Facts and Surveys

In this section, CTIA has included some of the latest statistics on kids and their wireless use.

General Mobile Usage
Children and Teen Mobile Usage
Mobile Behaviour by Children and Teens
Research/Surveys

General Mobile Usage

More than 84 percent of the handsets operating on wireless carriers’ networks are capable of browsing the web. [Source]
While home broadband adoption remains relatively low for African American homes at 46 percent, African Americans “are the most active users of the mobile Internet,” and their use is growing at a faster pace than mobile internet use among whites. [Source]
The iTunes app store has more than 10,000 education apps and more than 5,600 reference apps available for download. [As of February 12, 2010. CTIA’s discussion of all of the products description and claims made by these companies public for a, including company websites; CTIA has not evaluated any of these claims and does not endorse any particular product or service.]
The Get Wise About Wireless program has reached a total audience of more than six million teachers, students and parents, significantly exceeding expectations. Program material received “excellent” or “above average” ratings of over 90 percent from participating teachers. [Source]
In a National Consumer Study, 62 percent of respondents were aware that wireless carriers offer parental controls that allow parents to restrict a child’s cell phone use and place limits on a child’s wireless Internet access, texting and downloads. [Source]

Mobile Ownership by Children & Teens

The mobile phone has become the favored communication hub for the majority of American teens. 75 percent of children ages 12 to 17 now have a cell phone, 83 percent of 17-year-olds now own a cell phone (up from 64 percent in 2004), and 58 percent of 12-year-olds now own a cell phone (up from 18 percent in 2004). [Source]
20 percent of media consumption by 8 to 18-year-olds occurs on mobile devices such as cell phones, iPods and handheld video game players—an average of more than two hours per day. [Source]
During the past five years, the percentage of children ages 8 to 18 who own their cell phone has grown from 39 percent to 66 percent, while the percentage of children in the same age bracket with iPods or other MP3 players increased from 18 percent to 76 percent. [Source]
Approximately one-third of children ages 13 to 17 said that it was “absolutely essential/very important” or “important” to have the latest and greatest cell phone for their purposes, and 57 percent of teens somewhat or strongly agree that having a mobile phone has improved the quality of their life. [Source]

How Children and Teens Use Mobile

72 percent of all teens — or 88 percent of teen cell phone users — are text-messengers. Teens make and receive far fewer phone calls than text messages on their cell phones. [Source]
Half of teens send more than 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. Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day. [Source]
From April through June 2009, 64.2 percent of subscribers 13 to 17-years-old sent text messages daily. [comScore (m:metrics) MobiLens, Messaging Usage, 3-Month Average Ending June 2009 (rel. Aug. 2009) (“comScore Study”).]
With respect to text messaging capabilities, 67 percent of teenagers said they “love it” and would “die without it”. [Source]
For children ages 13 to 17:
- 25.5 percent used a mobile browser to access news or information;
- 32.2 percent took photos weekly and 66.8 percent took photos monthly;
- 12.1 percent captured video weekly and 34.7 percent captured video monthly;
- 21.3 percent uploaded photos to the web monthly; and
- 19.8 percent used email monthly.

[See comScore Study.]

More than 37% of teens in the U.S. access the Web through their phones. [Source]
96 percent of all teens send or receive text messages every day; and one in three uses the mobile web. [Source]
One-third of teens are browsing the Web on their phone, and 19 percent engage in social networking on their wireless devices, including status updates, messaging friends and family and posting and viewing pictures and video. [Source]
Almost two-thirds of teen frequently use a mobile device’s camera to take pictures “love it” and would “die without it.” [Source]

