Take a Guess — How Many Texts Does the Average Teen Send Each Day?
- Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:06am by
Liz Klimas
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Parents paying for their teens’ cellphone bill can pat themselves on the back for choosing the unlimited texting plan. If you don’t have that plan, you may consider getting it as the latest stats from the Pew Research Center found that the average teen sends one text every 15 minutes they’re awake. That is up to 60 texts per day.
(Image: Pew Research Center)
Two years ago, the average number of texts for the 12 to 17-year-old age group was 50. Also on the rise is the number of teens using smartphones: 31 percent of those age 14 to 17 have a more sophisticated device, compared to 8 percent of 12 to 13-year-olds. Research of the 799 teens interviewed showed one in four now own a smartphone.
Not all communication on mobile devices is on the rise in this age demographic though. Pew reports seeing only 26 percent of teens talking on cellphones with friends daily, whereas 38 percent were chatting in 2009. Interestingly enough, it’s not a preference of one form of communication over the other:
[...] the Pew Internet survey shows that the heaviest texters are also the heaviest talkers. The heaviest texters (those who exchange more than 100 texts a day) are much more likely than lighter texters to say that they talk on their cell phone daily.
Here’s Slate’s report on the statistics:
Last year, as part of its Internet & American Life Project, Pew found that texting appears to be even more popular in the 18 to 24 age group with 109.5 average texts sent per day. The average American, according to this earlier project announced Sept. 2011, sends 41.5 texts per day.
[H/T Fark]
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mbck1491
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:43pmI‘ve had a couple of people that I’ve given my land line phone number to and they tried to send me a text message to it not knowing that was a land line. Then they ask me face to face did I get their text? Funny as I’ve never owned a cell phone in my life, and have never ever sent a text message. I guess I’m a dinosaur at 42. Either I’m stupid for not following the crowd, or smart for not creating an electronic trail.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:51pmWe have several restraunts – locally that warn employees that past this point at entrance Your job or your phone. A friend that is a manager in our small town at one of the larger companys ask about ability to tweet, face book and can they Text while interviewing? These that brag about their abilities do not get a job. A program they have on their network monitors personal use and they get 1 chance and then they are booted. She told me that most young peoople think they should get paid to send personal e-mails and use cell phone while on the job.
Report Post »Ruckus_Tom
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 1:12amThere are a lot of people out there who are going to have a pretty tough time of it when the power goes out say, for a week / month / year or two.
Report Post »dmerwin
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:37pmThe Answer? Too many. Wash the dishes and clean up your room.
Report Post »Xris
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:42amAs annoying as it is seeing kids texting all the time, there is one good thing. Since they are no longer making calls or surfing the net, it opens up more bandwidth for the rest of us. Texting takes very little bandwidth, since it is one step away from the telegraph, which is hilarious. Pretty soon they will revert back to sending written letters or maybe even carrier pigeons!
Report Post »friendfor truth
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 9:38amI get so tired of seeing kids walking down the street texting. They can’t be away from their phones for any extended amount of time. It’s an addiction. Then of course you have the classic scene of four kids standing together/sitting together and all of them have their phones out, texting other people. Ridiculous! However, I am probably just as bad since I’m sending emails pretty frequently.
It’s just so extreme.
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 8:54amI always wanted to start a FREE texting service where there is no service or monthly fee….BUT…you get charged 5 cents for every curse word, overuse of the word “like”, abbreviation, or improper capitalization, poor grammar usage or punctuation error. I figure that I would either become a multi-millionaire or I would improve the English language and proofreading skills one text at a time.
Report Post »THGIC
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 9:31amThat is actually a good idea. And though most people would think that it goes against their right (Freedom of Speech), it is more or less a way of helping those who are too lazy to type an extra syllable, or add correct punctuation.
Through college, I remember doing proof-reading and peer reviews of papers written by people my age and older. Surprisingly, some kids my age had better grammar than the adults. And then, there are the few who literally write like they are texting. They do not use capital letters, proper grammar, punctuation, etc. It was really sad to know that they cannot use proper grammar, or are too lazy to do so. I mean, it is college for pity’s sake!
Report Post »britttkdgirl
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 8:51amOK. I’m 15, so I can speak from experience. There are a lot of teenagers on their phones all the time. There are also a ton that don’t text. The stereotyping going on in the previous comments that I see is expected but still not right… I do use my phone a lot, but I only use it to talk to the friends that I’ve made that due to distance I never see. Other than that, believe it or not, I CALL.
Shocking, I know.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:57amSeen a trio of teens in my neighborhood once tossing a football around. One of ‘em stepped away to pull out his phone texting. The other two soon followed suit. I guess kids can’t put the damn things down for 30 minutes and just play catch anymore.
Report Post »THGIC
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 8:38amI left my cell phone at home today, just so I could have a peaceful day at work. And so far, it is working!
Think I miss texting? Or finding out what happened on FaceBook every 5 minutes of the day? Not a chance.
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:45amCell phones bug me.
Report Post »sasquatch08
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:08pmIf they text so much shouldn’t the spelling, grammar and word knowledge scores on tests be going up?
Or is that “c u 2nite, g2g 4 now, lat3erz” crap what they teach in English class these days?
Report Post »Freedom Keeper
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 11:56amTeenagers have become so stupid and disconnected. Public schooling doesn’t help either….trying homeschooling or virtual schooling. http://oleglorynews.com/2012/03/21/homeschooling-an-alternative-to-the-progressive-indoctrination-machine/
Report Post »USAMEDIC3008
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 2:17amTurning potential people into ZOMBIE’s
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 8:56amLosers.
Thanks all the great parents out there. I‘m sure I’ll be in good hands in my golden years in another 30 years.
Ugh.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 8:02am.
How Many Texts Does the Average Teen Send Each Day?
None now. I threw her phone out the window of my truck about 2 weeks ago on I-45 South…..
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 8:43amYou know Monkey, you can get a plan that doesn’t include texting.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 9:00am.
Report Post »Gonzo, the plan she has now does not include a phone……..
HorseCrazy
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 10:30amhaha I needed that laugh this morning I bet your daughter is happy with you right now
Report Post »sasquatch08
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:03pm“…the plan she has now does not include a phone…”
LOL! That‘s the best line I’ve heard in awhile!
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:46amHell yes!
Report Post »DearDonkey
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:40amGood for you! Too many parents want to be friends with their children and not parents. Few have the ability to balance both. When I grew up, my parents acted like parents. And today, as an adult, I am great friends with them.
Report Post »NC
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 7:49amIf anyone texts me and does not get a reply, it’s because I have a block on my phone(s) so no texts can be received.
You’ve now been notified.
NC (texting on-line)
Report Post »wolverine
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:46amWe now have a problem the illiterate people are now texting disadvantaged and will need some sort of government program overcome this problem
Report Post »nzkiwi
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:35amThe daughter of a friend of mine has two cell phones and can text on them simultaneously with one in each hand.
In answer to the obvious question: I have no idea.
Report Post »gsp9993
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:27amHere come RTD Repetitive Thumb Disease.
We lost the RMD Repetitive Motion Disease when data entry jobs disappear
So now these kids will be faced with a lifetime of not being able to grip a pen or a coffee cup.
That’s progress.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 7:22amDont worry…the Government will soon force insurance companied to pay for this malady too…They will use the IRS gun on taxpayers for the co-pay…Problem solved. Thank you Government, what would we do without you?
Report Post »Sarcasm off…