Outline

FinaI Thesis Statement: %ext messaging, despite its advantages, affects young people
and their relationship, their time management, and most especially their English skills.
I. Text Messaging
xtended definition
istory
Status in the worId
Status in PhiIippines
II. Young PeopIe - Fanatics of text messaging
dvantages
isadvantages
- On their reIationship
- On their time management
- On their ngIish skiIIs

ccording to the Wikipedia, text messaging, also called as texting refers to the
brief messages between mobile phones over cellular networks. While texting refers to
messages sent using SMS, short for Short Message Service, it has been extended to
include messages containing images, videos and sound contents. %ext messaging is
most often used between private mobile phone users, as a substitute for voice calls in
situations where voice communication is impossible or undesirable.

%he history of cell phone is based upon radio technology that was developed on
1940's. t all began with taxi cabs, police cars and other service vehicles where two way
radios were used to communicate with one another or with a central base. Early cell
phone communication technology could be even traced back to individuals with special
radios that can patch into a phone line via live operator to make a phone call. %he first
official cellular phone was in Sweden which was used by the Swedish police in 1946. t
was connected to telephone network and was distinctive of two way radio technology
but it wasn't very practical because it only made six phone calls before the battery of the
car died. %he technology of modern cell phones started with the creation of hexagonal
cells for mobile phones by D.H. Ring from Bell Labs in 1947. Later on another engineer
from Bell Labs conceived of cell towers that would transmit and receive signals in three
directions instead of normal bi directional antennas n 1967, cellular phones were
already available to common people but they had to stay within a certain range to be
able to use it. While the technology had been developed, it wasn't until 1971 that %%
submitted a request to the FCC for cellular service. t took more than 10 years for an
approval. n 1983, Motorola made the first truly portable cellular phone. t was called the
Motorola Dyna%C 8000X. From 1983 up to the end of 1980's, cell phones grew in

popularity due to the innovations in cellular networks that were able to handle phone
calls in either one area or hand them off to other areas. While most cellular phones
weren't practical to be carried around, it was made for permanent installation in the car.
t was called "car phone and this was the first generation cellular phones. %he second
generation cellular phones, the 2G phones, are from the early 1990's which were able
to work on mobile phone systems. %hey were much smaller than the cellular phones in
1980's. %hird Generation cellular phones is the technology that is currently available
today and it is commonly referred to as 3G. lthough 3G only came out a few years
after 2G, their standards are really different. %here are two main requirements for 3G;
they include 2 Megabits of maximum data rate indoors and 384 kilobits for outdoor use.
3G mobile phones usually include innovations to receive much more than phone calls,
for instance, SMS text is available and some 3G phones also offer email and nternet
access. Current technologies are continuing to improve and new innovations such as
streaming radio and %', as well as Wi-Fi are currently breaking into the market.

%exting is to be found all around the world although it is most popular in sia,
Europe and North merica. Of the seven continents, sia makes most use of texts, with
inhabitants of the Philippines sending more texts that the whole of Europe put together.
sia does have a large number of text messaging users, but in Japan the use of text
messages has dropped. %his fact is down to the growth of mobile phones that has the
ability to send and receive emails, which offers greater flexibility, especially in message
length.

s said earlier, Philippines sends more texts than the whole Europe. Maybe
that's why Philippines is known as 'texting capital of the world'. n a country where
computer and nternet penetration remains low, text messaging is the equivalent of e-
mail and computer instant messaging rolled into one. Cell phones in the Philippines
seem to be everywhere and have become an important part of life and most Filipinos
are addicted to texting. t the domestic airport in Manila, there is a wall lined with
electrical outlets to enable people to recharge their cellular phones. n 1934, Globe
%elecom was introduced which is the first service provider in the Philippines, and then in
1991 came along Smart Communications. n 2003 Sun Cellular was introduced which
offers unlimited service with a cheap price to pay, that's why some of the Filipinos does
not only own one cellular phone but two or three for Sun Cellular, Globe and/or Smart.
%he competition of these service providers grew large so Globe and Smart also
provided an unlimited texting which caused Filipinos become more addicted to texting.
Filipinos, especially teen agers are so fond of texting that it seems like they can't live for
a day without load balance that's why the unlimited service became popular and text
messaging grew larger and larger.

%exting is the "in thing today. t has become a trend, and nowadays, almost all
teenagers own cellular phones. Not only the teenagers, but also children as early as six
or seven years old are being given the responsibility of owning a one. Kids are so into
texting nowadays. %hey are so addicted to it that wherever you go, you can always see
kids pressing their cellular phones, around the corner, inside a mall, or even on a street.

