Texting, blogging and checking your social networking site of choice all have a place, but that place is not the classroom.

When students text or browse the Internet all through class, they are probably distracting the other students in the class and they are definitely disrespecting the professor. But even this is not the extent of the problem with our generation’s dependence on digital communication.

A scholar from Emory University and some professors on campus warn that the young men and women of Generation Y may lose important interpersonal skills because most of their communication comes in the form of texts, e-mails and other all-verbal media and not from face-to-face conversations. Being able to read into hand gestures, vocal inflections and other body signals is a necessary and valuable skill. This is not to say that these avenues of communication are bad. Sending a text is one of the most convenient ways of reaching someone quickly, and many are glad to have Facebook to keep in touch with friends who live far away. But we have to remember that these methods of communication cannot replace an actual face-to-face conversation with someone.

Everything in life is better in moderation, and communicating via text and social networks is no exception.

Associate editor Logan Wilson for the editorial board.