How many text messages does your teenager send a month?

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Just curious.

 

Each semester I ask the students in my Gen. Psych class how many texts they send per month. I see a pattern with what they confess to sending and what they report their statements show. On average the students' guesses are always lower than the statement.

 

The highest monthly average to date: 13,000

 

Keep in mind these are usually 16-21 year olds.

[Renee in NC]

I would have guessed thousands now that he pays for his own unlimited texting.:D

 

I had him guess how many he had this month and then looked online to check his estimate. His guess was close to what he had *sent* but he didn't consider the received number!:lol:

[Perry]

Dd1: 250, because that's her limit.

 

Dd2 and ds: Less than 100. But they have a limit of 250 also.

[Pamela H in Texas]

DD17 guessed 200-300.

I think that sounds about right. Several per day for each of us.

 

Statement:

 

DD: 192

DH: 181

DS: 44

Me: 127

 

All numbers are both incoming and outgoing.

We have unlimited. Maybe we should evaluate our plan vs what's available.

Edited April 6, 2010 by 2J5M9K

[RoughCollie]

When my DD had a cell phone, she sent a few texts per day to her best friend. They quickly figured out that it is easier to spend hours on the phone (land line which includes long distance with the package), which is what they do now.

 

DS1 doesn't send texts to anyone.

[Caroline]

My 15 year old ds sends and receives less than 200. That is the current limit. We told him if he wants more, we will talk. I am much more likely to hit my limit than he is.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I am surprised at how few texts are being sent. Maybe homeschoolers like to talk more and text less.

[LibraryLover]

We have an unlimited texting plan, and I text 3 of my children daily. (My youngest doesn't yet have a cell phone. My dh doesn't text, because his company doesn't pay for BB texting). I don't know the total number, but now I am curious. I would guess my oldest (21) has the most, my 17 yr old the least, and the 16 yr old somewhere in the middle. I probably text a little less than my oldest. I hate talking on the phone. Texting is one of the great inventions, imo.

 

Ok, I just checked our current bill. The 4 of us (40 something, 21, 17,16) sent 5,431 messages last month. And exactly in the the order I thought: Oldest first, me next, the 16 yr old, then the 17 yr old.

Edited April 6, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

Mine has a 500 limit.

 

Well 500 limit on texts that are to anyone not in our network. That doesn't count the hundreds of texts between he and I, :lol:. So probably more like 700 to 800. I like text messaging ;).

 

BUT . . . If he goes over that limit, he needs to get a job, seriously.

[Lolly]

I have no clue!!!

LOTS!!!

 

unlimited plan.

[Denisemomof4]

I'd say upwards of 7500. Honestly. Seriously. When we got the phone with 250 texts per month, ds said he'd use those in one evening. I told him there was no way he would. Well, he ran out of texts before the evening was over.

 

I don't understand it, really. Why not just pick up the phone and call?

 

Dh and I have NO texts and have our phones programmed so that we can't receive them.

[Perry]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I am surprised at how few texts are being sent. Maybe homeschoolers like to talk more and text less.

My dd would have many thousands if I let her have unlimited. We tried that. It was ugly.

[Night Elf]

I don't really know. But I do remember spending so much time on the telephone when I was a teenager that my mom gave in and got that "fancy" call waiting. I would have loved to have a cell phone. Now, I don't want to talk or text. I just want to be left alone! :tongue_smilie:

[Crissy]

My son has a pre-paid phone.

I just asked him how many messages he sends and receives in a month. He estimated 30 with 40 being the absolute maximum.

 

He added that he probably would text more if it were not so obvious that he is charged for each message he sends and receives. Because his is charged 1/3 of a minute for each message he sends or reads (and his remaining minutes are displayed on his main screen), he hesitates to respond by text if he can just talk with his friend the next day or use our home phone for further conversation.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I don't really know. But I do remember spending so much time on the telephone when I was a teenager that my mom gave in and got that "fancy" call waiting.

