The Loss of Literacy in Modern America

[kyuuketsuki4]

I blame mostly laziness and peer validation. I'm pretty lazy and my computer's shift key is a pain so I used to not capitalize or punctuate but at least people could understand me because i didn't leave out half the letters of every word. I mean, really how hard can it be to type out the whole word. It would take me longer to type in text talk because I'm not used to it, which leads me to the conclusion that these people have NEVER spelt their words properly.

It's like you guys said, if one person does it then others will follow. I came on the internet late in my life when I was 9 or something, and I was supposed to understand what "lk t tis awsm sit" meant? Granted, my screenname was rather skewered, but that's because it was the only way I could spell it that wasn't taken. It's not like I was typing like that.

I also rather like the conspiracy theory, it does seem at times like nobody cares anymore that we get a good education. ninja  

[Cheerfulhope]

I also blame laziness and peer validation. People just don't like typing the long way anymore. They don't proofread their messages and typings so they don't care about typos or idiotic little shortcuts. You could say that they're the weak links in our future society. burning_eyes An apocalypse is near.  

[Velezzer]

It is all pure laziness.  

[(LD)Croaks]

It's pure peer validation. It's this whole "gangster/ghetto" style of things, the people who follow it think it's cool to be a pimp or to be stupid and illiterate. They're measured by what they have and not by what they are. I mean the actual people who live in the real ghettos are not gangsters or pimps, they're just normal people trying to make a living.  

[(LD)Croaks]

cheerfulhope

I also blame laziness and peer validation. People just don't like typing the long way anymore. They don't proofread their messages and typings so they don't care about typos or idiotic little shortcuts. You could say that they're the weak links in our future society. burning_eyes An apocalypse is near.

You know just because someone types like this "OMG!!!!!1 its lk i ws gng tu do t tuuuu!!!!!!11" doesn't mean they are illiterate. I have friends who type like that just because they're lazy, if they wanted too they could be perfectly literate. Just because someone is lazy doesn't mean they are illiterate. My point being: the internet is not an accurate tool to measure literacy.  

[Honorable Nasty]

(LD)Croaks

cheerfulhope

I also blame laziness and peer validation. People just don't like typing the long way anymore. They don't proofread their messages and typings so they don't care about typos or idiotic little shortcuts. You could say that they're the weak links in our future society. burning_eyes An apocalypse is near.

You know just because someone types like this "OMG!!!!!1 its lk i ws gng tu do t tuuuu!!!!!!11" doesn't mean they are illiterate. I have friends who type like that just because they're lazy, if they wanted too they could be perfectly literate. Just because someone is lazy doesn't mean they are illiterate. My point being: the internet is not an accurate tool to measure literacy.

I do agree with that since I myself have fallen into the 'txt tlk trap' at times, but I know that I am perfectly literate. I think it's partially due to laziness but also to the want of a quick response. Although, to type those extra few letters wouldn't kill much time, people seem to think it does.
Also when I first got into computers I found myself surrounded by 'txt tlkrs' but I continued to type out my words. I was neither scorned or made fun of because of this, but seeing others using 'txt tlk' I figured that I might as well do it too and thus I fell into the txt tlk trap' and I belive this is true situation for many others.  

[GimplyDropper]

Whoo!
Go gramatical apocolyptic doom!
I'm only fourteen, and I have disgraphia. If I can be literate, and type correctly, then another fourteen year-old can too.
And it's laziness.  

[little cherry blossom]

When computers do your spelling checks for you, why bother to learn how? I have actually been told this by people who don't feel like bothering to learn how! They also seem to wear their ignorance as a badge of honor!  

[Honorable Nasty]

little cherry blossom

When computers do your spelling checks for you, why bother to learn how? I have actually been told this by people who don't feel like bothering to learn how! They also seem to wear their ignorance as a badge of honor!

Yes, I see this happening among the younger students in my school. I'm a teacher aid for a 7th grade teacher and when I grade her student's papers I am appalled by the number of spelling and gramatical mistakes!  

