Trends in Teen Texting and Mobile Phones (2/3)

As a Director on the Board of Kajeet, Rick Bolander carefully monitors the mobile phone usage of teenagers and young people. Kajeet allows parents to implement controls on their children’s cellular activities.

The Pew Research Center’s recently released report, which documented cell phone usage habits among teenagers, uncovered some interesting facts about computers and landlines.

Teens who send the most texts often do not enjoy access to a home computer, even if another family member owns one. Almost half of the teens in this group do not have computers in their homes at all.

Traditional voice calls appear to be declining among adolescents. One-quarter of those polled said they never place voice calls. Only two in five make calls daily. Landline usage also seems to be decreasing. In 2009, 30 percent of teens spoke with their friends using landlines daily. Just over two years later, this has fallen to 14 percent. Another one-third never utilize landlines for such communication at all.

Trends in Teen Texting and Mobile Phones (1/3)

Rick Bolander serves as a Director on the Board of Kajeet, which offers pay-as-you-go mobile phone service for young people and enables parents to customize available features. Also a key investor in Kajeet, Rick Bolander understands the challenges parents face in ensuring their children’s safety when using mobile phones.

In 2012, the Pew Research Center released a report on teenagers and how they utilize cell phones. A majority of young people text with at least one person on a daily basis. Half of those interviewed indicated they text with their friends daily. These numbers have not changed significantly in the past several years.

The number of teens sending numerous texts each day has increased, however. In 2009, 15 percent of adolescents sent 200 or more texts daily. In 2011, that number had risen to 18 percent. In addition, the percentage of teens who send no texts in a day fell to 1 percent from 2 percent.

The organization also discovered that those who text more also speak more on their phones. Nearly three-quarters of heavy texters also make voice calls daily. Additionally, there appears to be some correlation between texting volume and the type of phone owned. Those who utilize smartphones tend to send more texts.