Is pop culture affecting children and their spelling?

My son came home with his school lunch menu the other day, and one of the food items was "French Fryz"

I know it's cool to spell like this on the internet or when writing cute little notes. But I was not happy to see an elementary school that is...

supposedly teaching my son how to read and write, deliberately spell something like this because it's hip or whatever. I immediately phoned the school and complained, because it's not the first time I've seen something like this.

Am I overreacting or is it irresponsible for schools to do something like this. Parents? Teachers? Any thoughts?

Oh-My-God.

Yes, I totally agree that children can't actually spell these days, all of my friends, when I talk on the internet write 'Heyz, whut are you duin 2dayzz?' and it is _extremely_ annoying. It really doesn't hurt to press a few extra letters.

And besides, some times they forget how to write things in books, in the real world. And they end up writing 'u' or 'r'.

I think we should ban it some way or another... cause it really does effect them.

And no, you're definately not overreating, I would do the same thing.

We continue to see a general 'dumbing down' and decrease in the quality of public education - typical remedy: throw more money at it - a case of 'doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results'.

Here's a 'funny' rather than one of the ones that gets on my nerves.

As you may know, England fans sing a deep and meaningful song at football and rugby matches which goes:

Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land,
Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land!
Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land,
Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land!

As an English teacher. I find that my pupils' ability to spell the name of their country of origin is directly related to how recently they've watched a match...

I'm all with you on this one.
Its more annoying then they think when they are typing like this "h3y h0w 4r3 y0u", I don't see the point. The punctuation part bothers me just as much, not using capitals, periods, etc. I think something serious needs to be done, but what can we do?