Children and Teens Mobile Behavioral Issues

Unlimited plans are tied to increases in use of the phone, while teens on metered plans are much more circumspect in their use of the phone. [Source]
Four percent of 12 to 17-year-olds who own mobile devices say they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of themselves to someone else via text messaging. [Source]
15 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds who own mobile devices say they have received sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of someone they know via text messaging on their cell phone. [Source]
Eight percent of 17-year-olds with cell phones have sent a sexually provocative image by text and 30 percent have received a nude or nearly nude image on their phone. [Source]
17 percent of teens who pay for all of the costs associated with their cell phones send sexually suggestive images via text while three percent of teens who do not pay for, or only pay for a portion of the cost of the cell phone send these images. [Source]
Pew’s focus groups revealed that three main scenarios for sexting: 1) exchange of images solely between two romantic partners; 2) exchanges between partners that are shared with others outside the relationship and 3) exchanges between people who are not yet in a relationship, but where at least one person hopes to be. [Source]
54 percent of text-using teens have received spam or other unwanted texts and 26 percent have been bullied or harassed through text messages and phone calls. [Source]
One in three (34 percent) texting teens ages 16 to 17 say they have texted while driving. That translates into 26 percent of all American teens ages 16 to 17. [Source]
Teen’s who are considered “hyper-texters” (defined as texting 120 or more messages in a school day), are:
- 40 percent more likely to have tried cigarettes than youths who spend less time texting;
- 43 percent more likely to be binge drinkers;
- 41 percent more likely to have used illicit drugs;
- 55 percent more likely to have been in a physical fight;
- Nearly 3.5 times more likely to have had sex; and
- 90 percent more likely to report having had four or more sexual partners.

Parental Control Usage

98 percent of parents of cell-owning teens say a major reason their child has the phone is that they can be in touch, regardless of the teen’s location. 94 percent of cell users ages 12 to 17 agree that cell phones give them more freedom because they can reach their parents no matter where they are. [Source] 78 percent of teens responded that mobile phones make them feel safe while on the go. [Source]
Teens’ use of cell phones is strongly associated with the type of plan they have and who pays the phone bills.
- 69 percent of teen cell phone users have a phone that is part of a contract covering all of their family’s cell phones.
- 18 percent of teen cell phone users are part of a prepaid or pay-as-you-go plan.
- 10 percent of teen cell phone users have their own individual contract. [Source]
64 percent of parents look at the contents of their child’s cell phone and 62 percent of parents have taken away their child’s phone as punishment. [Source]
46 percent of parents limit the number of minutes their children may talk and 52 percent limit the times of day they may use the phone. [Source]
48 percent of parents use the phone to monitor their child’s location. [Source]
When parent’s limit their child’s text messaging capabilities, children:
- report lower levels of various texting behaviors among teens such as "sexting"; and
- are less likely to report being passengers in cars where the driver texted behind the wheel or used the phone in a dangerous manner while driving.
- [Source]

Mobile Use in School

Most schools do not permit mobile devices in the school or classroom. [Source]
12 percent of all students say they can have their phone at school at any time. 62 percent of all students say they can have their phone in school, just not in class. [Source]
60 percent of cell-owning teens at schools that completely ban phones bring their phones to school every day. [Source]
58 percent of cell-owning teens at schools that ban phones have sent a text message during class. 64 percent of teens with cell phones have texted in class; 25 percent have made or received a call during class time. [Source]
18 percent of teens said they somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that the mobile phone has positively influenced their education. [Source]
65 percent of high school students use their cell phones while in school. [Source]
25 percent of text messages sent by teens are sent during class. [Source]

Research/Surveys

Here are some of the recent research papers and surveys on kids and their wireless use.

Teens and Mobile Phones, Pew Internet & American Life Project, released April 20, 2010 – Source
Social Media & Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults, Pew Internet & American Life Project, released February 3, 2010 – Source
Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year Olds, Kaiser Family Foundation, released January 10, 2010 – Source
Teens and Sexting, Pew Internet & American Life Project, released December 13, 2009 – Source
Teens and Distracted Driving, Pew Internet & American Life Project, released November 16, 2009 – Source
A Generation Unplugged, CTIA/Harris Interactive, released September 2008 – Source
How Teens Use Media, The Nielsen Company, released June 2009 - Source
Hyper-texting and Hyper-Networking: A New Health Risk Category for Teens?, Case Western Reserve University, released November 9, 2010 - Source
Survey: Many Teens Use Phones in class to Text or Cheat, Common Sense Media, released June 19, 2009 - Source