When Texting Is Wrong Analysis

In his article “When Texting Is Wrong” regarding the ethics of texting, Randy Cohen presents the argument that young people in the status quo never consented to be a part of a culture that encourages constant communication through casual texting and that there is substantial harm that stems from this passive participation in and acceptance of inappropriate texting. Cohen goes on to cite various examples in which he feels texting was inappropriate and possibly harmful i.e. in the midst of a conversation, an embrace, or a surgical procedure. He cites some real life examples in which texting has been harmful due to either texting while operating motor vehicles or being ostracized for texting at inopportune times. Cohen does make the point that
This might be due to personal bias, but I am not persuaded by his argument that texting in a casual setting is as detrimental as he makes it seem. I am aware that I am not representative of the entire population, but I have never been in a situation in which someone has gotten their feelings hurt or been legitimately harmed because someone paused to look at their phone for ten seconds. Cohen has blown this problem of casual texting extremely out of proportion. Furthermore, he is extremely condescending and contradictory throughout his entire article. For example, he uses excessively large words that do not make sense in the context in which he uses them seemingly in order to establish his massive intellect and dominance over the reader when it comes to the issue of casual texting. It seems as though his goal is to persuade the audience that he is smart rather than that his stance on the issue is correct. In conclusion, Cohen presents a valid argument in his article “When Texting Is Wrong”, but he does not support it well. Overall, his article was ineffective in persuading the audience to value his argument above any