Text Message Speak in Term Papers?

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I found this on CNN and I have noticed it al ot on message boards. Text message speak does nothing for the English language or pay to post sites like this one. Read and tell me what you think please. Middle school teacher Julia Austin is noticing a new generation of errors creeping into her pupils' essays. Sure, they still commit the classic blunders -- like the commonly used "ain't." But an increasing number of Austin's eighth-graders also submit classwork containing "b4," "ur," "2" and "wata" -- words that may confuse adults but are part of the teens' everyday lives. This "instant messaging-speak" or "IM-speak" emerged more than a decade ago. Used in e-mails and cell phone text messages, most teens are familiar with this tech talk and use it to flirt, plan dates and gossip. But junior high and high school teachers nationwide say they see a troubling trend: The words have become so commonplace in children's social lives that the techno spellings are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments."The IM-speak is so prevalent now," said Austin, a language arts teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Orlando. "I'm always having to instruct my students against using it."Vicki A. Davis, a high school teacher at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia, said she even finds the abbreviated words in term papers."I'm Southern, but I wouldn't use the sayings, "squeal like a pig" or "kick the bucket," in formal writing (because) some people may not understand," Davis said. "IM-speak should be treated the same way."