In a school where “like”, “whatever”, and “OMG” rule the halls, it’s easy to question what in the world has happened.   Incorrect word order and words with unnecessary apostrophes appear on posters, in letters, and in essays.

 Could it be due to laziness?  Or that we just don’t care?  Or that maybe it hasn’t been taught enough?

We could just be lazy.  It’s true, so don’t even try to deny it.  Those who text all of the time use short phrases such as “LOL” and “OMG”. 

 We abbreviate when we write our papers for English.  Why shouldn’t we?  Why waste all of that energy writing out the whole word?

Our conversations are filled with slang words like “homie” and “‘sup”.  Apparently, we are too lazy to pronounce the whole word. 

Carly Mace, a junior, says, “I think it’s important for college interviews but with our friends it’s different.” 

Teens and adults alike have lost job opportunities because of slang usage in an interview. Maybe we don’t even know how to speak properly. 

“The problem is the focus is on the literature and we’ve let the grammar slide,” says Mr. Estenson, Speech Communications and Drama teacher at Park High. 

He’s noticed that seniors seem to have lost the fundamentals of English. The curriculums in the schools don’t include even the most basic grammar lessons. 

The truth is that we judge people just by how they speak.  How many times have you made fun of that girl that says “like” way too many times for your liking?  Or when someone makes an obvious spelling mistake?

All of us are guilty of just that.  Do not even try to deny it.  It could be you who is saying “like” all the time. 

Newspapers and magazines spotlight errors like these.  The Pioneer Press has a area in the Opinion section titled “Opps!” displaying grammatical errors people have seen.

 Over the years, American citizens have made many jokes about President Bush.   Do you remember the response that Miss South Carolina gave last year?  It was a jumbled mess of “like”, “um”, and something about education in South Africa.

 While it’s true that our English is sliding, maybe, just maybe, there is some hope. 

  “I see language as a living thing,” says Frau Tol, German teacher here at Park High.  “That is how language evolves.  Maybe we’re a part of a language evolution.”

 We could be the ones creating the new form of the English language.  That’s a scary thought.