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Teens Texting Over 50 Times a Day (But Not With Parents), Study Finds

by Amar Toor on April 20, 2010 at 11:10 AM

Texting your way to carpal tunnel syndrome at the age of 16 is extreme, but what about the rest of America's teenage youth? Has texting now replaced actual speech as teenage lingua franca? A recent survey conducted as part of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project finds that 75-percent of teens now own cell phones, up from just 45-percent in 2004. Researchers also find that 53-percent of kids between the ages of 12-and-17 now text on a daily basis, as compared to the 38-percent figure recorded just 18 months earlier. On average, American teenagers send about 50 texts a day (although a substantial portion of those surveyed texted at twice that rate), with many deeming it their preferred means of communication.

The most intriguing part of the report, though, is its analysis of how parents and schools are reacting to this teenage text-plosion. The majority of parents say they've taken away their child's cell phone as a punishment before, while others have implemented various monitoring policies to limit texting. The study also finds that the majority of high schools ban texting in classes, but allow it in hallways or cafeterias, despite the concern of some school officials. High school history teacher Nini Haklett, for example, told NPR that she's noticed not only a serious decline in her students' spelling and grammar skills over the years, but a decline in their basic interpersonal skills, as well -- both of which she directly attributes to texting. "A lot of them have a harder time looking you in the eye and communicating directly with you," she notes.

The Pew report supports Haklett's observations to a certain extent. In focus groups, many teens did say that they often text to avoid face-to-face communication in an awkward context, or even if the recipient is nearby. But author Amanda Lenhart is quick to point out that teens still rely on verbal communication when it comes to their parents, which is important to keep in mind. While some kids surveyed said they texted with their parents, the majority still prefer to actually speak to them. As long as parents keep having children, then, we can all rest assured that the SMS won't truly kill the spoken word, and chances are, it won't turn our texting teens into complete social mutes. [From: NPR and PewInternet]

Tags: communication, parenting, PewResearchCenter, school, schools, sms, study, teenagers, teens, text, text messaging, Texting, TextMessaging, top

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