Over the past year, my grandma has sent me numerous articles criticizing teenagers for how much time they spend texting, tweeting, and IM-ing. If I’m being perfectly honest, I’ve ignored most of those articles and gone on with my daily life.

But recently I stopped and took the time to read one of these articles, and it resonated very strongly with me. The author of this particular article talked about his mother and how she forced him to call her every day instead of communicating through email. After her death, the author commented that the one thing he missed most was hearing his mother’s voice.

For those of you who hate to talk on the phone, take a moment and think: What does your best friend’s voice sound like? Can you hear it in your mind? I hope the answer is “Yes,” but for many of you the answer could very well be “No.” We spend so much time texting and not talking to our friends that half the time we cannot recall the sound of their voice. Is there something wrong with that?

Shortly after I read this article, my dad – who constantly tells me I need to learn to talk on the phone – was on his way to pick me up from a football game. It was freezing, and I wanted to know when he would get there, so I texted him over and over and over again. When he finally pulled up, he looked at me and said: “Sarah, you know that texting and driving is against the law. Just call.”

I argued fiercely that texting was easier and that I hated to talk on the phone because it was awkward, but in the grand scheme of things this was a horrible argument. My dad has Bluetooth technology in his car. What if I had caused an accident because he stopped to reply to one of my texts when I could have safely called him?

To be perfectly clear, I am not suggesting we put down our phones and get off the computers, but if we stop communicating personally, we could end up like the people in WALL-E. That would be an extremist point of view, because in many cases texting or IM-ing is the fastest way to get information. It is still necessary, however, to be able to talk to people.

So now it is up to you to decide: Is TXTing 4EAE?

Written by Sarah Fornshell’15