An increasing amount of cyber-lingo has found its way into the school work turned in by students as one reads,  As online chat emerges, so do new errors in English class. Jim Ellis of the AP wrote, “an increasing number of Austin's eighth-graders also submit classwork containing "b4," "ur," "2" and "wat" - words that may confuse adults but are part of the teens' everyday lives.” I wonder if this will be the new lingo adults will use in the future and more importantly will grammatically correct language die off?  I hope not.

What does trouble me and it should to every parent is this passage, “But junior high and high school teachers nationwide say they see a troubling trend: The words have become so commonplace in children's social lives that the techno spellings are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments.” Just so you know as I look at my children’s homework especially if it’s an essay is for any use of cyber-lingo.

When my children were toddlers, two of my favorite TV shows were “Reading Rainbow” and yes, “Mr. Rogers” I felt they enlightened my children as well as giving them a sense of well being.  Okay, for you Barney haters, I just loved “Barney” The reason for liking “Barney” is that this purple dinosaur taught my children and many other children to love and to care for one another.  As Pokemon came on the scene, I could not understand what these cartoon characters were saying and yet they were all the rage.  Pokemon cards were traded like pieces of gold.  Meanwhile the true gold was found in shows that actually taught our children valuable lessons and ignited their passions to read.

At times parents are quick to blame the school system for their children’s low grades and even failing grades, but the best lessons are learned at home.  Children do mimic adults and if they see adults tethered to their TV sets and computers; what do we as adults expect?  Maybe if they see us reading more books or even your daily newspaper, something may click.  Instead of saying, “Hey, kids do you want to go to the mall?” instead we say, “Hey, kids let’s take a trip to the library.” It couldn’t hurt; could it?

Author’s email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net