In a rapidly progressing world, technology has brought society an easy and effective way to communicate with one another through the use of text messaging. With text messaging, anyone can send a written message electronically to anyone in the world who possesses a device that has a “texting” function. The reason why text messaging is so popular is because it provides an easier form of communication that requires much less effort than all past forms of communication. Before texting, both parties would have to be simultaneously logged on to a chat room or available to talk on the telephone to carry out an active conversation, but with this new widespread form of communication a person can contact someone with a simple, effortless push of a button. Text messaging has provided the world with such a convenient way of communicating, but since texting can be accomplished with such little effort, it faces a trade-off between convenience and several other factors that are important to language. Text messaging can have both positive and negative effects on those who use it. If a person heavily relies on text messaging as their main source of communication they will find negative effects on their social skills, grammatical and vocabulary skills, cognitive skills, and their ability to conduct a sincere conversation. In a modern world, children grow up with the privilege of having text messaging as an easy way to communicate with others, however those children will struggle to develop communication skills in a real life social setting if they rely on texting too often. It is essential to learn how to effectively communicate with others in a face-to-face situation. The extent to which children and adolescents possess good social skills can influence their academic performance, behavior, social and family relationships, and involvement in extracurricular activities. Heavy reliance of text messaging can indeed be detrimental to a child’s life if it begins to take away from their development of social skills. Studies show that once texting becomes a person’s main source of communication, they may begin to use text messaging “as a means of avoiding difficult social interactions.” (Kelly 2). Texting becomes an easier way of dealing with situations that may cause discomfort, however learning to deal with those situations in person is crucial to a person’s social well being. While text messaging can provide an effective and easier way of dealing with difficult problems, if someone who has been relying on texting too often encount