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.