Mind-Boggling

          Carr states in his book, The Shallows, that "The average American teen was sending or receiving a mind-boggling 2,272 texts a month" (p 86).  Nicholas Carr stirs up controversy by stating that teenagers send "mind-boggling" amounts of text messages, but does this really upset people? Personally, this statement does not bother me at all, because I realize I send hundreds of texts every day. I send so many texts because I want to, and enjoy taking the time to talk to others via cell phone. My parents on the other-hand find this boggling number to be an awfully high bill they do not want to pay. So of course, they hate the fact that my brother and I, and probably many other kids, spend so much time texting. At the dinner table is when it is the worst. It is when parents realize how much time you are "wasting" on your phone, when you could be speaking to the people surrounding you at the table. There is one other group of people that would take Carr’s statement offensively, the few out there that will never approve of texting. There is always that one person you know that will not conform to the world and follow in our footsteps by texting.  These few people do not want to text for usually the same reason, it does not allow for physical interaction. When you text there is no way to truly tell how the other is feeling, it is all words, that you need to interpret in your own way. This can cause so many different fights, people getting upset, and confused. Many also believe that when you are texting, you are taking away from the world right in front of your eyes. There is probably someone there that you are ignoring, so you can text another person about a topic unnecessary and random. Texting is looked down upon by few because those people can see past the little things, and can see the big picture and how it is affecting our everyday lives. This still does not mean that texting is wrong, or that it should be frowned upon, but instead it should not take over our lives. Instead of sending a mind-boggling amount of texts a day, you should look up from your phone and start a conversation with the person sitting across from you on the bus, or next to you in the line at Starbucks. Texts are something as a whole we do very often; it can be looked at as something great to keep us in contact with others who cannot always be around. Or it can lead to ignoring the people right in front of us, causing our communication skills to be broken down to nothing. But it is how Carr states this in his book, The Shallows, which will truly offend us or open our eyes to realize the truth of texting.

Sarah Mayo