Text messaging may be fun for teens but it can cause them to score lower on admissions exams to college, and the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT. That's according to Guiseppe Basili, a vice-president for the Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions company.
He says instant message shorthand such as "LOL"   which stands for "laugh out loud" and "c-u-l8tr" are having a negative impact on the average student's spelling ability. Today's kids aren't getting any practice writing in the real world, like kids used to back when they had pen pals and had no other way to communicate over long distances other than sending letters or talking on the phone.
But besides text messaging, other computer technology is also causing damage to test scores. Basili says a lot of kids use programs that check spelling and grammar and never bother to learn the actual rules or how to apply them in a test situation. But while computers are causing a decline in teens' language ability, Basili sees one benefit: Kids who play lots of videogames are much better at taking exams without worrying about the time limits. This is because they're used to working quickly under pressure.