[K4t3yKat]

xAvenirYuinax

Harusaki-chan

People just don't bother teaching their kids, and the schooling is lax. It's like this in Canada, too. The kids could care less about having proper grammar, and the parents could care less about whether or not the child is properly educated. For instance: When I was in grade eight, I had to teach five people on how to read and look up words in a dictionary, and then another ten on how to use an encyclopedia properly. I learned this in grade four, and was amazed at the total incompetence. Finally, after about 3/4 of the class came up to me, I told them to screw off, and that if they were stupid, it was their problem. But I mean come on, if they can not even read a simple dictionary, then I pity the new generation. If this keeps up, we're royally screwed.

It've come across people in my school completely ignorant of what an encyclopedia is, or they had some distorted definition of it. I was tempted to grab the thickest volume that could be found and club them over the head with it. In retrospect, I think I should have. It might have knocked some sense into them.

I was tempted too. Should have, but the teacher was right there... mind you, she gave me a pitying look when they swamped me.  

[Gaunt]

Personally, I blame what comes up under laziness. My actual blame goes to 'I don't care.' Kids, nowadays, are NOT concerned about English AT ALL. Here at my university, English Proficiancy is a requirement. One has to either take the English Proficiancy exam (and pass it), or complete English Review. I had to take English Review because I didn't think I had to take the exam the moment I became a senior. I was surprised at the simple things that we had to do in that class, how many people were taking it, and how they were griping about having to take it.  

[Domenic]

(-) Ignorant People

(That's what I voted for)  

[K4t3yKat]

kyuuketsuki4

I blame mostly laziness and peer validation. I'm pretty lazy and my computer's shift key is a pain so I used to not capitalize or punctuate but at least people could understand me because i didn't leave out half the letters of every word. I mean, really how hard can it be to type out the whole word. It would take me longer to type in text talk because I'm not used to it, which leads me to the conclusion that these people have NEVER spelt their words properly.

It's like you guys said, if one person does it then others will follow. I came on the internet late in my life when I was 9 or something, and I was supposed to understand what "lk t tis awsm sit" meant? Granted, my screenname was rather skewered, but that's because it was the only way I could spell it that wasn't taken. It's not like I was typing like that.

I also rather like the conspiracy theory, it does seem at times like nobody cares anymore that we get a good education. ninja

sweatdrop What does that mean? I got "it is" "awesome" and "Isn't it" out of that...  

[K4t3yKat]

Gaunt

Personally, I blame what comes up under laziness. My actual blame goes to 'I don't care.' Kids, nowadays, are NOT concerned about English AT ALL. Here at my university, English Proficiency is a requirement. One has to either take the English Proficiency exam (and pass it), or complete English Review. I had to take English Review because I didn't think I had to take the exam the moment I became a senior. I was surprised at the simple things that we had to do in that class, how many people were taking it, and how they were griping about having to take it.

It really burns me that people can't even speak their mother tongue properly. It has gotten so bad that I get excited when my friends say words that are longer than five letters. I sincerely mourn the loss of Old English. Sure, we used 'ye' 'yer' and 'aye/ay' but at least we followed it up with larger words, ie:

"Ye be an ignorant sow who deserves nothing more than to be hung from the gallows."

Okay, glad I got that out of my system.. sweatdrop redface  

[Cintax Error]

It's due to laziness and peer validation. Some people are too lazy to do thing correctly, when others who may look up to them see this, they decide to tag along and follow in their idiocy. I will not let myself fall down to their standards. All they truly need is a strong influence. I have a literate friend, and his 9 year old brother types correctly. Punctuation, capitalization, everything. So there are still good influences. I will not say his grammar is flawless, but you could easily mistake him for someone at least 15 from his spelling and grammar. I know that hope is not lost, and I do not tolerate people bothering me with chatspeak/txttlk/ Whatever you wish to call it. If they're kidding to taunt someone? That's fine. but if they send me something saying 'hay wuts up wit u' then I'll either temporarily block them, or ignore it. I'm sick and tired of dealing with people thinking that acting like an idiot is cool. Right now it's just an annoyance, but how far can this go? I'd prefer not to block out portions of people, but it's truly annoying. And if they're not willing to take a second to truly type out something to me, then they're not worth it.

Summary: Laziness from 'role models' leads to peer validation, which leads to our screwed up world.