Friday, April 29, 2011

Kids say the darnest things!

Please consider the exchange below -

Boy: hw er ew?
Girl: f9 n ew?
Boy: mah doin grate s wl.
Girl: wat plns fr t9t?
Boy: nthng mch ya... d sme boriin stuuf. mah fedup wid dis lyf... wanna do smthin ntrestin. ny sggestins?
Girl: nah man... lyf suks.

No, don't freak out. this is not some alien language... this is our very own English, the Queen's language. Still trying to figure out what does it mean? it is just a normal everyday exchange between two school going kids (who are not even teenagers) on facebook. let me elaborate it -

Boy: How are you?
Girl: fine and you?
Boy: i am doing great as well.
Girl: what plans do you have for tonight?
Boy: nothing much... the same boring stuff. I am fed up with this life... want to do something interesting. any suggestions?
Girl: no man... life sucks.

now this exchange is very disturbing on so many counts. let me elaborate once again -
  • first and foremost, why are school going kids even on facebook at all? i mean what are they doing glued to a computer screen? why are they not outside playing? why do they need to be on a social networking site? what kind of networking are they doing? apparently all their friends are from their school and tuition classes whom they see every single day. so what is the point of being online? do you have any answers, I don't.
  • next - some of them also update their statuses through a mobile phone which is all the more disturbing. I mean I went to school (not very long back) and I didn't need a mobile. i had one land line and that was also not available to me 24/7. nowadays, kids as young as 11 year old flaunt a nokia or even a bb! i don't have a bb... i don't need a bb, why does a school going kid need a blabkberry? what important mail would he / she miss? you might think that i am digressing, but i am not. i have a point...seriously. remember, when mobiles were launched and messaging was really expensive? then some smart Alec's, your truly included, devised a plan to shorten the length of the messages so that the whole message can be sent in one go, thereby saving money. we used to type the message omitting the vowels. let me give you an example - how are you was written as hw r u? i am fine was written as m fne. you know, it was still understandable. but now, the sms rates have slashed big time along with it the number of letters used to convey that message. for example - how are you is written as hru; and i am fine is f9. Now, since school going kids have been given mobiles... they have become so used to using the sms lingo that they use it in their normal everyday exchange as well. i don't know if this subconsciously or unconsciously but this is how they talk and this is how they write... all the time. i guess it is considered cool, but i think it just makes them look like a fool (oh it rhymes!) i would surely like to take a dictation of all these cool kids (if they know what dictation means that is :P )
  • third reason why this is disturbing is because of the content. today's youth is bored! there are a million things to do but they are bored! now don't think i have made it up, this is an actual content that i came across between two youngsters on facebook (they have open profiles... god knows what they think is so interesting in their profile, anyway.) i fail to understand how can they be bored? they have school (where nobody studies), tuition which are as long as school hours sometime (where everybody studies!) and then sleeping time, phone time, eating time, family time, friends time... where is the time to get bored?! they have time to be on facebook... they have time to murder the English language... but they don't have the time to read, or to write, or to play (outdoors... playing games on psp doesn't qualify as playing!) i just don't understand it. 
OK, now you will say that the world has moved ahead. these things are required now. they are not luxury but necessities. i have two words for you B*** S***! college going kids having mobiles... understandable. school kids even having access to a mobile... not understandable. someone might say that they are good for knowing where the kid is all the time. well, i have one question for you? are you aware of the concept of lying?! it's a 'mobile' so it is mobile... you can move around when you talk... make the connection. and if you trust your kid to handle the responsibility of a mobile, then doesn't giving him one to keep a tab on him makes the whole trusting thing obsolete? just curious...

And there is absolutely no excuse for butchering the English language. are they saving money by shortening the word? no, they are not. And it's not to save time as well... i mean you are on facebook, so you are obviously killing time. take two seconds more and type out the whole damn word!

I know there are kids in the world... who are not as addicted to facebook as most of the lot are... who take out time to type in the whole world... some of them even use spell check ( :) )... but sadly they are in minority. if you want your kid to have a better understanding of the English language or any language for that matter... take away that blasted mobile devise, delete his facebook account or at the least monitor it (you will be amazed to know that most of your bachhas even have found the love of their lives at the tender ages of 12... lucky you!) encourage him to use the proper spellings, grammar and tenses & you might stop him from turning into someone who talks like a rapper!

6 comments:

  1. a good post to think about....where is our younger generation going today??? nice post...keep blogging.. :)

    i very well understand the point here...even at times i keep wondering how the life's been changing so fast..even i went to school not so long ago...i dint have a mobile at school...

    but somewhere or the other i think we have to accept the fact that we live in a very fast moving world...and technology gives a new gadget every single day...we cannot compare the life's our parents had when they were young to the kind of life we have right now..

    i understand the evil effects of highly developed technology that could bring to our kids and new generation..however keeping them unaware or away from these may not help...and it could even lead to an opposite impact on them as they might feel themselves inferior to their friends who have access to all of it...what i suggest is let them have access to the new world of technology..but we should always keep them close to our heart..and always try to teach them our culture and values...!!! parents teachers and society could do a great deal...in molding a young healthy minded generation...

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  2. So true...the younger generation. Oh well..God save them..a very well written post!

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  3. Very well written..definitely disturbing the way things are going these days... at times, I wonder whether its the generation gap and a repeat of what our older generation would have gone through.. probably they didnt have landlines too !

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  4. Nice post indeed.
    But don't you think that maybe this is how the English language will eventually become?

    English has evolved with times and you can really see the difference between a Shakespearean and a modern english.

    Everything has its pros and cons.Maybe a cellphone somewhere might help a lost kid reach home,or he might just lure the 'wrong elements' of society with his hip phone.Maybe we have to accept that technology is a necessary evil.

    But yes I'm totally against social networking sites,they are making kids obese and social retards.

    It's a never-ending debate.

    A beautiful post this.
    :)

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  5. very nice post...agree completely.....mobile,social networking and RELATIONSHIP is all kids are into.but u cant blame it on them.when i was a kid my parents wud let me be at my frens place till late or i will b playin in neighbourhood park.considering the security reasons i m not sure how many kids get to come out of house.
    so its both ways

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  6. thank you everyone... i am glad to see there are many who think like me :)

    some of you have put up interesting points and i kind of agree with them as well... maybe the generation before us are still perplexed that why we need internet at all in the first place... world was running just fine before it ;)

    and Ausdrucklos... i hope the English language doesn't completely turn into sms lingo! God, i hope not!

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