A worrying development

[emsr2d2]

This does not bode well for the English language, in its handwritten form at least:

BBC News - Boys twice as likely to hate writing, suggests poll

 

[Frank Merton]

I also worry about the fact that now so much of the internet is available as video. That means even the ability to read, let alone write, is not needed.

 

[Tdol]

Nearly one in three of the boys said there was no point in learning spelling and grammar in the age of the spellchecker,

They're greatly overestimating the ability to correct grammar at the moment.

 

[Frank Merton]

There is that, and their is also the fact that spell-checkers don't catch homonyms (as in this sentence).

 

[Raymott]

"Nearly one in three of the boys said there was no point in learning spelling and grammar in the age of the spellchecker, compared with about a fifth of girls."
I'm very wary of polls and studies being reported in newspapers. What was the question?: "Is there any point in learning spelling and grammar in the age of the spellchecker?"
"Nearly one in three of the boys said X" actually means that nearly one in three agreed with the proposition X when it was put to them in a certain form.
Still, there's probably (>50%) some truth in it.

"Just under 15% of both sexes said they wrote some of their school work in mobile phone "txt-speak".
This seems like a low figure. I'd guess that it reflects an inability by many to even know whether they are using text-speak or not.
It's encouraging though that 25% of boys indicated that they agreed with the proposition that writing is cool.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's not a representative sample but I work with a woman who has a 10-year-old son so I mentioned what I'd read to her. She immediately agreed, saying that her son detests using pen and paper, partly because he is aware that his spelling is atrocious (for which she partly blames herself) but also because he says he thinks he looks "stupid, uncool and awkward" holding a pen. According to him, the only "cool" thing to hold in your hand(s) is a smartphone.