Do you remember life before a cell phone?
If you are older than the Millennial generation, of course you would!
But I am at the oldest part of this generation and truly do not remember a time without them (even though I did not own one till I was able to drive). Technology has completely shaped my generation and the question has come up, how has this effected us and our view of the world?
Below is an infographic of the study, but we wanted to bring out the best parts of this data specifically on cell phones:
- The defining device for a teen is a cell phone at 94% of them owning one.
- 12% of teens have shared their phone number with a stranger or posted something inappropriate photos online.
- Texting is by far the number one modality of communication for teens at 63%, sending on average 167 texts a day.
Do you feel like this is a good thing?
(Let us know in the comment where you are coming from, i.e. parent, youth worker, teacher, no interaction with teens.)
[via OnlineSchools.com]
Church Software says
I am the only female youth leader at my church and I am 24. While I am in the Millennial age group, I do remember the time before cell phones. At least before I had a cell phone and I remember when my Mom got one. Working with teenagers is tough business, and infographics like this one definitely help parents and youth workers alike to grasp where teenagers are at in life. While it wasn’t that long ago that I was a teenager, I feel that today’s teens are even more connected to social media and such. I used email like crazy when I was a teenager, now they hardly use it with Facebook messages and such. Thank you for taking the time to put this together. I will most definitely be sharing this through our church software with all of our youth leaders and parents. It’s good for parents to visualize how their kids connect with the world around them.
Jeremy Smith says
So glad that you found value in it!
TJ says
I teach 7th grade math. This past week, I taught my students how to use these little remote responders to put in their answers for their quiz. To type in letters, you have to use the number keypad. I asked them if they remembered texting on phones that didn’t have a keyboard on them. A lot of them gave me blank stares. I felt old.
Jeremy Smith says
What? Before phones had keyboards? You’re crazy!