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Does IM Affect Homework and Kids' Writing Skills?

Kids have a language of their own these days, especially when it comes to computers, and its not easy to crack the code.

Though you might think this teenage shorthand is simply a sign of our technological times, some educators worry it can affect school work.

Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Ling gets home from school and heads to the computer to do homework and chat with friends through instant messaging...IM-ing as it is called. "I am doing my homework, but I do IM-ing and homework at the same time. And it has gotten to the point where like you can't do homework unless you are IM-ing someone at the same time."

Instant messaging has a language all its own, full of abbreviations and shorthand many adults probably don't understand. Case in point, 12-year-old Zachary Goldman and his dad, Brian.

Brian asks, "And what's 'nmu'?"

Zachary replies, "Nothing much, you?"

"What about 'nmjc'?"

"Nothing much, just chilling. I use it all the time, what do you think?"

Brian says, "It makes me feel very old and out of touch because it's not like what he is doing is rocket science. But I have no knowledge of what the words mean or what the letters mean."

Both Elizabeth's and Zachary's parents say the computer chat hasn't affected their children's schoolwork. But some teachers point out that's not the case for all students. Liz Winner heads the English department at Great Neck North High School. "They are writing essays as if they were online. And they are forgetting to put in apostrophes and they are forgetting to capitalize, and they do so much e-mailing back and forth that they can't seem to make the separation between writing to their friends and writing an essay."

And beyond the rules of grammar, English teacher Randy Levin says he sees actual online lingo show up in student work. "They have computer-speak in the papers. They are handing in papers, like for because is 'b-slash-c', whatever is 'w-slash-e', you know, 'l-o-l' is in there and I want to pull out my hair. I want to scream."

Educators point out there are some real positives. Technology allows children immediate and wide access to research. And many students seem to be naturals at multitasking. But teachers say they also need to understand the value of formal writing skills. English teacher Jeff Gilden says, "Most of the kids, when they are pushed, are smart enough to know their audience. And they know how to hand in work for teachers and they know how to talk with their friends."

Educators point out writing samples can be very important when it comes to college applications, even job interviews, so students need to have those formal writing skills even if they don't use them all the time.