Teens and Mobile Phones

The Pew Internet and American Life Project released an interesting report last month on Teens and Cell Phones.

Here are a couple of stats that caught my eye.

54% of teens were texting daily in September of last year and half of teens send more than 50 messages a day.

I will say I’m not surprised.  For the past three months I’ve been filling in as interim principal for the JP Knapp Early College High School here in Currituck County.  The vast majority of students have cell phones and they know how to use them!  This has changed the whole landscape of investigating incidents that happen at school.  Twelve years ago when I was a high school principal it took at least a class period for news to circulate throughout the student body.  Now it is just seconds.  A student can leave my office, and before they get back to class, have texted groups of students with whatever the latest drama might be.  Not only that, now I don’t have to call as many parents because the students text their parents and the parents call me before I get the chance to call.

Gotta love cell phones!