] Education experts warned yesterday of the potentially
] damaging effect on literacy of mobile phone text
] messaging after a pupil handed in an essay written in
] text shorthand.
]
] The 13-year-old girl submitted the essay to a teacher in
] a state secondary school in the west of Scotland and
] explained that she found it "easier than standard
] English".

The teenager's essay began: "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we usd 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kds FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc." Translation: "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York, it's a great place."