Texting – Do Your Kids Know the Risks?

A study from Mediamark Research and Intelligence, shows that cell phone ownership among children has increased 68% in the past five years. Twenty percent of U.S. children ages 6-11 currently own a cell phone, up from 11.9% of children in 2005. The most dramatic increase has been among 10-11

year olds (+80.5%).

The study highlights just what kids ages 6 to 11 are doing with their phones:

1. Call my parents: 88.1 percent
2. Call friends: 68.1 pecent
3. Emergency purposes: 55.7 percent
4. Text messaging: 54.1
5. Play games: 49 percent
6. Take pictures: 47.8 percent
7. Listen to music: 34.4 percent
8. Picture messaging: 24.2 percent
9. Download ringtones: 16.5 percent

Did you know that 2.5 billion text messages are sent each day in the United States? More text messages are sent per phone than phone calls…so who are your kids’ texting and what are they saying?

A new Canadian website called TextEd.ca is an online source designed to make children aware of the risks of sending or receiving text messages without thinking them through. “Get the 411 on texting and relationships, including healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, how to deal with harassment, and how to cope with stress.”

The site provides a variety of online games and activities that can help test a kids’ texting knowledge.

It’s important for parents to help children understand the risks associated with texting….how knowledgeable are your children?