%exting is popular to people, especially the young people but are they aware of
its advantages and disadvantages?

%exting is fantastic for those who don't have time to carry on a full-fledged
conversation. simple "be there soon or a "can't talk gets the message across
quickly. Using your phone's text message feature, rather than calling is another benefit
of texting. Phone calls are much more expensive, so texting is really an affordable
alternative. t gives you privacy to exchange message with someone without people
hearing what you are talking about and it also allows you to send a quick note or
reminder to people. %here are situations wherein calls are very inappropriate; this is
where texting comes in handy. %here are also times when you really can't answer a call
because you're busy doing something like watching a movie in a movie theater or you're
in a middle of a meeting. %exting is a great solution for this problem. You can reply to
the person without annoying anyone or just ignore it for the moment if you really can't
attend to your phone. Sometimes, people tend forget what they wish to say to a person
when with them but thanks to cellular phones, they can just simply send a message to
tell what they wish to say through texting. Rather than waiting for a chance to tell them
through the phone or in person, which gives a chance for them to forget what they want
to say or simply forget that they have something to say. nother advantage of texting is
when parents are so busy that they don't have enough time to bond with their children,
cellular phone is a great way to connect with each other. %exting helps improve the
relationship of parents to their kids because even if they are far away from each other,
connecting with each other will be easy. Some say that texting is a great option for

parents and kids to keep in touch because of many reasons. One is parents can get a
quick answer from their kids whenever they are busy and might not be able to have a
normal conversation. Kids are most likely to respond to text messages than calls when
they're with their friends because they don't have to answer in a very detailed way and
sometimes, they tend to ignore phone calls from their parents to avoid parent's tone of
voice. By texting, parents can be closer to their kids because it allows them to enter
their world and go with their flow. t also allows them to keep in touch with their kids but
at the same time giving them space. %exting allows parents and children to edit what
they have to say to remove unnecessary things. nd lastly, texting allows the
relationship of parents to children by sending messages that may encourage one
another.

lthough texting has many advantages to people, it also has a down side. t has
disadvantages which affects young people's relationship with other people, their time
management, and their English skills.

Due to technology, many devices are becoming substitute to face-to-face
communication. t so happens that cellular phones particularly texting is one of it. When
kids are used to texting, they tend to be lazier to tell people in person what they wish to
say and because of this, there's a big possibility that there will be less time for them to
see each other personally which gives a possibility for their relationship to weaken. Kids
before used to tell their parents " love you in person, but today, most kids will just
simply text them. Of course the thought that they told their parents " love you is still

there but it's just isn't the same telling them in person. nother thing have seen with
texting is that it increases the pressures that are put on relationships. f you don't text
your friend or someone you've been texting everyday every hour or so, it's almost like
you are sending a message that you hate them.

n our lives, time management is very essential; we need to know how to properly
manage our time. Some people, because of texting, leave his/her work aside. good
example would be high school students. Most of them are fond of texting that they see it
as a priority over assignment or studies. %hings that are more important are being
sacrificed.

"lol, txt u l8r, "can i c u? %his is how texting is done by most young people.
When texting, most kids tend to shorten the words they type. t's like there's a new
language for texting. s far as abilities goes, texting negatively impacts student
grammar and spelling.%hey no longer write the word "because" out anymore; instead,
it's "cuz". %his is just one of the many examples of the slow deterioration in spelling and
writing skills that texting influences %he word "wait, in texting it is only typed as "w8,
"tonight as "2nyt. nother example is the word "your, in texting it is only typed as "ur.
%hey do not only shorten the words, but also the sentences. "Where are you? is a good
example, in texting, most kids just type "wer u? f this is what kids are used to, they
may apply it in school, in writing essays and others and this may affect their grammar
and spelling ability, not only that but also their writing ability. fter all, the short-message
format routinely sacrifices grammar, and punctuation for the sake of slang and brevity

which results to poor English skills. lso, many people do not use commas or other
forms of punctuation in texting which they sometimes use in a formal writing. %hese
factors can lead to deterioration of English skills.

%exting is just a way of communicating with other people. ts advantages to
people are great and very beneficial, but despite these advantages, there are also
negative effects. Failure to maintain relationships with other people, failure to manage
time properly and failure to improve English skills are some of them. f one can't control
oneself in texting, one will surely be affected by these disadvantages.

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