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　　A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages inclass, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia。

　　在加拿大新斯科舍省哈利法克斯的米尔伍德高中，最近有一位17岁的男生被抓到在课堂上发短信，随后他被送到了副校长的办公室。

　　The vice principal, Steve Gallagher,told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone.The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallaghernoticed the student's fingers moving on his lap。

　　副校长加拉格尔告诉这个男孩，要把注意力放在老师身上，而不是他的手机上。男孩礼貌地听着，频频点头，而就在这个时候，加拉格尔发现他放在膝头的手指还在动个不停。

　　He was textingwhile being reprimanded for texting。

　　他在发短信，在因为发短信而受训的时候。

　　"It was asubconscious act," says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away."Young people today are connected socially from the moment theyopen their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes atnight. It's compulsive."

　　加拉格尔拿走了手机。他说，男孩的动作是下意识的。如今的年轻人，从早晨睁眼直到晚上睡觉，一直都处在社交网络中。都已经上瘾了。

　　Because so many people in their teensand early 20s are in this constant whir of socializing--accessibleto each other every minute of the day via cellphone, instantmessaging and social-networking Web sites -- there are a host ofnew questions that need to be addressed in schools, in theworkplace and at home. Chief among them: How much work can'hyper-socializing' students or employees really accomplish if theyare holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging,or are obsessively checking Facebook?

　　很多十几岁、二十出头的人就像这样一刻不停地进行着社交活动。他们无时无刻不在通过手机、即时通信和社交网站相互联络。这个人群之庞大，让学校、工作单位和家庭面临着一大堆新问题需要应对。而其中首要的问题是：如果都在通过短信跟不止一位朋友交谈，或者是止不住地查看Facebook，那么这种“高度社交”的学生或雇员到底能够完成多少课业或工作？

　　Some arguethey can accomplish a great deal: This generation has a gift formultitasking, and because they've integrated technology into theirlives, their ability to remain connected to each other will servethem and their employers well. Others contend that thesehyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds betweenthem are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skillsare poor。

　　一些人认为，他们可以完成大量工作：这一代人天生就会同时处理多重任务，而且由于他们把科技融入到了生活之中，他们相互之间保持联络的能力将会给自己和雇主带来很大帮助。另一些人则认为，高度社交的人群浪费着大量时间，他们相互之间的关系很淡薄，而面对面的人际交往能力也很弱。

　　It's hard toquantify whether the abbreviated interchanges of text messaging arebeneficial in the workplace, but this much is known: Young workersspend more time than older workers socializing via their devices orentertaining themselves online. In a 2008 survey for Salary.com,53% of those under age 24 said this was their primary 'timewasting' activity while at work, compared to just 34% for thosebetween ages 41 and 65.

　　这种简短的文字信息交流是否有益于工作，这很难量化，但有一点是可以确定的：年轻员工通过手机进行社交或在网上娱乐的时间比年长的劳动者更多。2008年为Salary.com进行的一项调查中，24岁以下的人群有53%表示这是他们消磨时间的主要活动，而41到65岁的人群中，这一比例仅为34%。

　　Online socialnetworking while at work hampers business productivity, accordingto a new study by Nucleus Research. Almost two-thirds of those withFacebook accounts access them at their workplaces, the study found,which translates to a 1.5% loss of total employee productivityacross an organization。

　　研究公司NucleusResearch的一项新研究显示，工作时进行网络社交活动会妨碍工作效率。研究发现，拥有Facebook账户的人中，接近三分之二的人在工作场所登陆账户，这给整个组织的总体员工生产率带来1.5%的损失。

　　A study thisyear by psychology students at Covenant College in LookoutMountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend onFacebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weakerstudy habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being moregregarious, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile ordepressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to'night texting' for disturbing the sleep patterns ofteens。)

　　佐治亚州了望山圣约学院心理学专业学生今年进行的一项研究发现，年轻人在Facebook上花的时间越多，他们的学习成绩就越有可能更差，学习习惯越有可能更弱。大量使用Facebook的人显示出更爱交际的征象，但他们也更有可能焦虑、不友好或抑郁。(现在许多医生认为，沉迷于夜间发短信是青少年睡眠模式被打乱的一个原因。)

　　Almost aquarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day,according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit groupthat monitors media's impact on families. Will these young peoplewean themselves of this habit once they enter the work force, orwill employers come to see texting and 'social-network checking' asaccepted parts of the workday?

　　监测媒体对家庭影响的非营利组织“常识媒体”2009年的一项调查显示，今天的青少年中，接近四分之一的人每天查阅Facebook超过10次。当这些年轻人参加工作之后，他们会戒掉这种习惯吗？还是说，雇主最后只能将发短信和查看社交媒体视为工作时间内不得不接受的一部分？

　　Think back.When today's older workers were in their 20s, they might have takena break on the job to call friends and make after-work plans. Inthose earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-relatedcalls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked beingfired. It was impossible to envision the constant back-and-forthtexting that defines interactions among young peopletoday。

　　让我们回顾一下过去。今天年龄较大的劳动者在他们二十几岁的时候，或许也会暂停手中的工作去给朋友打电话，或者是计划下班以后的事情。在那个时代，公司反对拨打跟工作无关的电话，整天打私人电话的人可能会被炒鱿鱼。不停地收发短信已经成为如今的年轻人的主要交往方式，但在当时却是无法想象的。

　　However, nowthat these older workers are managers, they're being advised byconsultants to accept the changed dynamics, so long as youngemployees are doing good work and meeting deadlines。

　　而当这些年龄更大的劳动者如今成为管理人员，顾问公司建议他们，只要年轻雇员工作做得不错、能按时完成，就得接受这种变化了的情况。

　　Educators arealso being asked by parents, students and educational strategiststo reconsider their rules. In past generations, students got introuble for passing notes in class. Now students are adept attexting with their phones still in their pockets, says 40-year-oldMr. Gallagher, the vice principal, "and they're able to communicatewith someone one floor down and three rows over. Students are justfundamentally different today. They will take suspensions ratherthan give up their phones."

　　教育从业者也面对着家长、学生和教育策略人士的呼吁，希望他们重新考虑相关规定。文首40岁的副校长加拉格尔说，在过去几代人中，学生在课堂上传纸条会遇到麻烦。而现在，学生把手机放在衣服口袋里就可以熟练地发短信，而且他们还能够跟楼下隔三排的某个人交流。今天的学生已经具有根本上的不同。他们会暂时停止下来，但不会放弃自己的手机。

　　It may feel like a strangenew world, but Mr. Gallagher's wife, Holly, is among those who sayit's time for educators and employers to embrace it. As ahuman-resources manager, she believes that as the generation now aged 15 to 24 enters the work force, managers must adjust to the new ways they socialize and communicate。

　　这看上去好像是一个奇异的新世界，但包括加拉格尔的妻子霍莉在内的一些人认为，教育界人士和雇主该接受这种情况了。身为人力资源经理的霍莉说，随着现在年龄在15到24岁之间的这一代人参加工作，管理人员必须适应他们新的交往、交流方式。