I get really annoyed when a student (or anyone, for that matter) sends me an e-mail message that starts out like this:  "im writing u bcause . . . ."  What am I to think?  That the author is a complete idiot?  That the author thinks that neither I nor the message is important enough to bother with a modicum of correctness?  Or what?

I understand (sort of) that Instant Messaging, which represents a kind of written conversation in real time, dispenses with punctuation and capital letters, isn't much concerned with proper spelling and grammar, and uses a variety of shortcuts.  Its overriding goals are speed and expediency.  An e-mail message, however, is at least an informal note and, in many cases, is the equivalent of what a letter sent in the mail was before we had electronic communication.  If it is important enough to send, the author should at least try to make it moderately like acceptable written English.

Some of the e-mail that I receive is from my students in English Composition, inquiring about an assignment, explaining why they missed class, and so on.  They are, after all, students, so I expect some spelling and grammatical errors.  However, when a student sends an English professor something like "im sorry i missed class on tuesday i need 2 know what u assigned 4 homework," what am I likely to think of that student?  If the student writes to his or her college professor like that, what must the student's informal communications be like?

Faulty grammar and misspellings can be attributed to ignorance, but this type of message is outright stupidity.  Ignorance is excusable; stupidity is not.  Since I can usually tell that the student knows better than to write "im" for "I'm," I deduce that the student is lazy (how much work is it to use the shift key or to write out you?).  I may also deduce that the student doesn't have enough respect for himself or herself (or for me) to even attempt to make a good impression.

The same people who wouldn't dream of displaying themselves in public in tattered, dirty clothes somehow think nothing of sending out messages that are the verbal equivalent of appearing in public like a complete slob.

This distressing behavior is not confined to students.  A friend with whom I exchange a large number of e-mails has occasionally complimented me on the quality of my messages.  He says that he always enjoys them, even when I get rather long-winded about something that doesn't especially interest him (as I tend to do).  In contrast, he says, he receives many e-mail messages from friends and acquaintances (even family) that "make me want to throw up."  Unless the message is urgent, he rarely replies and often trashes it without reading more than a few lines.  He is right.  If the sender cannot take the time to exercise at least some care, the message doesn't deserve any other treatment.

Nobody is suggesting that e-mail messages should be stylistic masterpieces in flawless English.  However, we have a right to expect e-mail to show some respect for the recipient and some intelligence and judgment by the sender.  Common sense should tell all who send e-mails that their messages convey an impression and image of them.  If they come across as careless, stupid slobs, they have only themselves to blame.