Social Media and Cell Phone Usage Has Negatively

Impacted the Formal Writing Process of Teenage Students

An editorial by Celena Gilbert

June 23, 2019

Anyone familiar with high school-aged students knows that social media and cell phones
have completely taken over their personal lives and has become their main priority – over, even,
in-person interactions. We have now reached the age where social media and cell phones have
crept into the classroom and have caused a significant depletion in students’ academic language
and grammar when completing formal writing assignments in their high school classes. This is a
pandemic that needs to be brought to an end sooner rather than later.

According to a study done in 2015, “[…] 88% of American teens ages 13 to 17 have
access to a mobile phone […]” (Lenhart). The concerning part about this statistic is that it is over
four years old, so it stands to reason that this number is even higher in today’s world. As a high
school teacher, with one hundred-and-thirty sophomore students (aged 15-16), I had two students
not have cell phones – which demonstrates an average of 98% of students having a cellular
device. Though there are several reasons to be concerned with the growth in cell phone usage
amongst teens, the biggest issue is that students’ academic language and grammar is being
severely impacted because of the various applications that these cell phones bring to students
including, but not limited to auto-correct, slang/abbreviated words, etc.

Cell phones have begun automatically correcting grammar and spelling errors instead of
marking them incorrect so that the user can see the error and determine the correct spelling. This
shortcut has allowed students the ease of not needing to review/edit their texts, status updates,
etc. This has caused a problem because students are, in turn, not making the connection of
importance in reviewing one’s work, which causes poor writing assignments to be submitted. For
example, when people type a lowercase “I” in their phones, it atomically capitalizes illuminating
the need to understand that the “I” should be capitalized when they are by themselves. In turn,
my students now turn in their formal writing assignments with a lowercase “I” instead (because
the school computers do not automatically correct them). Students have lost basic skills and
knowledge because of the ease of using their cell phones to correct grammar and misspellings
automatically, so when using actual computers and having to take the time to write professional
assignments, they fall short.

Another issue with students’ formal writing is derived from the excessive use of social
media and texting – which encourages slang and abbreviated words to make the process faster.
An academic analysis completed in Nigeria looked at how social media has impacted the writing
skills of students and determined that social media has caused students to lose the understanding
of correct spelling/grammar and, more importantly, when to use (and when not to). Osakue
Omoera gathered this information by sending out surveys to students in two different waves. The
first wave of surveys asked students whether or not they used abridged/slang words on social
media – this survey received a resounding “yes” from the recipients, causing Omoera to continue
with the second survey. The second survey sent out asked students to analyze their academic
work and determine whether or not they found themselves using the same abridged/slang words
they do on their social media platforms in their essays. The results of this survey determined that
the average students do not use correct spelling/grammar within their professional writing and
they agreed that this was caused by their social media use (Omoera 65). Given this information,
it is, once again, clear that cell phone and social media usage has set a precedence amongst high
school students that what they write through texting, on their social media platforms, etc. is
acceptable forms of writing – causing a downfall when completing academic writing
assignments.

Knowing that the use of cell phones and social media very clearly have a negative impact
on students’ formal writing, we, as teachers, parents, mentors, etc. need to be inciting a change
amongst this social media/cell phone cultural shift. So how do we go about reteaching the
importance of formal writing, spelling, grammar, etc.? Quite simply, by embracing it within our
classrooms and teaching the right and wrong ways to use it and the tools it provides.

Through finding ways of incorporating social media and cell phone usage within
classrooms, we are meeting our students in the middle and not expecting them to leave what has
become a huge part of their lives, at home. We can, therefore, ask the same thing of our students
– that they meet us in the middle and work at determining the appropriate use of abridged/slang
terms and other cell phone/social media tools. One way of doing this is by creating some sort of
social media presence specifically for classroom use – for instance, having students create blogs
based around content from the class, creating a designated Facebook group for each class,
creating a twitter hashtag, etc. (Neal 141-144). In essence, we need to spark student interest to
increase motivation, by incorporating a more formal version of the students’ beloved social
media sites, in turn increasing their motivation and encouraging them to actively engage in the
learning process. Once successfully implementing this way of learning into our classrooms, we
will put an end to the pandemic of uncultivated youth.
 Works Cited
Lenhart, Amanda. “A Majority of American Teens Report Access to a Computer, Game
Console, Smartphone and a Tablet.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 10
Apr. 2015, www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/a-majority-of-american-teens-report-
access-to-a-computer-game-console-smartphone-and-a-tablet/.
Neal, Diane Rasmussen. “Social Media for Academics.” Elsevier Science & Technology, 6 Aug.
2012, doi:10.1533/9781780633190.
Omoera, Osakue Stevenson, et al. “Impact of Social Media on the Writing Abilities of Ambrose
Alli University Undergraduates in Ekpoma-Nigeria.” GiST Education and Learning
Research Journal, no. 17, 2018, pp. 59–80., doi:10.26817/16925777.412.