There have been many people who have bemoaned the decline of language in the hand of teenagers. All that texting and instant messaging, with the creative spelling that strips away vowels and substitutes random characters for sentiment, has led many to believe that nothing good can come out of technology when it comes to writing.
That's nonsense, of course. I see my teenage sons writing every day, in complete sentences—on Facebook and other social media sites. Even my 9-year old daughter has a blog. And now teachers are starting to catch on that social media can be a great way to help teach kids to write.
While sites like Twitter encourage a "constrained" writing style – what can you get into 140 characters?—blogging sites (and Facebook) give teenagers a little more room to work in. And now a blogging site called StageofLife.com is trying to get teachers to work blogging into their English and Language Arts classes.
The service has released a set of lesson plans to help teachers inject blogging into their curriculum, and has begun hosting student writing contests. The writing contest itself is set up as a blog, so people can read every entry and make comments.
Rebecca Thiegs, M. Ed, a Language Arts teacher at Red Lion Area High School in Red Lion, PA and curriculum consultant for StageofLife.com says, "The blogging aspect of the writing contest provides an incredibly positive experience for students. Teens today get instant feedback from their peers, family, friends and others in their social networks. Teachers should have a resource to provide this same level of interaction as they roll out pieces of their writing curriculum."
StageOfLife hosts new high school writing contests weekly. The current writing contest is focused on food—essays need to answer the question, "Do we have an obligation to take better care of ourselves by making changes in the way we eat and/or buy and consume food?" The prizes for the winners include a $25 gift certificate, a t-shirt and "featured writer" status on the site.
While that might not be enough incentive to get your teenager to write an essay over summer vacation, StageOfLife is hardly the only place on the web they can express their opinions and get meaningful feedback. But it's at least a relatively friendly place to start.