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CNN: Average teen sends 3,339 texts per month


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This sounds completely crazy to me.

 

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-15/tech/teen.texting.mashable_1_texts-teenagers-age-teen-males?_s=PM:TECH

 

When I was in that age range I was on the phone for an hour a day or so, but in one big chunk. (And I laugh because I really dislike talking on the phone now.) Maybe they only spend an hour total, but the constant distraction...yikes.

 

 

How can these teens focus and get anything done? Maybe they're wired differently? :confused: Any parents of teens who text this much? Does it seem like less than what I'm imagining this looks like? My kiddos are still very young.

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My poor 16 yr old got 8 texts from me today. ;) It was a scheduling conflict/matter, and they were short but still...lol. I also texted both my sisters a couple of times today, my dh, and last night I texted several times with my oldest.

 

I hope 'they' don't check *my* records. ;) :auto: (But that doesn't mean I text and drive...I do not!)

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I thought that sounded ridiculously high.

 

My daughter does have friends that carry their phone everywhere.

 

My daughter is definitely not average. If she sends 1 text a month its a lot. Added to that she leaves her phone off and doesn't if carry it with her.

 

My son refuses to get a cell phone.

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i can't get into the section of our cell provider's website that lets me see the numbers right now (website has been wonky for a bit) but it wouldn't surprise me if dd13 was close to that ~ because the first week that she got her phone, as a fairly new texter (she'd used mine a bit) she sent something like 400. :laugh:

 

we're both text frequently (although i tend to use bbm a lot - she's not on a bb so she doesn't have that option) but she definitely out-texts me. ;)

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I thought that sounded ridiculously high.

 

My daughter does have friends that carry their phone everywhere.

 

My daughter is definitely not average. If she sends 1 text a month its a lot. Added to that she leaves her phone off and doesn't if carry it with her.

 

My son refuses to get a cell phone.

Good for him. The both of them actually.

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I believe it. Because I have a 17 yo daughter that has an average of 4,000-5,000 texts a month. She never talks on the phone, all she does is text. We have unlimited texting thank goodness.

 

Also, she has a "friend" that is overseas in Japan serving in the Marines, so there are a lot of texts from him.

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That still doesn't sound like it comes close to over 1000 per day. :001_huh: :confused:

 

No, I couldn't imagine. My oldest texts some and my son refuses to have a cell phone like the previous poster. :) I rarely text. :)

 

1000 a day would be 30,000 a month. In a 30 day month, 3,339 averages out to be between 111 and 112 a day.

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1000 a day would be 30,000 a month. In a 30 day month, 3,339 averages out to be between 111 and 112 a day.

:lol: Why did I have to make such a stupid mistake on this board. :glare: (I am really tired and have been sitting here way to long if that redeems me in any way) Of course 100 per day doesn't sound like that much especially since they are conversing, I'm sure a person can easily use 100 sentences in daily conversation.

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OP here....

 

I forgot to add...I prefer texting to talking on the phone. :)

 

I'm just having a hard time imagining how someone could send an average of 6 texts/hour during their waking hours. If you assume these teens are not texting during class it's maybe more like 10/hour during waking, non-school hours. If you then add in time for homework (2-4 hours/day?), afternoon activities, breakfast, shower, and dinner, then maybe 15/hour when they have an hour free?

 

I think I'm not wired for this. Sometimes I need to focus on what I'm doing for an extended period of time. :)

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It takes me about 5 minute to send a text. My son recognizes a text as being from me because it includes lots of letter strings: xyxxur yes.

 

This means the answer is yes and I don't know how to backspace to erase mistakes.

 

The whole enterprise is Greek to me.

 

Teens do text while in class in my son's school.

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OP here....

 

I forgot to add...I prefer texting to talking on the phone. :)

 

I'm just having a hard time imagining how someone could send an average of 6 texts/hour during their waking hours. If you assume these teens are not texting during class it's maybe more like 10/hour during waking, non-school hours. If you then add in time for homework (2-4 hours/day?), afternoon activities, breakfast, shower, and dinner, then maybe 15/hour when they have an hour free?

 

I think I'm not wired for this. Sometimes I need to focus on what I'm doing for an extended period of time. :)

 

My friend's son who probably hits (or even exceeds) this number is ALWAYS texting. On the bus, at the table (When he can get away with it), locked away in his room.

 

His mom had to make him leave his phone at home when he came to the zoo with us or he'd have been texting then.

 

My SIL exchanged about 20 texts on Christmas morning as we were opening gifts!

