway speeds, drivers can travel more than a mile while texting. Slower reaction times result in an increased stopping distance of three car lengths. Researchers have also shown that texting while driving is more dangerous than texting while drinking (alcohol) or smoking pot. It was also shown that impairment in driving was far more in females than in males however; males are more likely to text while they drive so the average impairment between both genders is the same. Our survey has shown that ________% of regular texters are subjected to road accidents every year.

WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

Texting was created to provide a platform where users could communicate without spending much time and money as compared to using calling for communicating. But due to overuse of texting, it is now considered to be a waste of time and money. Question is how it is waste of time? Well, regular texters (mostly youngsters) are declining from the completion of their daily activities and are wasting time texting day and night. And this type of texting is not productive. They are either sending forward messages or thinking of ways of bullying people over texting. They are withdrawing from their studies which is resulting in
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poor GPAs and even poorer productive activities. Secondly how is text messaging is a waste of money? Texting was created perpendicular with Calling because it was considered to be money efficient. But Youngsters have made this blessing to a disaster which has now become source of wastage of money. Due to its over use, Youngsters are wasting their money and time on such a counterproductive activity which has given rise to a number of social and political problems. Our survey shows that youngsters spend ____ of their daily time and pay up to ________ per month all through texting.

DAMAGING FAMILY RELATIONS

Most youngsters grow closer with their friends and peers than with their parents and family members because they spend more time with each other both in and out of college and university. It is the facts that in todays technological life people forget to give value to their relations. They feel comfort to spend more time on face book or do chatting with their friends rather than talk to their parents or family members. This thing is creating a communication gap between parents and the young generation. Youngsters feel insecure while they are chatting with their friends because they do not want to show their texts and even do not want to tell their parents to whom they are chatting. This thing creates a lack of trust and confidence between family relations. Youth prefer to share problems with their friends or with the relations which do not have any foundation instead of sharing it with their family members. Text messaging is beginning to produce an obstacle to build strong relationship between parents and children.

DECLINE IN THE MORAL FABRIC OF THE SOCIETY

Youngsters are a rollercoaster ride of emotions. They are moody, passive-aggressive, rebellious, emotional and even bonkers. In todays era they do not enjoy their cultural values. They are closer to their texting device rather than their social and cultural values. If we talk about 1900s era in which our grandfathers who did not have these facilities, enjoyed their life more than our todays youth. They were closer to their family values and culture. They enjoyed their leisure time with their family members. They used to do a gupshup while having a cup of tea with their friends and family members. They used to share their problems with their family members and they used to take decisions in the light of their elders experiences. In todays era our youth is not giving any importance to their family relations and cultural values. They are busy in practicing others traditions and culture. Late night texting results in relations who do not have any base or foundation. Youth get involved in a habit of doing lot of messages which not only results in the damage of their personal moral values but also leaves bad examples in the society. Funny messages, which youth think a cheap source of entertainment, puts its share more in damaging the youths personality and their moral character. Excessive use of texting not only affects youth moral health but also create concerns of parents on the bad usage of the text messaging. These things results in combat and damage the moral values of the society. Youth waste their precious time on texting which they can utilize for the betterment of their society.

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Positive Effects
Text messaging (if used within a sensible range) also has its positive effects which are bringing about a revolution in the communication world around the globe. The effects are:

CHEAP AND EASY WAY TO COMMUNICATE

Texting was created as a substitute for voice calls and it has its benefits. Firstly it is a cheap way of communication. Different cellular companies are providing sms packages without any monopoly. The packages are far less expensive than voice call packages. One can send hundreds of texts daily by spending least amount of money. Secondly, it is the best source of communication where one cannot have a verbal communication. For example in a meeting one can send a text of important info without disturbing ones associates. Texting provides a wide variety of symbols which can be used to express your whole concern to the receiver. Statistics show that _____ % youngsters are using texting in their daily activities to fulfill their day-to-day tasks e.g. during studies, they are using messaging to stay informed of the daily quizzes and assignments. It is now become a platform of social interaction and to Stay Connected.

QUICK SOURCE OF INFORMATION & TIME SAVING & RECORD KEEPING

Unlike calling to convey a message, texting provides a quick way to communicate without worrying about the receiver to be online or not. One can just text a message and the other person can get it because it will stored in the phones memory. Texting is time saving if it is only used for communicating at the time of need. Rather than calling, it is time saving because you just convey your message and it will be read by the reader. Due to the capability of record keeping, one doesnt have to worry whether the receiver understood your message or not. An SMS exchange that is saved on your phone is an excellent way to remind yourself at a later time about the contents of a conversation that you had. To remember what a phone conversation is about, you would need to write notes for yourself and worry about losing them later. The same goes for situations in which you cannot get access to a pen and paper and you need to jot down important information. You can enter the information into a text message and then either send it to yourself or save it in the "Draft" folder on your phone. The information will be stored there until you choose to delete it.

SAVING MONEY
Text messaging also provides effective ways of reducing your cell phone bill. Sending a text is usually cheaper than making a voice call. Also, many people send text messages saying

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something along the lines of "Call me in 30 minutes on my home phone." In most cases, the land line conversation ends up being cheaper than a cell phone conversation.

INCREASE IN LITERACY RATE

Researchers have shown, through their studies, that texting is resulting in increase in literacy among youngsters if used within a specified limit. They have shown that because of daily texting, they come across new words which are increasing their vocabulary.

