Message sent

By Haley Ferguson

King College Prep

Srry its ovr.

Imagine that your BF or GF sent you a text like that. You would probably be angry and a bit hurt. If you think it only applies to texting freaks, you are wrong. People, especially teens, are texting more than they are talking. A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project report found that 1 in 3 teens send 100-plus text messages per day.

“Text messaging and especially text-message breakups have gotten completely out of control,” says Gina B., who writes the G Spot advice column in the Chicago Tribune’s Red Eye.

Technology has brought us to an era of convenience. You can do or find virtually anything online if you have a cell phone. According to the Pew report, 84 percent of teens use their phone to take pictures, 27 percent use their phones to go online and 23 percent use them to go on social networking sites.

Teens have so many options on their phones that they use them for everything: surfing the web, texting and now instant dumping. All it takes are a couple of seconds and the push of a button, and you can break up with someone from almost anywhere in the world without having to see his or her face.

Text dumping is a growing phenomenon but like everything it has its pros and con. A plus -- depending on whether you are the dumper or dumpee -- includes no face-to-face confrontations. A downside is that they will feel hurt and disrespected and they might never forgive you. They also might tell their friends who will tell their friends, until before you know it you are known as the person who dumps people via text.

“People in their teens and 20s feel more comfortable using a text message to communicate something serious than having to confront someone,” Delly Tamer, chief executive of the online wireless retailer LetsTalk.com, tells Reuters. “ It is instant gratification--and delayed mortification. At some point they will have to yell at each other.”

Some people don’t realize the consequences of text breakups until it’s too late. Most likely your GF or BF will be super angry with you. A survey by Yahoo! Personal found that 28 percent of the participants thought breaking up via text is the worst way to end a relationship. It can damage your reputation. “You should have the guts to tell your partner yourself or you shouldn’t be in a relationship,” says Amira Collier, 15, a freshman at Whitney Young College Prep.

“It shows lack of courage if you can’t break up with someone to his or her face,” adds Lauryn Daniels, a freshman at Kenwood Academy.

Not all teens, especially boys, think a text breakup is a bad thing. “Breaking up by text is okay if the relationship didn’t go on for that long and wasn’t that important to you,” says Matthew Rogers, a June graduate of Naperville Central. “I’m not really sure, but when it does happen, in my opinion, it mostly effects girls.”

Many teens like Matthew think new media’s rules of romance are acceptable, while Lauryn and Amira do not. Either way it is a growing trend in America and you will have to decide for yourself whether breaking up via text is a necessarily good or bad thing.