Bottom of the News… Friday, September 25, 2009

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. Today for our news I want to speak to the parents of teenagers. How many have teenagers? So, here is a question… have you read some of their writings lately, like for English, language arts or some other writing class? Well, you may be in for a surprise because the age of the computer, internet, email, Facebook, text messaging and more has changed the way our kids communicate and specifically how they write.

Here are some examples by teenagers, as collected by HS English teachers…

• She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before he hurls.
• Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
• The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
• Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
• The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots being fried in hot grease.
• The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
• The ballerina rose gracefully extending one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
• It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around the house with power tools.
• He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
• He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
• McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

Those are classics! And there you have it modern day examples of writings from our teenagers. They are the Bottom of the News on this Friday, September 25th, 2009! ###