MyTextalk Blog

Etiquette Isn’t a Thing of the Past in Texting, It’s JC

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Published on Tuesday, 17 March 2009 00:00
Written by Super User
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By Beth Allen, Contributing Writer

Six middle-school kids sit side-by-side in the front row of a theater waiting for the movie to begin. Getting that many kids together in any social gathering when it's not a birthday is no mean feat, yet there is no laughter or conversation among them to mark this rare occasion. Instead, they sit in wordless isolation; their shoulders hunched over small illuminated screens, their heads dropped forward in silent concentration, their fingers busily sending text messages to other kids who are not in this small group. Welcome to the social norm of the 21st-century.

Looking back to a technologically simpler time, Emily Post summed up her philosophy for right living in saying: "Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners."

Using that definition in this context, is it acceptable for friends to sit together and text other friends or is it insensitive? Has text messaging become just one more area where society is losing the manners battle or do we need to expand our ideas on proper etiquette to encompass developments in technology? How is text messaging used by our kids, and what is our responsibility as parents to guide them in texting etiquette?