Does texting negatively affect teens in school?

An article by Ashley Welch from CBS News Called “How compulsive texting affects teens at school” goes into detail about the effect of texting on teens and their academic life.

Welch describes texting as a “compulsive habit” and says that it can harm teen’s academics by being a distraction and dissociating them from their work. She makes the point that the behavior of texting becomes engrained in their lives as a habit or even an addiction, and takes priority over schoolwork. Welch’s point presents texting from a technological determinist point of view, in that she says that teens and their behavior are shaped and controlled by texting. Texting exists and becomes more ubiquitous as a form of communication, and pulls teens in so that they have no choice but to use it.

I think Welch has a point about the dangers of becoming addicted to texting, but I also think that she does not credit teens enough and recognize their ability for self-control. While texting can become distracting and a habit, one still has the ability to manage their time and prioritize schoolwork. Part of growing up is learning how to regulate yourself and manage your time between social interactions and schoolwork. Also, from a cultural determinist point of view; the rapid and constant communication between teenagers that is now facilitated through texting has always existed. Teens have been passing notes in class and using morse code during tests, etc.. for years. They have, at this point in their lives, a desire to talk to each other constantly and develop more-adult connections. The way teens communicate has always been “compulsive”. Texting is just a new way for this already-present need for adolescents to converse to be fulfilled. They will have to learn to regulate themselves no-matter what technology they have access to.