First is a survey of teens from Harris Interactive.  ” In total, the Cox Communications funded survey found that nineteen percent of teens surveyed go online via their cell phone and 19 percent say their parents are unaware. The vast majority of teens (80 percent) whose parent know they go online via their cell phone say they are not given any limits or controls — far fewer than are given boundaries on their desktop PC or laptop.”  Combine this with the finding that 19% of teens have engaged in sexting (sending, receiving or forwarding sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude photos through text message or email) and you can see the potential for problems.

The second survey found that 60% of teens who text admit to texting while driving.  This is definately a big risk for teens as driving while texting (DWT) is potentially as dangerous as DWI.

Finally, there is a Nielsen report that suggests teens’ use of media is not that terribly different from adults’ use of media.  Here are a couple of myths and realities from the survey.

Myth: Teens use media—10 screens at  a time.  Reality: Teens are more likely than adults to use their media one at a time.

Myth: Teens are abandoning TV for  new media.  Reality: Wrong. They’re watching more TV than ever.

This study is excellent reading and it comes to a not too surprising conclusion.  “When it comes to media, teens are not as radically different (from adults) as some think.”

What does all this mean for those of us who are responsible for teaching, training, and caring for teens?  We need to be actively talking with them about potential dangers but we have more in common than we think.