Does text messaging harm students' writing skills?

"IYO txtng = NME or NBD?" Translation: "In your opinion, is text messaging the enemy, or no big deal?" As more and more students immerse themselves in Textspeak over their cell phones and computers, educators worry that their writing skills are suffering. After all, the short-message format routinely sacrifices grammar, syntax, and punctuation for the sake of slang and brevity. There is concern that students who frequently express themselves in abbreviations and smiley faces may lose the capacity for more nuanced, grammatically correct writing. But other educators see little evidence that the language of texting is having a negative impact on students' schoolwork. In fact, some are even glad that students are communicating so frequently through writing and are creating their own language, albeit one with a nontraditional vocabulary. Is the prevalence of text messaging something to worry about? WDYT?