Have we lost the art of speech?

Question

I have a daughter aged 12, and I think her generation have lost the ability to communicate in the old fashioned way. Nowadays it is text, email, MSN, Bebo etc When I was her age if I wanted to talk to someone I would either phone them or go and see them, long distance friends I would write to. What are your views?

Answer 1

Pretty bad isn't it?

Your daughter is at a time when the minds of our children are being tremendously warped by the powers that be. Just as we, YOUR parents, were victims of a huge hoax on our entire generation, so is hers.

Just three generations and look at the difference in America.

Our generation was sold many blatant lies to bring America to the state it is now. For several decades there was an intentional plan to dumb down in America. The American people were too well educated and not so easily duped by their "leaders". In 1912 and for several years thereafter, Illuminati owned companies purchased the companies that wrote the books used in schools and systematically began to lower the standards of education while also rewriting history as they wanted the people to learn it.

My generation was fed the bills of goods known as feminism, playboyism, drugs, God is Dead, and Viet Nam. As a result of feminism and playboyism, the family unit became undone. We raised a generation, most of us, of self centred children. It was a time of affluence and we raised children of another stripe. But society was plummeting.

This next generation, your daughter's, has come along when we begin to think the kids cannot be dumbed down any further. But the use of these little gadgets they all have are frightening in more than their destruction of the english language. They now do not know how to be alone! They have no time to replenish their spiritual being because there is always another something amazingly trivial to talk about for hours in broken "new" English.

Of course the New W O LOVE these gadgets. They serve to continue the alienation of individuals, NOT bring them together. People miss things in life because they are never alone, always chatting. How can you appreciate the trees or the flowers or the fresh air if you are walking and chatting? They all have a GPS so the individual can be found at any time. This is great if you are a trapped skier but it is an over use of technology as well. I consider it a loss of yet another privacy, being alone.

I will never have a cell. I got them for my daughters when they began to date at 16 or 17. It was a safety issue. If I am not home, leave a message on my answering machine. I will call when I get home. I don't write often, email does well. And my Mom and I usually call family long distance.

I have heard many adults glued to their cells bemoan the lack of freedom. My attitude may be quaint and old fashioned but it is mine.

So... between the lower educational standards and these modern "time saving necessary" gadgets of communication, no wonder your daughter is probably using that number/letter stuff that passes as communication. Speaking of communication, next time you read the paper, see how many spelling errors and poor sentences you find. Listen to the lack of content in "tv documentaries: and "special reports". Not to mention the appalling pronunciation and the time fillers of "uhm".

I also use Yahoo to talk long distance because it is affordable... free. I don't think kids even know how to write a thank you card any more. Courtesies, too, are being intentionally eradicated as we sink into a lower set of standards in all things.

I bet your girl has no idea of how to hop onto a bike and VISIT the kid 3 blocks away if texting is easier. And they wonder why people are getting larger!

There are my views. Oh and a joke I found today!

In my day:

"grass" was mowed,

"coke" was a cold drink,

"pot" was something your mother cooked in and

"rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.

"Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,

" chip" meant a piece of wood,

"hardware" was found in a hardware store and

"software" wasn't even a word.

Memory was something you lost with age

An application was for employment

A program was a TV show

A cursor used profanity

A keyboard was a piano

A web was a spider's home

A virus was the flu

A CD was a bank account

A hard drive was a long trip on the road

A mouse pad was where a mouse lived

And if you had a 3 inch floppy . . . . you just hoped nobody ever found out!!!

Persunally, i tinkz if weez awl werk hard n stuff weez cn kp dah langaj gr8 so peeps cn rd prpaly.

Answer 2

Number one, case in point!
Yes, my dear. I agree entirely. The art of the written form as well as speech has become compromised with 'chat-speak.' I have noticed this and consider it a disturbing trend. I still prefer to speak and write in the 'old fashioned' method. While it may be tedious and I end up tenth down the line on Answers, I have well thought out responses that people view as more credible than the ones who tend to use vernacular and abbreviated responses.
Keep on writing and speaking in this manner. It won't die if we have a few holdouts who refuse to compromise proper etiquette.

Answer 3

I agree. Try listening to public radio. The Hosts and guests are extremely educated in there fields. When they talk it's another story . The most abused are UM. ERR, UH. Even the English major hosts never end a sentence they just say AND.

Answer 4

It's a sign of the times. She will outgrow it and go on to college and a successful career. Or she won't. If she doesn't outgrow it she will have to get one phrase down pat, "What would like with your fries".

Seriously, I understand your fears. Much of the changes you are seeing are technology driven. This technology is a major part of contemporary business. There is an aspect of this that bothers me. Certain speech habits can be unnerving, i.e. "She, like, knows me, like, because, like, she is, like, sweet and, like, fun to, like, be with. This sort of speech habit is a real interview killer.

Bottom line is I don't think the subjects of your worries will cause near the damage you anticipate. She is young and will grow. Explain to her the necessity of being able to communicate with people who possess the money in America. After all, they are the ones who will pay her salary someday.

Answer 5

You are absolutely right of course.
Now you can't get a proper word in written form
All seem to have a shortcut
No wonder the young have difficulty in spelling words
Since you have noticed this
You could do something with your daughter to encourage communication which is lacking.

Answer 6

Yes I tend to agree with you. I text or enjoy messaging with my grandaughters and we chat about all sorts of subjects,They tell me about school,clubs,friends and shopping trips etc. but when I visit them at home or they visit me they do not say very much without a lot of prompting from me.I dont think they have ever written a letter to anybody in their whole life.

Answer 7

I believe that as a species we are not evolving.We are devolving.Thats just my opinion.

Answer 8

Well, I can still talk. Not many squirrles can say that.

Answer 9

I assure you she still talks.

Answer 10

what is bebo?