How Social Media Affects your Child’s Writing Skills

The school has changed drastically in the last 30 years and especially since the advancement of social media. Search engines have multiplied and people can do just about anything online from paying bills, sending messages, emails and buying insurance, etc., in a matter of minutes. Most children are getting laptops to use in school or tablets and they can also use these devices to help them read, write and learn other subjects. The difference is they are typing instead of writing and cursive penmanship is becoming a lost art, almost like the first writings millions of years ago when people used hieroglyphics to express what they wanted to say. Scientists studied the writings and translated what man did and how he survived millions of years ago by these writings. In future centuries, and in Time Capsules that are sealed, man will discover the lost art of cursive writing and determine what was written and how humans survived in the beginning stages of social media. Centuries from now, and with the advancement of technology, the world will be an entirely different place compared to how our great grandparents grew up. If you are lucky and remembered your great grandparents when the baby boom generation from the fifties was born, many great grandparents were born in the late 1870s and early 1880s and had wonderful history to share. Grandparents that were born around the first decade of the 20th century survived the Holocaust in Europe if they were lucky and the depression in the United States. Most Americans have lived during a war and so have the small children that are growing up in the present world.

Social media in regards to students writing can be positive because this is a new form of learning communication. Although communication through social media can have misspellings, improper grammar and many abbreviations, this is still considered okay and acceptable to their teachers. The writing requirements for students are higher and the way social media affects a student’s writing can be positive or negative. This all depends on how the teacher reacts to the student’s writing in the classroom. Teachers can be consistent about using good grammar, good communication skills and sometimes they allow acronyms if the student can use them properly in their writings.

There are some negative effects on social media student writings as well. Everyone knows that social media is an everyday part of many people’s lives. Children are given devices to play on as young as two years old and learn how to interact as they get older on social media. Posts are certainly accepted with the student’s peer groups, and the kids aren’t really looking at the detail of the writing. This is where the effects of writing from students on social media can be negative.

The most common errors are grammar and spelling, although they are important in school, grammar and spelling are not so important on social media. Some students are trying too fast because of the need for the information to be transmitted in a speedy format. When kids write too fast, there is room for more errors in spelling and students aren’t using their critical thinking skills. Students post too quickly and don’t think about what they wrote so the post comes across looking sloppy. There is also the problem with abbreviations which are acceptable in social media but not in regular writing in school. Students have to think about how to spell words correctly and can’t use their text to speak addition or any slang when they write in school.

Teachers are working to improve the use of social media when it comes to students and their writing skills. It’s a fact that social media is set up for the public for people and students to share information so they get the answers they need quickly. Teachers are realizing that the effects of social media on their students are positive so they are taking advantage of the positive benefits of social media. Here are some of the reasons teachers use social media for the improvement of their students writing skills.

Teachers find that students can share their writing on social media by writing blogs and using different websites. Students become excited because they see that their writings can be made public so other people will notice them.

Teachers also believe that social media encourages creativity and more critical thinking skills. This way the student can use their thought process as a tool for writing and also search for different ideas on social media.

Teachers find that students can also express themselves on social media and the students that are shy can actually become a blooming flower when expressing themselves on social media. This also helps them write better papers when they are not using social media because they have had the advantage of being able to express who they are by using social media.

There are ways that students and teachers can balance writing and social media during the school day and in class. Face it, students and teachers are on social media in and out of the classroom on a daily basis. The job of the teacher is to teach their students how they can prosper from social media to make improvements in school performance. This will help them shine when they write. Teachers find that students should realize they are unique because social media is a great way for students to talk about themselves. Students can also let this individuality shine through their writings as well.

Social media also is a great communication skill and if the students are practicing good writing skills using social media, this can transfer over to the classroom. Students still have to be observed when they are using school computers for writing on social media.

A classroom is an ever-changing place for a student in the world of today because social media has entered everyone’s daily life. Social media can no longer be dismissed from classroom activities so teachers have to find a way to implement this technology in a positive way. These are the tools that teachers are giving their students to communicate by using their writings to talk to the world.