| Remember the days of passing notes in class, trying | | | | also a feature on the cell phone that can eliminate |
| to be sneaky so that the teacher wouldn't catch | | | | having to talk to anyone at all. It's called text |
| you? Now imagine that it's not a neatly folded piece | | | | messaging and how it works is that instead of dialing |
| of paper that you are trying pass across the aisle at | | | | a number, or choosing one from our contact list we |
| school, but a note typed into a select area of a cell | | | | have inserted into our phones and talking with the |
| phone. By selecting who you want to send that note | | | | party at the other end, we can simply type them a |
| to and pressing send, you have just passed that | | | | message. The person on the receiving end will get |
| note on without anyone even noticing. Unless, of | | | | the message, read it, and type a message back. |
| course, the teacher catches you with your cell phone | | | | Back in the day, we called that writing a letter! Unlike |
| in class, which may be cause to take it from you for | | | | sending a letter across the country and waiting for |
| the day. Nonetheless, whether in school, at home, | | | | sometimes weeks to get a reply, text messaging is |
| shopping at the mall or studying in the library, kids are | | | | instant. But like a letter, texting gives you a sense of |
| keeping in constant contact through their cell phones | | | | anonymity, not having to actually talk to the person |
| without ever saying a word. Welcome to the world | | | | you are texting. This gives some teenagers a false |
| of text messaging. | | | | sense of security, allowing them to text words to |
| In this day and age, most everyone is equipped with | | | | people that they would never say to them in person. |
| a cell phone, from Grandma down to a five year old | | | | In some cases, sending nasty or degrading messages |
| child. Back in the days when you actually had to be | | | | to kids simply to make fun of them or say things to |
| at home to receive a phone call, people had to | | | | hurt them has become a form of bullying. The best |
| actually speak to one another, whether you wanted | | | | answer to that is that the person on the reviving end |
| to or not. You took a chance by answering the | | | | can simply hit delete and the message is gone. |
| telephone when it rang, not knowing who was on | | | | Text messaging seems to be another way to avoid |
| the other end. | | | | human communication, such as speaking to a person |
| Then came caller ID, which at least gave us the | | | | on the phone or face to face. Like any technology |
| choice of whether we wanted to pick up the phone | | | | before it, it has advantages and disadvantages, but |
| or not. Cell phones are all equipped with some form | | | | one thing is for sure. Texting has definitely become all |
| of caller ID, giving us that same option, but there is | | | | the rage. |