Writing, Technology and Teens
The Pew Internet & American Life Project, in conjunction with the National Commission of Writing (College Board), has published the results of a survey and study titled “Writing, Technology and Teens.” It is available online at http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Writing_Report_FINAL3.pdf.
The report presents some interesting, and sometimes troubling, conclusions--
· 83% of parents of teens feel there is a greater need to write well today than there was 20 years ago (94% of black parents, 79% of Hispanic).
· 86% of teens believe good writing is important to success in life – some 56% describe it as essential and another 30% describe it as important.
Yet
· 60% of teens do not think of electronic texts (text messaging, email, comments on social network sites, blogging) as “writing.”
· 38% say they have used text shortcuts in school work (e.g., LOL, IMHA, etc.)
· 25% have used emoticons (e.g., J) in school work.
Unfortunately,
· Most teens write something nearly every day for school, but for 82% the average writing assignment is a paragraph to one page in length.
And even more unfortunately,
· 26% of boys say they never write for personal enjoyment outside of school.