 

I remember when call waiting was the new thing. I would be on the phone and pray for the beep that let me know someone else was calling. It made me feel special to press the button to answer the other call. Now I think it's pretty rude when someone tells me they have another call and puts me on hold.:glare: How times have changed, eh?

[LibraryLover]

I have no clue!!!

LOTS!!!

 

unlimited plan.

 

 

Which rocks. lol Text me, and I will read it, and text you when i feel like it. lol It's like caller ID, but a million times better.

 

I love how you can make lists with texting. No need for a pen, even.

 

I want my dh to get texting capabilities. Grrrr.... He pretty much knows he needs to leave me voice mail. He knows I do not run to phones. He is just happy he can get messages to me. I used to barely asnwer the landline.

[Melissa in Australia]

0

Nobody in my family has sent a single text. we don't have a mobile phone at all.

[AngieW in Texas]

We have unlimited texting. This is what was reported on last month's bill.

 

17yo - 4 texts, 69 minutes phone

14yo - 0 texts, 28 minutes phone

11yo - 3219 texts, 146 minutes phone

dh - 52 texts, 620 minutes phone

me - 3 texts (if 11yo is with me, I have her do the texting because she's fast and i'm painfully slow), 382 minutes phone

[justamouse]

Don't know I have unlimited. But I like that she texts her friends and family. She texts her 'aunts' (my friends) just as much as her friends. AND she's not using my rollover minutes! Not htat I use them, though-I hate the phone and much prefer texting.

[amy g.]

My 15 year old-0

My 14 year old-about 100 although he does have an unlimited plan.

[Guest]

Fourteen year old: none. Believe it or not, has no interest. Would rather be with a friend talking and playing still -- long may it last.

[Imprimis]

My daughter does not like talking on the phone, so most of her communication with friends is by text messaging.

 

I never placed a limit on texting, plus we have an unlimited texting plan---and, the first few months we had it, she texted quite a bit---maybe 150-200 messages per day. Now, she's sending about 10-20 per day.

 

The novelty has worn off--she no longer feels compelled to narrate every single thing she's doing----like, "walking into Starbucks, ordering iced espresso," "on my way to music lesson," or, "leaving music lesson." You get the picture :001_smile:

[jazzyfizzle]

I remember when call waiting was the new thing. I would be on the phone and pray for the beep that let me know someone else was calling. It made me feel special to press the button to answer the other call. Now I think it's pretty rude when someone tells me they have another call and puts me on hold.:glare: How times have changed, eh?

 

 

LOL I enjoyed telling my oldest son about our first push button phone. It even had a 100 ft. cord so I could walk from one end of our trailer to the other. Gosh I was excited. :D

 

NO texting here, blocked on all lines. :)

[DarlaS]

Now, I don't want to talk or text. I just want to be left alone! :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

 

It takes all my restraint sometimes not to answer the phone with "WHAT?" instead of "hello?" :lol: It seems it always a nuisance interruption--and we're on the no call list. :glare:

 

Zero texting here--we're socially backward--or did you figure that out already? :D

[Delighted3]

19 yodd with unlimited text plan: 10000-12000 a month.

[HRAAB]

We have unlimited texting. I share a plan with my two older dd's. I know it's a lot. It's been my main way of communicating with my dd while she and her husband were traveling. I would be curious to know but our statement doesn't show the total.

[Hillary in KS]

For me, this is easy to count: My 14 yo send 0 texts each month. :D

 

He doesn't have a cell phone, nor does he have an interest in getting one.

[Nestof3]

My son, almost 20, just went over his limit of 250. He has two more days until the next cycle begins. He pays $5.00 a month for 250 text messages.

[Georgiana Daniels]

DD18 had around 1000 last month, according to the statement.

 

I had well over 2000:D I LOVE texting!

[Irene Lynn]

Our dd doesn't text at all. She can't stand the mangled spelling and incomplete sentences. She does IM plenty, but does not use chatspeak. She is 16.5. She also does not have a cell phone and does not have any desire at this time. She doesn't even use the house phone very often.

