Texters: The Lingual Assassins

he shuffling steps, the downcast eyes, the half-lidded glances at the dinner table-what does it all mean? From a distance, many of todays teens can easily be mistaken for OCD-ridden castaways from the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Upon

closer inspection, the observer may catch a glowing reflection in the eyes, and the rapidly wiggling thumbs of an adolescent completelyif momentarilyabsorbed in the act of text messaging. For good or ill, the days of following a taut-stretched phone cord around two corners and under the bathroom door to locate a huddled young person chatting away with friends are over. Without speaking word one, entire dialogues are being transmitted invisibly and silently right over our heads. With up to ten or more active text streams flowing at any given moment, teenagers have moved multitasking forward by an order of magnitude. Distraction is imminent. In general, the adult world has settled down over the texting craze; many states have established laws to punish distracted drivers, and most cell phone companies have weaseled an unlimited texting clause into the average subscriber's ever-inflating phone bill. Quick series' of pressed buttons have simplified family scheduling and the busy signal is truly going the way of the vinyl recordbut where are the minds of the kids?certainly not fixed with rigid attention on that tough trig problem, and definitely not on household chores or helping out with dinner. Adults who have been raised with certain decorum dont even know if it is polite to interrupt a person texting, while the average teen texter thinks nothing of fetching a vibrating device from a half jean pocket right in mid-sentence. And how is it, with every cell phone on earth tied together by electronic precision to the exact time that these future adults still have not a clue what time it is? A price will be paid.

Whether in attention span deficits or by an inability to select one's own clothing for the following day without a dozen opinions, the nation's 'text wrapped' youth are evolving. No need to write down homework assignments, they know which kid to text. Heck, why even trouble with making flash cards for Spanish class, a series of self-sent texts will provide ample reviewand other incoming texts can be addressed without so much the turn of a head. Mom and Dad can be avoided discretely and completely between meals by an irregular stream of reminders and, in some households, trips up and down stairs are all but eliminated by delegation and demand through the medium. The spoken word has timbre, dimension and melody. Even a timely phone call can convey tact, etiquette and consideration. But the supplanting of texting for so much of daily verbal exchanges will bear a bitter fruit: Important items requiring face-to-face will be postponed or downgraded to a text. Myriad true intentions will be misunderstood. And, the steady simplification of depth and dynamics in speech must inevitably lead to further decay in the once rich pleasure of meaningful conversation. Why speak at all? The pathway were on may result in a mute nation; texting the bus driver to stop, texting answers to teachers, and the ultimate indecency: the texting of marital vows. A humorous exaggeration? Maybe, but it is the opinion of this newspaper that texting has already assassinated half of all previously pertinent verbal conversations and shows no signs of slowing down its voracious appetite. To stem this unquenchable force, only the power inherent to the family unit can prevail. Fathers, step fathersrole modelsshow courtesy while driving, and discretion when using phones around young people. Mothers, stepmothersinfluential adultscraft and introduce reasonable controls to which your children can agree. And most importantly send the message to young people that their self-expressed opinions are valuable and their voices are truly the voice of the future. As a wise person once said: Shut up and listen. They will speak if there is reason to believe they will be heard.