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I'm only in the 9th grade, and I am literate, obviously, but I'm concerned with the fact that there are people in my class that are not just illiterate in the sense that they don't know grammar rules, but that they can't read at all! I'm dead serious! There are two kids that literally can't read to save their lives. And what's worse than that is that everyone in the class makes fun of them for it, and I'm just absolutely positive that it's doing wonders for their self-esteem (sarcasm hint hint)...

I am 18, and I learned to read playing video games. In fact, I stubbornly refused to learn until my dad brought home this wonderful RPG game that, in order to play it, you had to be able to read what the characters were saying. I believe it was on my grandmother's old SNES.

Anyways, it is my theory that because it has become socially acceptable to type in 'chatspeak' almost anywhere online, most of those raised around computers think that it should be acceptable anywhere, as long as people can vaguely understand what you might possibly be trying to say.
To adults, however, computers weren't really the biggest part of their lifestyle when they were getting educations, and so they weren't taught that it's okay to neglect putting the 'y' and the 'o' before the 'u'.
Honestly, I'm ashamed at my generation, and how it's become impressed by how lazy people are. The only time I ever find chatspeak at all acceptable is if one is being charged per letter on, say, a text message sent via a mobile phone.
Otherwise, there's no point to it. You spend more time trying to poke at individual keys, and other people spend more time trying to decode your nearly-foreign language.

I must ask, though, is it only the english language that is suffering at the hand of illiterates like this?

I just turned 14 the 30th of December. I get mistaken alot for an elementry student. I have a high girly voice, and I look like I'm 12, so you can imagine. That's the age I actually stopped using "txt tlk" becase I had found it rather annoying, and rude.

I'm seventeen, though I will be classified as an adult at the end of March I've always been literate since I was in grade six. I do not quite remember how old I was then... Well if you're in seventh grade and you're eleven that would have made me ten. Yeah that's about right.

Anyways, I was as literate as I was able at the age of ten anyways, seeing as I enjoyed paying attention in English but not all of the grammatical principles were taught in grade six, but just the basics. I do know my teacher said I had a grade nine reading level in grade six, which is maybe why I did so well in English and whatever.

17 turning 18 this july, I feel old and young all in at the same time go me! blaugh

Glad to see that I'm not the only person here over 20! lol
I'm 25, but I have always been a stickler for correct spelling and grammar, ever since I was a kid. I think it came from that fact that I was raised by my grandparents - my grandma was a high school English teacher, and my grandpa was a university professor in Engineering. I read voraciously from a young age, and was corrected all the time, so I think i was just raised to be highly literate.

I am 12, and in 7th grade, and I am literate. I am annoyed by leet. ((Text talk = Leet..If you didn't know. ^.^))

I'm 14, turning 15 this summer.