Media statement
For immediate release
Thursday, 9 November 2006

Txt spk juz nt up2 stndard!

Untd Futr is cncernd bout da xeptnce of txt spk 2 b allwd in ritn xams 4 NCEA.

A spkesprsn 4 MP Judy Turna sez dat letn infrml, abbrev8td languag in forml xams snds compltly da rong msg 2 stdnts.

“Skoolz r ther 2 educ8 + raze litracy 2 certn standrds. Thy set da bar – and it shud b hi – NCEA shudnt let da standard b decidd by informl pop cultr of da time.

“We see the ‘dumbing-down’ of our population and culture in many spheres of life, the news and media, television programming and pop culture generally. This is partly due to apathy.

“Schools should be a bastion encouraging a return to a thinking, literate, highly educated society, but kowtowing to this trend - dropping standards to accommodate the lowest common denominator - is exactly what our education system should be trying to counter.

“We rely on our schools to keep the literacy standard high, and also to prepare our children for University, further training or the workforce.

“This seems to be accepting a bad habit that will not fly anywhere else after students graduate.

“Universities will not accept the text-language spelling that students may have learned in school – although I would have said the same about high schools a couple of years ago.

ENDS

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