DISCRETION
Text messaging allows you to communicate with others in situations where a face-to-face or phone conversation is not possible or appropriate-- during a meeting, for example. It can also come in handy when you don't want others to hear what you are saying.

HELPING THE HEARING IMPAIRED

Texting provides a most appropriate platform of communication for hearing impaired. Before the evolution of this technology, the deaf only communicated through an interpreter and with the help of proper education of deaf language but now, this program provides most suitable communication platform. At the deaf school of Alabama, every person has a cell phone and they use it for daily activities. For generations, deaf people communicated mainly by sign language, gesturing, lip-reading and writing. Telephone lines then allowed for TTY machines that deaf people could use to send printed messages electronically. Now texting has replaced all these technologies. Verizon and AT&T offer plans specially designed for the hearing-impaired. They have unlimited, text only plans for about $50 a month.

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AFTERCARE OF PATIENTS
Text messaging for health isnt new. Patients are now dinged with messages on their phones about a range of health matters. Sugar patients are texted about the time of taking their pills, heart patients are made aware of their heart conditions and results of their monthly tests, and psychiatrists help their patients by informing them of their monthly visit. The hospitals now have a whole database of their admitted and visiting patients and keep them informed daily and monthly. This has reduced the number of admissions in the hospitals and created benefits for doctors as well as patients. Special texting softwares are implemented in patients cell phones which set a questionnaire on the persons cell phone on their arrival in the hospital. The development of a text messaging (SMS) based intervention for the aftercare treatment of bulimia nervosa is reported. The program is offered to bulimic patients for 6 months following discharge from inpatient psychotherapy in a German hospital for psychosomatic medicine. The intervention consists of weekly messages from the patients on their bulimic symptomatology and a corresponding weekly feedback that is a mixture of pre-programmed parts and individually tailored information. An ongoing pilot study is described, designed to investigate the acceptance, the practicability, and the effectiveness of the intervention. Preliminary results indicate that the program is well-accepted and gives support to bulimic patients after finishing inpatient treatment. Advantages and limitations of the use of the SMS intervention program in the treatment of bulimia nervosa are discussed. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Conclusions
Consequences are a part of everyday life. Consequences and effects of the text messaging entirely depend on the way you use it. For example if you forget your umbrella and it starts to rain, you get wet. If you leave the cake in the oven too long, it burns. Consequences are a way of life and they teach you to become a responsible person. To get a better idea of the effects of texting on Youngsters and how much this technology was actually being used, a survey was conducted in Fast-Nu Islamabad. Youth use their cell phones more as a texting device rather than a calling device. There are far worst effects of texting on youngsters than there are good. We have concluded that the effects are creating problems such as

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Youngsters are typing things they wouldnt say in person Youngsters prefers to text their parents rather than talk to you directly. Boundaries about texting and electronic devices are unclear. They are having sleeping problems which is destroying their academic opportunities. They are having educational problems such as grammar problems, problems in speaking and concentration during classes. They are subjected to black mailing and bullying. There is a growth in accidents involving youngsters and its main cause is texting during driving. Texting is creating social, political and moral problems in youngsters which are destroying family life in the country.

These are just a few out growing effects of texting which have come to our attention. Further studies on current matter may yield even worst results.

Recommendations
The occasional use of mobile phones for texting is harmless however; it has become an addictive past time that can cause a lot of damage to the development of youth. The following are the recommendation for parents as well as law enforcing authorities to overcome the bad effects of texting. Limit its use until a child is at a more mature and responsible age in his life. Parents should know about their child that to whom they text, how often they text, and when they text. Pay close attention on the numbers to keep track of the people your child communicates with. Check bill payments of your childs phone. Talk to your children about the responsible use of the cell phones. Youngsters are allergic to authority figures, especially those who impose on them all the time. They need to have space to express their own thoughts, opinions, feelings, and even personal styles. Encourage your teens to find their own voice and develop their own personality. Build trusty relationship with your children so that they do not get distracted and go on any wrong path. Keep in touch with your children, check their activity and give moral support to them. Do not criticize harshly. Youngsters are sensitive to negative criticism. Make them understand that your goal is not to judge and be the bad guy in their lives, but to help them be better persons and do away with things that will only cause them harm. You can do this by acknowledging their strengths and positive traits. Encourage them to continue with better utilizing their skills and abilities.

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Your child also may be put in dangerous situations if he gives his phone number to a stranger who wishes to do him harm. Educate your youth on the importance of not giving out their phone number to unknown persons is vital to your child's safety. Proper policies should be implemented in schools and universities about the use of texting during classes. Texting should be banned while driving. Different informative lectures should be given to youngsters about the bad aspects and restrict them of the over use of texting for their daily activities. No texting while they should be concentrating on something else should be adopted. Establish consequences for misuse.

References
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-205_162-6883857.html http://www.todaysthv.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=119127 http://www.massdevice.com/blogs/massdevice/could-texting-patients-reduce-hospitaladmissions-thinking-through-innovation?page=show http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/erv.521/abstract http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/responsible-text-messaging-tips http://56wrtg1150.wikidot.com/negative-effects-of-texting-in-the-classroom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_messaging http://www.ehow.com/about_4745121_advantages-text-messaging.html http://www.craph.org/the-advantages-of-text-messaging-for-the-hearing-impaired.html http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-205_162-6883857.html http://www.todaysthv.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=119127 http://www.livestrong.com/article/247705-dangers-of-mobile-phones-forchildren/#ixzz1tcsiIvqa

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