Examiners have given warning that pupils are increasingly using text message language in GCSEs, the first official acknowledgment that mobile phone shorthand is undermining standard English. A report published by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, the largest exam board in the country, has disclosed that this year's GCSE English scripts were peppered with the abbreviated words which have become second nature to many youngsters. The report, compiled from examiners' comments on more than 700,000 English scripts marked this year, said: "Text message spellings, such as U for "you" are increasingly prevalent."

Children's literacy is being damaged by social media, headmasters claim.They say pupils are too distracted by sites such as Facebook and Twitter to bother to read a book.As a result, thousands are poor spellers and have little understanding of grammar.

A survey of 214 secondary school heads found that 70 per cent believe Facebook and Twitter are ‘bad for literacy’.Excessive use of such sites means youngsters’ spelling and grammar have deteriorated. For example, some write ‘l8’ rather than ‘late’, while others rely on computer spellcheckers to correct their mistakes.

Bosses regularly complain about the poor literacy standards among school leavers, whose written English in applications forms and CVs can be shocking.

Likewise, in the Pew online survey, which polled 2,462 middle and high school teachers, 87% report that these technologies are creating "an easily distracted generation with short attention spans," and 64% say that digital technologies "do more to distract students than to help them academically."

Nearly three quarters of the 685 public and private K-12 teachers surveyed in the Common Sense Media online poll believe that students use of entertainment media (including TV, video games, texting and social networking) "has hurt student's attention spans a lot or somewhat."

5. It Makes You Lazy If you’re not constantly aware of the words you’re typing in order to ensure that they’re spelled correctly, you can get sloppy. Sure, anything you type formally should still be amended by the program, but what if you actually have to use a pen and paper to leave a note for someone?

3. You Won’t Learn From Your Mistakes As mentioned above, words that are spelled correctly won’t be picked out, and you’ll end up making the same errors over and over again. You might use “adverse” instead of “averse” when implying that someone isn’t fond of an idea, or say that a person was “effected” by a policy, rather than “affected.” If the people you work with don’t know the difference between these words either (or are too hesitant or polite to point out that you spelled something wrong), you’ll continue to use them improperly. This could backfire really badly if and when you apply for a position with people who require higher standards of writing proficiency than you’ve been accustomed to.

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles."Studies show that reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary," Greenfield said. "Reading for pleasure is the key to developing these skills. Students today have more visual literacy and less print literacy.

There are major US studies of reading ability in the population at large commissioned by Congress and conducted by the Department of Education, a similar international study of literacy in the nations of the developed world, one on the reading abilities of college students, among others. Virtually all of these studies report the same basic finding: adult reading skills are in decline.

Modern technologies have changed the way that people communicate with one another. These technologies provide new and innovative ways for people to communicate -- text messaging, email, chat and social networks. They allow faster and more efficient communication and can help build relationships. However, modern technologies can also have negative effects such as limiting personal contact and straining relationships. The nature of the effect depends in large part on the type of relationship.

People who are continually distracted by emails, alerts and other messages understand less than those who are able to concentrate. And people who juggle many tasks are less creative and less productive than those who do one thing at a time.

Other studies, however, found that such rapid shifts in focus, even if performed adeptly, result in less rigorous and "more automatic" thinking.

When we're constantly distracted and interrupted, as we tend to be online, our brains are unable to forge the strong and expansive neural connections that give depth and distinctiveness to our thinking.