WASHINGTON, D.C. – First lady Michelle Obama recently launched a new initiative, “Better Make Room,” as a means of targeting “Generation Z” with social media messaging about higher education.

And as part of that effort, she’s encouraging parents to do away with proper grammar and punctuation when communicating with their kids, and to instead rely on “short and sweet” messages to teens that are “raw and authentic,” according to the Examiner.

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In other words, Michelle O wants parents to ditch proper grammar and English for texting shorthand, slang and emojis punctuation.

“Imagine a simple request, such as, ‘You were supposed to be home by 9:00 PM. Where are you and why aren’t you home?’ In Michelle Obama’s world that would be, ‘Past 9 what up homey,’” Examiner columnist Ken Kaplan wrote.

“Don’t make the mistake of responding to a text using full sentences with proper grammar and punctuation,” Obama told those who attended the launch of the “Better Make Room” initiative. “If you really want to get their attention, use symbols, little symbols. There’s the smiley face, the angry face, and all the other faces that can show any emotion you may be feeling.”

Ironically, the first lady’s “Better Make Room” effort is part of her broader “Reach Higher” campaign to encourage students to pursue higher education at trade schools, community colleges, and four-year universities where communication shortcuts don’t make the grade.

“That is why, as part of her Reach Higher initiative, the First Lady is announcing a new public awareness campaign, Better Make Room, to target Generation Z, or young people ages 14-19, to celebrate education, change the national conversation, and reach students directly where they are and give them a space to create content while also navigating the college-going process,” according to a White House fact sheet.

“This campaign will leverage traditional and new media platforms to celebrate student stories in the same way that we often celebrate celebrities and athletes. With partners in the business, philanthropic, media, and education realm, this campaign will stretch across the country to inspire students and give them the tools they need to reach higher for college.”

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Kaplan framed the Better Make Room initiative another way.

“Mrs. Obama says teens would rather text than have a conversation, but nothing good comes from parents removing two-way communication from their parental duties and some conversations demand actual talk. If Michelle Obama has her way, the concept of a heart-to-heart will join punctuation on the list of outdated notions,” he wrote.

“Mrs. Obama’s campaign calls on teens to use social media sites such as Vine, a partner in the initiative, as well as Twitter and Instagram to show off the accomplishments of their peers. Though Michelle Obama doesn’t even understand how many of these social sites work, or the value of using them to our children, she doesn’t mind pushing it out to the parents of America as gospel.”

“The truth is, I probably won’t understand everything we’re doing with this campaign and neither will many of you. But that’s OK — we’re old,” Michelle Obama said, according to the news site.

Kaplan transposed Michelle O’s message – that kids “want content that’s authentic and raw – nothing polished, nothing packaged” – with those of her predecessors.

“Young people need us in their lives,” Laura Bush told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last year. “They need to know they are valued, that somebody believes in them and that their success matters.”

Eleanor Roosevelt told American parents that “at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity,” according to Kaplan, who believes Michelle Obama bases her advice on her own experiences with teenage daughters.

“They usually stop listening to us after about six seconds,” she said. “Their eyes just glaze over as we blather on and on. We think we’re getting to them, but they’ve shut us off minutes ago.”

Kaplan opines that efforts to “reach students directly where they are” could do more harm than good, and will do little to boost academic achievement and the ability of students to thrive after high school.

“Kids are going to do what kids are going to do; we can’t change that; yet they expect parents to define rules that they can always fall back on,” he wrote. “It’s difficult enough to teach children how to speak properly, write correctly and act appropriately without the first lady of the nation telling us to do with the flow.

“We try to instill the values we learned from our parents while Michelle Obama would prefer we just adapt to the speed and casualness of social media.”