I was just thinking about text messaging the other day. I was reading in The Globe about middle school children, and how they mainly use the cell phones to text each other. I remember back in the day, back in the 90's, when middle school children didn't have cell phones. Back in the days of old, children would beg for their own phone line in their room. I remember my friend Stef had her own, and I was so jealous. Now kids have technology that rivals what I'm able to buy for myself. What little turds these kids are.
When I got bullied in school, I got bullied on the bus, or in gym class. Face to face. Home was a sanctuary for me, somewhere I could escape Rachel calling me ugly (I'm not ugly by the way, she was just jealous that the bus picked me up in front of my house). At least she had the balls to say it to my face. Now these little twerps are name calling via text and Facebook. How lame is that? What's even worse is what they say to each other, how quickly rumors can spread, and the idea that home is a get-away is essentially gone.
I got my first cellular device when I was 16. Nine years ago (holy crap). I remember exploring the various features of the phone, and discovered text capability. I guess my generation was slow on the up-take, because NO ONE used it. What the hell is a text message anyway? I'll just call my friend to tell her about the craziness that happened while she was on vacation with her parents.
It's safe to say that I make far more phone calls, than I send text messages. Texting is great for those occasions when you can't make a call, but I think it's far easier to call someone and tell them in two minutes what's up. Through text that same convo can take forever. Not to mention, you lose the vocals cues that make up an enormous percentage of the communication itself. I hear today's youngsters can't read non-verbals. Thanks, text messaging, it's all your fault.
I love this post partially because I feel the exact same way you do in all the points you made, but always because it uses great examples and articulates your true opinions and ideas. Funny you say the thing about separate home phone line in the 90's because I remember being envious of the friends who had their own as well. I remember having mine phones book readily available to make play dates and prepping you say "Hey this is Molly, is Annie home?"
ReplyDeleteI definitely things all this new communication technology does boost self expression and effective information exchange, but it also enables kids and people of all ages to be less confrontational and even spineless and coward-like. Lets just be happy that although being bullied back in the day sucked, we at least knew how to stand up to people face-to-face.
When we first got a cell phone, the main reason was to be able to text...to Europe! While Europe had a single texting standard at that time, the US had a proprietary system where you could only text w/ others on the same platform. (Imagine only being able to email other folks on Gmail, and you get the picture.)
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, we had family in Europe, and there texting was (is?) more popular than emailing--way more convenient, for starters. Anyway, T-Moblile (which is a German company) brought the European standard over to the USA, which is why we got their phone....
All well and good until we moved to the Cape, and the only place we could get reception was standing in front of our mailbox...