Writing, Technology, and Teens

The article “Writing, Technology, and Teens: Summary of Findings” written by Amanda Lenhart, Aaron Smith, Alexandra Macgill, and Sousan Arafeh is about how technology impacts teens and the way they write.  To find this out they conducted a research, probably a survey, to see what other people thought about these topics. The main idea is that whether or not the informal writing of teens through texting and other communications has an impact on students’ formal writing in school. Sixty percent of teens believe that their technology enriched lives and spending time texting does not make a difference in their writing because they do not consider it writing. Except, thirty-eight percent of teens have admitted that they use texting shortcuts for school work. Several parents believe the ability to write well formally will help their teens in the future. It is an important skill to have for success. Teen want to write more when they get to pick their topic or have one that they are interested in instead of something they are told to do by their teacher. It is more likely for teens to write on their own with no school connection. Also, students write using computers more often than handwriting when it has to be done for school, but when they write for pleasure they write on paper. This article included a lot of data about writing and teens. It also included the open of more than just what teens or the student believes. I think this gives the article reliable and less biased. If the article was just the opinion of teens and what they thought it would be biased because both sides were not shown. The authors wrote the article because it is an important topic with the advancements in technology. Technology is doing great things like allowing soldiers skype with their families and let businesses communicate all around the world. But the question of whether it has a negative effect on students writing is important because students are the future. Since writing is an important skill to have to be successful it is quite important that we do not let technology impede on the skill.

 

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