More and more kids leading an always-on lifestyle with their mobile devices

(Brad Wynnyk)

A group of new studies indicate that children are becoming increasingly attached to mobile phones. Mobile phone ownership amongst tweens has almost doubled in the last five years and the number of texts teenagers send per day can reach into the hundreds.

"Recent surveys from Pew, Kaiser Family Foundation and others indicate that in some age groups-particularly the tween-young teen bracket-ownership has nearly doubled since 2005" said eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson on July 2.

66 percent of kids living in the USA between the age of eight and 18 owned a mobile phone in 2009.

Between the age of eight and 10, 31 percent of children reported owning a mobile phone. That figure more than doubles with 11 to 14 year olds (69 percent own a mobile).

8.5 out of 10 kids between the ages of 15 and 18 own a mobile phone.

Whilst mobile ownership is high, only a few kids (14 percent) have a smartphone to show off to their friends in the playground.

It is not surprising then that the majority of teens' mobile phone communication is made up of texting.

An April 20 study by Pew Research Center found that teens were more likely to text their friends than they were to communicate with them face-to-face, however, when it came to getting in contact with their parents voice calling was the preferred form of communication.

"Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month" said the Pew Research Center.

A June 18 study by Pew Research Center suggested teens were less likely than their adult counterparts to use their mobile phone whilst driving.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007780
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Cell-Phone-Distractions.aspx
http://en-us.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsen/en_us/documents/pdf/Three%20Screen%20Reports/Nielsen_Three%20Screen%20Report_Q12010.PDF