[AK_Mom4]

DS18 - 6000 a month

DD16 - 10000+ a month

 

Unlimited plans, of course..... and the 2 of them together use less than 50 minutes of voice calls. Me....I rarely use over 500 texts - most of them from DS18 and DD16!

[Guest Katia]

17yo = maybe 1 per month. Possibly 2.

 

But I suggest that she text her friends for that one text as she forgets that she can. Otherwise, she will text me if she's out with someone else. Mostly, she calls me to come and pick her up from activities; that is why she has the cell phone.

 

20yo college student = as many as needed to meet up with friends, etc. Not more than 10-15 per month.

 

Dh is the one that sends all the text messages at this house. He is in LOVE with his cell phone and cannot seem to exist without it constantly at his side.

 

I don't text at.all.

[cathmom]

I currently have one teenager who has never texted. I have never texted. Once my oldest tried to save me minutes by texting me an answer to a message I had left for him, and I had to call him to find out what it said because I don't know how to get to the text messages on my phone! Worked really well, huh? :lol:

[MariannNOVA]

I texted with my old phone - then it fell in the pool and that was the end of that - maybe 30 - 60 texts a month with that phone.

 

Lived without a cell phone for 5 months and LOVED IT -- dh bought me a pay as you go phone. He has texted me on it once -- I don't text....anymore. I've made 'living under the radar' an art form, I hope.

 

no cable, no satellite, pay as you go phone, oh, and we just got our landline phone back since moving back in. And the only reason I have it is so the security system on the house can be re-activated.

 

For fairfax county, I am sure we are considered backwards!:001_huh:

[Homeschool4us]

19 yodd with unlimited text plan: 10000-12000 a month.

17yo dd with unlimited text: 10000-15000 a month

7yo dd uses my I-touch to text me if I'm not at home and will use my Droid (picked up on how to use it quicker than I did) otherwise. Would love to have cell, I'm sure she will get one sooner than big sis (got hers at 14yo) but as of now I see no need most of the time. If situation arises that I would like her to have one with her if she is going somewhere with my sister or some other rare instance, she just uses my mothers. No texting allowed and she can only call certain people. That is the ED-RN seeing what I do, where the world is today and how mean some people have become. It's just an extra step for safety "just in case" some strange event should occur. Things are not the same as all you guys know as it was when we were growing up. We could play in the woods, walk down the road and much more. Now we have to worry who may be in those woods or going down the road. It's sad we have to be like this.

dh & I approx. 3000 a month, lots of which are to each other.

I also use cell to text reminders to 17yo dd that are preset to be sent daily at a certain time to remind her of what she needs to make sure gets done. Even if I am at home, she still gets those reminders.

We would both rather send a quick text for something simple rather than call. Same for us and oldest daughter. If either of us is at work, its just easier to send the simple text instead of having to be called to the phone. I'm an ED-RN and unless its an emergency I have told secretaries not to pull me out of a room for phone calls. (I've worked there 10 years so all know my children, husband, family and will ask what they need or I'm w/a patient is there something wrong?) I check my phone to see if they need anything at least 2-3 times an hour while I'm working.

[hsmamainva]

My 19yo averages 5,000 texts a month.

 

Our 15yo doesn't text. No interest in it.

 

We do have the unlimited plan!

[StaceyinLA]

We are 5 on a family talk plan (oldest dd has to be on with my mom because 5 is the max). Before I went to unlimited texts, we were always going over our minutes. Since unlimited texting, I was able to lower our minutes and save money, and we STILL get plenty of rollover minutes!

 

All of my girls (20, 18 and 17yo) text over 10,000 texts/mo, but the 17yo usually takes the cake (she has had as many as 20,000, though that isn't the norm). I probably do a couple thousand myself. I love texting. Hubby and I talk more, send one another to-do lists, grocery lists, etc. I can text a list of things to dd while she's at Whole Foods, etc. I use texting a lot.

[Tap]

20-30 all to me or dh. Ds doesn't like the cell phone and only uses it to talk to dh and I about when to pick him up and such. He only got a cell phone because he truly needed one. He also uses less than 30 minutes each month.