Have kids lost the ability to spell and communicate properly?

God help our society if we ever have to resort to pencil, paper, and long division. I've been saying this for quite some time. Our children do not possess the necessary basic skill sets that our parents mastered.

Imagine someone today completely engineering the Empire State Building using nothing but a drafting table, a slide rule, and mind power.

It's scary....the dumbing down of the world is reality, not theory.

Edit: Someone down below stated that "spelling doesn't even matter much because we have spellcheck". That is the point of the OP. We have become so reliant on technology that we feel we don't need to learn how to spell because the computer already performs this function.

You need to learn how to spell without the aid of technology. Imagine how bad it would be if the person who programmed spellcheck hadn't learned how to spell?

The bottom line is that we have become so dependent on computers that were they all destroyed, our entire society would collapse. Don't think for a second that isn't a possibility. An electro-magnetic pulse would effectively destroy every circuit board within its effective range.

We could be back in the technological stone age in a minute's time.

I iz a kid n i cn spell gd n dat.

Only joking, although, I have grown up texting, and I have no qualms about typing "Hey, hw r u?", because I only have 160 characters to type my message.

What this has created, however, is a sort of patois that people under the age of thirty share. To me, reading text slang is second nature, and I hardly even notice, and I believe it is the same for the majority of today's western children.

Ask somebody a bit older than yourself, and you'll find that they're laying into you because you use contractions, put a space between "short" and "cuts", do not paragraph your polemic, and use words like "kids", "punks" and "cute".

I'm not criticising, merely observing. From my point of view, though, when we live in a world where time means money, if I can communicate the same information in less time, surely that is an advantage, compared to people who use grammar correctly and fastidiously. The problem only occurs when people do not understand.

To be honest, I'm not a hundred per cent sure where I stand on this issue, but what I do know is that I'm literate, I have a very good vocabulary, an advanced understanding of grammar, and a solid grounding in register. I believe that people like myself are more widespread than you seem to think, and I think it's a shame that you feel uncomfortable with it, although I acknowledge your misgivings.

I do it all the time! Not bcuz I think it's cute or cool, but BECAUSE I want 2 and I can. Just like you guys had your slang and fads when you were younger, we have ours. Your parents felt the same about you. Maybe the internet isn't for you. I don't understand every single [txt/im] acronym I see being used but that's what google is for, google it or ask the person. Also if someone uses the acronyms on a resume they are stupid and probably wouldn't have gotten the job anyway! Just because we won't spell out something completely doesn't mean we can't spell, just like bcuz you can't figure out the acronym or realize that the vowels are taken out of a word doesn't make you stupid.

And for the record I actually prefer to do math in my head or on paper rather than a calculator. Maybe you should try to understand ppl (people) instead of judging from the outside looking in. I actually think people are smarter now than ever before...well sometimes. Maybe you didn't use a calculator when you were younger bcuz you didn't have one. Why shouldn't we take advantage of the technology available? Don't get mad at what your generation or the generation after you created!!

This was not to be offensive at all [I'm] just stating my point of view!

That's a bit of a generalisation, isn't it? Most of my friends can spell perfectly well, and as you can tell, so can I. It's not that kids can't spell; it's that when all your friends use bad spelling and short cuts, it makes you uncool when you're spending two minutes to send a text in full English when your friends can write it in short and send it within 20 seconds. Spelling doesn't even matter that much when you have technology; that's what spellcheck is for.

What peeves me off is grammar going downhill. Instead of "could have", people are increasingly using "could of". Not many people know the difference between "it's" and "its" anymore, and the word "like" has worked its way into the language - it's a habit for most people now, including me, I'll admit. I don't mind "lol" so much - sometimes it just fits the situation like nothing else will.

But don't give up on my generation just yet. Spelling isn't the world; there's going to be so much more that we can do.

And while you're in the improving-spelling kind of mood, would you, or anyone, take a look at my question? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200908...

Not really. I think what you mean because of things like facebook, emails and mobile phones are we not speaking to friends or family as often in person? But for me personally, that is not the case as I would prefer any day to go out with a mate or family member than speak to them on a facebook conversation, email or a phone call.

i believe that it is the next progression in the language. just like when ye olde English was replaced by the standard English from the 20th century. i am somewhat concerned at the lack of proper attempt at literacy by students today. maybe we need to draw a line for example not adding num83r5 into words.

maybe it's just me, because i'm an intelligent person, but i have to agree with you on this situation. I am the guy that writes in full sentences with properly spelled words and proper punctuation all while using an intellectual vocabulary that often leaves my friends scratching their head. But that's just me. lol... I'm just kidding. I'm "laughing out loud."

I am guilty of using the occasional "lol," but for the most part I try to spell and talk correctly.

like lol ths q is so funni lol lmao ttyl dawg. im being a stpid bt hole.

Yeah you mean like that, im really guity for that. But it depends who ii am talking to when i use those words. I using for shortcuts because it takes a long time to text that stuff, especially if your lazy like me. (:

have a nice day =]

yes like the person above me im intellegent Too=] if i spelled that right...

They don't think its "Cute". They think its cool to type shortcuts like "lol" or "rofl". However, it does get annoying if they keep saying things like "so, wer r u" instead of "So, where are you?". I strongly agree that many of us need assistance in spelling.