Shudder

"So, who can tell me which one of the words on the board is a noun? ...anyone? OK, I'm just going to have to call on someone. Jacob, which word on the board is a noun?"

"IDK, Miss Matteson. OMG, why do we gotta know this stuff N-E-Wayz?"

Linda Matteson took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as she felt her eye start to twitch. Where had she gone wrong? Where had their parents gone wrong? Why are they speaking in acronyms? Would they ever be able to spell the word acronym? In this age of information, why was so little of it being absorbed? Was this the future of the English language? She shuddered at the thought.

As she went on with her class, explaining again the different parts of speech, the children were restless and fidgety, probably in withdrawal from anything involving a video screen...a game system, television, computer, phone, ANYTHING. Spitballs and paper footballs were now as outdated as the oral tradition itself. Miss Matteson knew she was outnumbered, surrounded by a pack of technology hungry hyenas. She felt powerless against a generation of children raised by television. Luckily, the final bell rang and the pack dispersed and poured out of the classroom door. She had survived to fight another day.

Jacob went straight to his room, put his headset on, and was battling the online bad buys with his buddies from school before the clock struck four. He was just a normal kid, playing army men with his friends after school. He hoped they would make it to the next level before his mom came home and threatened to disconnect his internet cable. He shuddered at the thought.