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Although the article said ~100 per day "sent", it wouldn't surprise me if they meant "sent/received". So right there it would be only ~50 a day sent. I'd say about a third of my texts to/from my kids consist of one letter: K. Which basically means "ok, I got your message, thanks for letting me know you're leaving cousin Joe's to go to the store to get a soda" or whatever. So if for every two substantial texts you add in a "K" text, you're down to 34ish substantial ones. It doesn't take a whole lot to get there. Dd and her friend will watch Project Runway "together" (though they live 30 minutes apart), so the whole time they're sending things like "love that dress" and so on - this goes on back and forth for the whole show. Add in a conversation about how/when they can next get together, and it really does add up quickly. For us, it's a great way that homeschooled kids who live fairly far apart can help maintain their friendship. (Yes, they could get on the regular phone, but texting, oddly, is less intrusive to our family time.)

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Both of our daughters have phones with unlimited texting, no internet access, and no multi-media messages allowed. My oldest prefers to have audible conversations, so she spends more in minutes but only about 1-200 texts/mth. My youngest daughter, however, ranges anywhere from 3,000-10,000 texts sent/received per month. The 10,000 peak was during the summer, and as soon as school started it dropped significantly...to 3,000 or so. :tongue_smilie:

 

I have no idea how anyone can text that much, because it takes me forever and a day just to text a single message. I don't even see her texting [as often as you would think necessary, considering that record], but I definitely see it on the bill so I know it happens. I have seen her eating dinner with one hand and texting on the phone in her lap with the other. She keeps an eye on her Daddy the whole time lest he notice that she's distracted from whatever topic he has brought to the table and seize her prized possession. LOL!!!! Best of all, it's the perfect leverage item; that girl will do anything I say if I threaten her with no phone privileges. :D

 

Unless I see that texting is interfering with her schoolwork, music, or health/wellbeing, I won't be inclined to place any serious limits. Learning to multi-task in today's world seems like a nice tool to place in her skill set.

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I love texting myself and pretty much hate talking on the phone. I text my kids all the time, friends, pick ups, drop offs, where we're meeting, I have this kid, they have that kid, meet you there what can I bring, do you like this ___ with attached picture. Do you have this book? Can you look for this for me? Meet you for lunch?

 

Texting is awesome. I was slow to convert, too, but I've seen the light. :001_smile: Unlimited texting for us, too.

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OP here....

 

I forgot to add...I prefer texting to talking on the phone. :)

 

I'm just having a hard time imagining how someone could send an average of 6 texts/hour during their waking hours. If you assume these teens are not texting during class it's maybe more like 10/hour during waking, non-school hours. If you then add in time for homework (2-4 hours/day?), afternoon activities, breakfast, shower, and dinner, then maybe 15/hour when they have an hour free?

 

I think I'm not wired for this. Sometimes I need to focus on what I'm doing for an extended period of time. :)

 

i could send 15 texts in less time than it took to type this sentence. :laugh:

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I'm a texting convert! I love it! !

 

Me too. I love that I can send a text any time without feeling like I'm intruding. I don't have to worry if they are busy, sleeping, at work, or that it's too late. They can answer when they have a free moment on their own time. However, I definitely do not send that many texts nor do my children. Yikes!

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My kids have unlimited texting. One probably sends and receives 30 texts a month. The other 10 times that. Neither comes close to this "average" but I think they easily could.

 

But when you think about it, If a kid has the following conversation with a friend:

 

Kid: Hey

 

Friend: Hey

 

Kid: What's up?

 

Friends: Not much

 

Kid: Are we still meeting to study after soccer practice

 

Friend: Yeah, I think so, 4:00, right?

 

Kid: Yes, 4:00.

 

Friend: Don't forget the lab book.

 

Kid: Okay.

 

Friend: See you there.

 

Kid: Bye!

 

Friend: Wait, did you ask Bob to come too?

 

Kid: No, should I?

 

Friend: Yeah, he needs to study or he will fail.

 

Kid: Okay, I will text him.

 

Friend: Tell him to bring his lab book too

 

Kid: Okay. Does he have one

 

Friend: I think so

 

Kid: I will make sure.

 

Friend: Okay, bye

 

Kid: Bye

 

That was 21 texts. If they have 3 similar conversations a day via text, they are over halfway to the "average" you quoted. And that doesn't seem like a long conversation to me. Add in some conversations with Mom about when she's going to pick them up, and with Dad about the soccer match, and I think you can hit the "average" pretty quickly.

 

Kids can probably whip out 50 texts in the course of a bus ride home from school.

 

I know for us, I limit when my kids have their phones, so the interruptions aren't a big deal. They only have them when they are really at leisure to be interrupted.

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Me too. I love that I can send a text any time without feeling like I'm intruding. I don't have to worry if they are busy, sleeping, at work, or that it's too late. They can answer when they have a free moment on their own time. However, I definitely do not send that many texts nor do my children. Yikes!

 

Exactly. My oldest and text almost every day about something.

