preview

Effects of Text Messaging Among Teens

Best Essays

Effects of Text Messaging Among Teenagers Introduction How often do/did you use your cellphone/smartphone as a teen? When I was a teen, I received my first cellphone at the age of 15. I thought personally this was the best invention ever created as a young teen and with that, I soon found out that I just entered a whole new social world with these new technology devices. I entered a generation that would be called the Tech-Generation filled with cellphones/smartphones and social media. I quickly discovered the texting function with my cellphone and started to send texts daily to my friends. My cellphone became a necessity for me; if I did not have my cellphone, I would freak out. In addition, I started to replace phone calls and …show more content…

Cell phones have been engineered over the past years to accommodate the demand of texting, such as offering a full 1QWERTY keyboard (QWERTY is the acronym that commonly describes today’s standard keyboard layout on English-language computers), and many cell phone carriers offer plans that contain unlimited texting. An example of one of this cellphones/smartphone would be the ever popular IPhone, which holds functions that enables the users to be able to call/text/email and even use special apps that give direct access to the internet or a social networking site. According to Lenhart, 77% of adults and 71% of teenagers owned a cell phone and 38% of those teenagers (12-17 years old) used their phones to text daily (30). A year later, the same survey was administered with results increasing to 54% who text daily (30). The same survey was again administered from the Pew Research Center by Lenhart in 2012 with the results increasing to 84% of Americans ages 12 and up owning a cell phone and 63% of teenagers saying they exchange text messages daily (2). The problem is texting is giving teenagers the option to avoid face-to-face interactions and causing teens to lose important social skills. Fraser J.M. Reid, (Associate Head at the Centre for Thinking and Language, School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK), and Donna J. Reid, (PhD Student, at the Centre

Get Access