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There is no question that our current era has developed great opportunities for the easy exchange of information. With the Internet, students have a wealth of resources at their fingertips. A wide variety of research information is easily found on a veritable cornucopia of topics. Unfortunately, this easy access to knowledge comes with a price. The quality of student writing has suffered.

Whether it is text messaging or instant messaging, this "new" language has added to the dwindling grasp that students already have of the English language. Students will start sentences with lowercase letters, create new contractions, or invent new words all together to express themselves to their friends. It's not just spelling errors from instant messaging that find their way into student work. Frequently, even the simple rules of grammar are broken from repeated reinforcement of bad habits. Some students have spent more time instant messaging and texting than they have writing school assignments.

Our fast paced lifestyle has taken its toll on the quality of information read by students. Blogs and other information sites offer short quick snippets of information that resemble the thirty second sound bite more than a well written chapter by an accomplished author of "the cannon."

There is no question that the Internet caters to the needs of students. There are many sites that legitimately try to help students with their problems. Such sites as discoveryschool.com, homeworkspot.com, and atomiclearning.com do offer students help. It can be a boon to the struggling student who needs more than 43 minutes of guidance on a particular topic. But there are an equal number of sites that offer students short cuts to actually doing their work. The most damaging sites offer students completed writing assignments; sometimes for a fee and sometimes free.

This battle for educators to try to reach students with the importance of both reading and writing is one that will never stop. Hopefully, students can be encouraged to make the "right" decision to cultivate a skill that is dwindling from the American youth.

Learn more about this author, Edward Carskadon.
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