 

I also like how I can keep any information stored for a bit. Times, pickups, phone numbers, addresses, names of books, reminders about what I/he/she/they said. If I am not sure pickup is 5:30 or 6:30 (so much information is coming at me daily from multiple people, it can be difficult to keeop track), I can just check the text log.

 

My worry is about losing my phone...or worse...letting the battery run dry with the charger some place other than my car.

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Mine don't have cell phones. We are looking at getting a prepaid phone for the oldest this year and second oldest next year as emergency only...aka only for calling Mom & Dad or for Mom & Dad to be able to be able to reach the child at anytime.

 

A (spoiled, rich/middle class) girl at church recently told my son that there is something mentally wrong with him, because he doesn't have a cell phone (let alone one of those fancy itouch type apples) and he prefers to read books over watching TV.

 

Yep, it's all our fault...we "brain damaged" our kid by raising him with books and not having money for all the fancy gadgets. Getting him an MP3 player was a big deal.

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According to our cell phone bill, my 18 yo has a few thousand texts a month, and I often have more than she does :D

 

It's her preferred method of communication, so she isn't tied up on the phone, but gets back to people when she can. It's the same for me, and I find I can accomplish more overall because I don't have a phone stuck to my ear.

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Me too. I love that I can send a text any time without feeling like I'm intruding. I don't have to worry if they are busy, sleeping, at work, or that it's too late. They can answer when they have a free moment on their own time. However, I definitely do not send that many texts nor do my children. Yikes!

 

 

Thank goodness you're a kind texter then. I wish more people viewed texting in that way.

 

I have a few people who text me and they expect a response right NOW NOW NOW! And, if I don't respond within 5-6 nanoseconds, they'll text again. I've tried to explain that I will not respond to texts, calls or emails when I'm in a meeting and I won't respond to texts and emails while I'm driving. They'll still keep at it. I'm sorry they know my number. :glare:

 

I probably send/receive less than 100 texts per month. Ds doesn't have a phone, nor does he want one.

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I've received 6 texts from my oldest dd in the past 1/2 hour. There are some months that she sends 200-something to me and I know she's sending a lot more to her friends. It's how we keep in touch when she's at her dad's house (joint custody) since she doesn't like the idea of talking on the phone with someone listening. She has a lot of friends in her old school district that she doesn't see often and texting is how they keep in touch. I wouldn't be surprised if she was in the thousands each month.

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I'd bet my oldest ds texts this much. Think of it as a conversation. Every response in that conversation is one text (including responses like "Huh?" "cool" "Got to go." How many responses would you have had in an hour conversation as a teen? Times 30 days. Not hard to get to 3000 at all.

 

That being said, it is distracting at times. Multitasking is stressful and inefficient. I hope that oldest ds eventually cuts back on it.

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Teens do text while in class in my son's school.

 

My sister was over visiting one day and starting texting back and forth with her son. I asked. "isn't he in school right now?" She said yes he was, but he texts with his phone in his pocket so the teacher doesn't know!!

 

I'm sure he's getting a GREAT education, texting instead of listening to his teachers. Sheesh! And his mom not objecting....???

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My teens easily have more than the average texts, assuming the number of received texts are counted. Most are a word or phrase, back and forth. Ds and friends text while doing homework---"how long is your paper so far?", "got #6?", "done stats" and so on.

 

I can easily send/receive 100 texts in one day, for goodness sake! Dh and I text during the day. Whenever ds drives himself, he has to text us when leaving and arriving anywhere. Dd and I text a lot after school. She tells me about her day, about how rehearsal is going, when to pick her up if she's done earlier than usual, asks where I'm parked at the school, etc.

 

But then there are days when I only send/receive 10 texts :)

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Guest Cheryl in SoCal

My teens (boys aged 15 and 16 1/2) have never texted, and I have to twist their arms to get them to take their cell phones with them when they go somewhere (I forced the cell phones on them when they started going places without me). They don't understand texting (though they are around other kids who text) and would rather not even own cell phones:lol: I do text some, but only because my sister didn't have a phone and only had enough minutes on her cell phone to receive texts. I have the minimum plan (500 texts/month) and have never come close to going over.

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When you are sending/receiving 200 texts, how do you delete them? do you have a delete all option on your phones? It seems like you'd spend a lot of time deleting 200 messages a day as well as actually sending the texts!

 

nope ~ eventually your phone will get full and start to bulge out a bit around the edges. you can either quit texting for a bit until some of them start to break down and dissolve or you can swap it in and pay the stuffed phone fee for an upgrade.

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There are some people that should not have texting abilities. One of my brothers can barely read and he used to try to text me (showed up on my IM at home). I'm a fast typist and reader. I hated sitting there f.o.r.e.v.e.r. waiting for the replies, which were barely readable (seriously, it's much easier to just call and tell me what you want). Then add that he like to text while at the bar drowning whatever drama he was knee deep in at the time. This just started fights, because I was already annoyed.

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