In this digital age of abbreviations, it seems that no one has the time for the English language anymore.
With the increase of social media and smart phones, our delicate language is slowly drifting away into obscurity.
The rise of the internet cannot necessarily be blamed for gruesome grammar issues, as we are the ones behind the
keys. Many have gotten into the habit of typing a word and hoping to guess close enough for spell check to recognize it.
Programs such as spell check and autocorrect have made its users so lazy that when they are abandoned at the mercy
of paper and pen, they simply cannot get by.
Social media websites have become a cesspool for comments riddled with misspellings and no attempt at proper
punctuation. With the connectivity of the Internet today, this made-up, messed-up language that has accidently mutated,
spreads like disease.
According to learnthat.org, only a little more than half of the students at American elementary schools write well enough to
be considered functionally literate.
This frightening fact is a result of just how little attention we give to grammar and english in, not only our school systems,
but at home where learning begins.
How do we end this madness?
A light at the end of the literary tunnel, The National Council of Teachers of English, work to promote success in literacy
and using the language to our fullest advantage. Having formed in 1911, the organization has worked for over a century to
preserve our language and all it has to offer. You can join in on the fight at ncte.org and learn what you can do to influence
education policies in legislation.
But the real place this can be corrected is in everyday life. No matter if you are texting, on Facebook, or writing an essay
for college, proper grammar and english should be practiced each time you write and speak.
It kills me a little inside to hear a teacher pronounce ‘across’ as ‘acrossed’. The spell check on my computer is getting
mad at me for even leaving that fake word in here.
My point is, if we cannot count on our educators to properly convey our dying language to future generations, then it will
be just that: a dead language.
What is even more frustrating is that the people who are being shamed are the ones who point out the mistakes, or the
“grammar nazis” as they are affectionately called. These people are doing their best to cultivate man’s oldest creation.
Everyone is allowed their typos, but when the typos turn into a language of its own, it’s worrisome.
I fear for a future where contractions become obsolete and we will only have one way to spell ‘your’.
I fear for a future where children do not get to witness words that have graced the pages of Shakespeare but only words
that are trending on Twitter.
