texting may help the spelling of kids

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8272502/Text-messaging-improves-childrens-spelling-skills.html

Critics have suggested that text messaging can blur the boundaries between colloquialisms and standard English, with some teachers claiming that slang is now creeping into children’s school work.

But academics from Coventry University said there was “no evidence” that access to mobile phones harmed children’s literacy skills and could even have a positive impact on spelling.

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D: having written 100s of essays, I can testify that one learns to write formally with practice.

D - I admit that I began to use lazy abberviations once I started texting. Doing so on a standard phone interface is onerous.
Unlike most users, I wanted to default to phonetic spelling.
"Yer" as opposed to "you are" or "your" proved popular.
Then ending "-er" became just R, and "-ing" became N.