Thursday, April 22, 2010

NPR: Teen Texting Soars; Will Social Skills Suffer?



In light of my recent post on communicating the message of Jesus to teenagers, this is interesting:

History teacher Nini Halkett laments the bad spelling and writing that seem to get worse each year as texting becomes more widespread. She also worries that so much immersion in technology is stinting her students' interpersonal skills. She finds they much prefer to communicate via computer, especially when working up the courage to ask for something like an extension on a deadline.

"When they do finally come in and talk to you, they just seem more shy," Halkett says. "A lot of them have a harder time looking you in the eye and communicating directly with you."


Here's my question: how will quickly-developing technologies change how we as youth workers communicate with teenagers on a teaching level?

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