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Brayan Padilla

Professor Granillo

English 101

18 October 2018

The Real Truth About Text Messages

Many people assume that since technology has been more involved in the lives of people,

writing issues have increased at the same time. Cullington’s essay appeared first in Young

Scholars in Writing in 2010 and talks about the different opinions about how text messages have

affected student’s writing. Also, there are some cases where students have grammar issues due to

texting. The author utilizes different rhetorical modes created by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher,

who was born in 384 BC. As a result, Cullington captured readers with Aristotle’s philosophy to

sound more credible with its research about the issue. In Michaela Cullington article, “Does

texting affect writing?” the author utilize logos and ethos to support her argument that texting

has a minimal effect on students’ writings. Although Cullington provides a lot of evidence

conveying her position, texting has impacted many people negatively due to the struggles to

convey correct spelling and grammatical sentences, social communication, and lack of

motivation. In addition, if this continues, there is going to be a whole generation of students not

being able to write well and with stress.

Text messaging has increased in the last decade and has become a main source of

communication. In the article, “Does Texting Affect Writing” the author gives a definition about

text messaging. According to Michaela Cullington, “Texting […]is the process of sending and

receiving typed messages via a cellular phone. It is a common means of communication among

teenagers and is even becoming popular in the business world” (462). In other words, Cullington
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is saying that text messaging is helpful for students and companies to communicate easier and

faster. In fact, many people use abbreviations instead of writing words because there is no need

to write properly since it is not a formal document. In short, many people will think that by not

using proper grammar, texting will generate issues in people's writing. However, the author has a

different opinion and believes that text messages improve societies in terms of communication.

The author uses logos to try to persuade the reader with logic. The rhetoric, logos, means

to establish logic towards the reader and audience in order to further prove a point. This

rhetorical device is utilized in the essay in order to support the author’s main point. For example,

“On the basis of my own research, expert research, and personal observations, I can confidently

state that texting is not interfering with students...writing abilities in general” (Cullington 471).

In making this comment, Cullington indicates that text messages have no negative effects on

students. In the same way, students have created a new way to communicate without the use of

proper grammar, the author indicated. Furthermore, students have created a new language to

communicate, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people believe that the new

language can have negative effects in writing when doing essays. Logos was not the only

rhetorical devices that the author utilized in her article.

Ethos is another rhetorical mode applied in the essay to establish credibility. According to

Jacquie Ream in the article, “Texting, Testing Destroys Kids’ Writing Style” there are some bad

aspects about texting that are affecting us. Ream states, “Only 25% of the high school seniors are

“Proficient” writers” (463). The essence of Ream’s argument is that testing is affecting the

grammar of those who do not utilize full words or sentences. Furthermore, another major

problem is that future generations are growing up with no sense of how to write a formal paper

due to texting. Although there are many different opinions on this topic, some of them will
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probably believe that text messages are beneficial for future generations. Jacquie Ream is not the

only person with a negative position about the issue.

Another person with a similar opinion about text messages is Angela Risto. Angela Risto

in the article, “The Impact of Texting and Social Media on Students’ Academic Writing Skills,”

states the negatives sides of texting on students. As a prominent writer Risto puts it, “Students’

academic writing skills are declining as a result of the utilization of texting…75% of high school

teachers felt that texting was negatively impacting students’ academic skills” (3). In other

words, educators are spending more time explaining the same again and again due to text

messages. Also, be stating this Risto shows that Cullington’s believe that technology is not

affecting us is wrong. Moreover, Risto further indicates that texting prevents proficient writing

skills from forming within students, so teachers should be better equipped in order to enforce

those skills on students. Indeed, by having better school programs teacher will be able to fix

problems that are been created by texting, such as spelling and critical thinking skills. In

addition, the author believes that these writing skills can be used not only in academics, but also

in the workforce in the future.

Talking with others is more difficult for students due to technology since they only know

how to text. Risto in her research found more evidence about the effects in society. Risto also

indicates that, “13 to 17-year olds employ their cell phone more for texting than for talking,”

(23). In other words, Risto is saying that today, young people prefer to talk by phone instead of

in person. Also, by not having a conversation with someone in person that would affect them in

the future if they have to do a presentation in class, or maybe in a job interview since they have

never interacted in person. To add on, Risto highlights the importance of text messaging to the

new millennials by providing an example. The example she uses is in 2009, when Barack Obama
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sent around 3 million text messages to communicate about Joe Biden running for Vice President.

He had hoped that that would encourage younger voters, who depend on their phones, to come

out and vote. Other sources she uses to emphasize her ideas are social media pages that

frequently taking over the social lives of teens and those in their early 20s, which in turn leads to

influencing their social skills as well as their writing skills in their daily lives.

Student are beginning to have problems when writing an essay. Motivation is what students

need to write a good essay; however, text messages limit motivation. Cullington states, “Text

messages lack emotion[s]. Many argue that texts lack feeling because of their tendency to be

short, brief, and to the point” (464). In other words, it is obvious that texting is just affecting

everyone that uses that often. Most teachers, will tell that this problem cannot be fix because

technology, and texting is everywhere. However, other teachers are fixing the problem by taking

points off, if students do not elaborate the work. In addition, school districts should implement

new programs to remind proper sentence structure to solve the problem that it is been generated

by texting.

Text messages are responsibilities of grammar, spelling, and stress. Leslie M. the author

of the article, “An Examination of Texting’s Impact On Writing” gives a brief explanation about

the consequences of having lack of knowledge. In Leslie’s view, “Writing can be difficult for

some due to grammar, spelling and organizing one’s thoughts...This lack of skill can create stress

due to the pressure of the inability to write using appropriate grammar” (19). Leslie’s point is

that teachers do not want their students to get stress because of their lack of knowledge, instead

they want them to know those skills. However, they need to start practicing with skills that they

have not mastered.

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In the same way, such devices were used by Cullington in her essay in order to present

that texting in not negative for students. She discusses that texting is beneficial for all since is

keeping us in contact with the world, and that is not interfering with academics. Furthermore,

many people disagree with Cullington’s view that texting is good for students because, as recent

research has shown, texting has more negative impacts such as writing, social interaction, and

critical thinking issues. Many people are so diverse in their views that it is hard to generalize

about them, but some are likely to object on the ground that text messages are beneficial for the

modern world. Cullington is right to argue that texting is a good way to communicate. But she

exaggerates when she claims that it beneficial for students and that does not have effects with

their studies. To fix texting problems will take me a long way to achieve this goal because

texting is already part of our lives in today's day. In other words, technology is so involved in our

lives that if we try to get rid of it, maybe that will affect us too. In short, by implementing new

writing rules for texting, it can be possible to solve grammar issues primarily.
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Works Cited

Cullington, Michaela. Does Texting Affect Writing. They say/ I say, Graff Gerald,

Birkenstein Cathy, Durst Russel, 4 Edition, Norton, April 2010, pp.462-473.

Risto, Angela. The Impact of Texting and Social Media on Students’ Academic Writing Skills.

ProQuest, ProQuest LLC., December 2014.

https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/1658528579/F5D7924AB8F84CE3PQ/2?acc

ountid=38295

M. Leslie, Starr-Janin. An Examination of Texting’s Impact on Writing. ProQuest,

ProQuest LLC, June 2014.

https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/1560258231/FF62B2016684D0FPQ/1?accou

ntid=38295