by Tiffany Capuano

Whether it’s the freedom, responsibility or sense of security that comes with it, today’s tweens and teens love their cell phones.

“It’s a rite of passage,” says Daniel Neal, co-founder of kajeet, the first and only pay-as-you-go cell phone service designed just for tweens. “It’s like the car keys when you were 16 or 17. Now, it’s when you get your first cell phone.”

Neal estimates that nearly 40 percent of U.S. children ages 8-14 have a cell phone, including about 10 percent of 8-year-olds.

“I like having a cell phone because everyone else has one,” says 17-year-old Brittney Welsh of Acworth, whose parents made her get one when she began driving. “I like it for the sense of security and the convenience of calling or texting any time.”

A 2006 Yankee Group survey indicates the tween market (defined as kids 8-12) has 5.3 million wireless users, accounting for 2.6 percent of all wireless subscribers. Tween wireless users are expected to double by 2010, with more than 10 million kids under 12 expected to have a cell phone.

“When school lets out at the end of the day, it’s almost surreal, watching everybody grab their phone to turn it on and start calling their parents or friends” says Brittney.

“Cell phones are really a mobile computing platform,” says Neal. “In years to come, there will be applications designed for school, homework and fieldtrips.” While cell phones are intended to keep parents in touch with their child, and provide safety in an emergency, they can do so much more.

What are they doing?

What are teens actually doing on their cell phones? Teens and tweens are talking, texting, instant messaging and downloading. These terms may be new to parents, but it’s everyday lingo for teens.

Talking to friends and parents may be the top priority, but text messaging, or texting, is a shortened version of typing that combines letters and numbers to make phrases. “It’s like note passing,” says Neal. “More typically, they are one-way or short back-and-forth mini-conversations.”

More than 150 billion text messages were sent in the U.S in 2006, according to the Cellular Telephone and Internet Association, an international association for the wireless telecommunications industry. That equals about 300,000 text messages per minute.

“I text message a lot,” says Brittney. “I can ask something quick like, ‘Are you busy?’ or ‘Can you hang out today?’ without having to call and have a full conversation. I also like texting because it’s very private and parents can’t listen.”

A recent survey by Disney Mobile found that about 44 percent of respondents use text messages as their primary form of communication.

Teens and tweens can also IM (instant message) on their cell phones, much like a chat room on the Internet, where multiple people can participate in a real-time conversation, with little or no waiting.

Teens download their favorite wallpapers – images used on the display screen – music ringtones, games, as well as news and information, but usually at a cost to the user.

And they do love their cell phones, perhaps even more than other luxuries, according to the Disney Mobile Cell and Tell survey of more than 1,500 cell phone users ages 10-17. If they had to choose between their phone and something else, one third would give up listening to the radio, playing video games or going to the mall, about one-fourth would give up their MP3 players, and one in five would give up TV.

Parents’ Perspective

Brooke Koury, a single parent from White, says cell phones have become valuable for her and her two girls, ages 12 and 9.

“When they are with their father on the weekends, I can call them without having to call his house or go through him,” says Koury, who doesn’t have a landline phone at her home.

Koury’s youngest child tends to call her more often, usually before getting on the bus in the morning or after school. “She uses it to call mostly me and her dad,” she adds.

Her children have text messaging abilities on their pay-as-you-go cell phones, and the youngest has a GPS system built in. Although Koury has never had to use it, she says it’s nice to know it is there.

Cell phones, like the new kajeet or Disney Mobile, have features designed for families. Kajeet’s TimeManager and Disney Mobile’s Call Control allow kids and parents to set up times when the phone can and can’t be used, such as during church or school. Both phones offer an override where a child can call out or receive calls from specific numbers. Calls and text messages can also be blocked from certain callers.

Other features like Disney Mobile’s Family Locator uses advanced GPS technology so parents can see their child’s location on their own handset or computer. Added features like instant messaging, picture messaging, Web browsing and downloads can be turned off and on at any time via the Web with these family-friendly phones.

Connectedness

Lithonia mom Georgia Thompson knows the importance of communicating with her family. Working far from home, her three children all have cell phones so they can stay connected. Her daughter, Timberley, has had her cell phone since the middle of sixth grade. “It’s a way to communicate about after-school activities,” says Thompson, whose three teenaged children are all very active.

Teens and tweens surveyed in Disney Mobile’s Tell and Cell survey found that a whopping 96 percent touch base with their parents on a daily basis via cell phone. “I call my mom every day to check in when I’m out,” says Brittney. “I call so she’s not worried sick, but I’m not required to call. She can call me if she needs me.”

Neal believes that today’s families are closer to one another, and children want their parents involved in their activities, but a large number of single parents and working parents means families are challenged to keep up and stay connected. So cell phones help fill that need.

While Neal says he’s not an advocate for every child having a cell phone, he does agree that it is a good communication tool for kids if used in the right way. He feels it will make them more capable of dealing with technology in the future, and therefore more competitive and more global. “They feel comfortable being connected,” he adds.

Cell Phone Showdown

Adelina Reyes of Acworth says her 14-year-old son, Ely, doesn’t need a cell phone right now.

“Ely is not very involved and doesn’t have a busy schedule,” says Reyes. “There’s a lot of emphasis on technology, but we can do without. It’s back to the basics – the way we grew up.”

Besides the expense, Reyes says she believes it would be more of a distraction for Ely, and there are other things for him to concentrate on. While she hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Ely having a cell phone in the future – if he becomes more involved in school activities or starts driving – she says they haven’t reached that point yet.

Distractions come in many forms for teens and tweens. Koury says a 13-year-old friend racks up more than 5,300 text messages per month, and each month she attempts to surpass that number. This teen has unlimited text messaging privileges.

Thompson admits that her own child did get in trouble in school when the cell phone rang during school hours. The school took the phone away and didn’t return it to the student, but required a parent to pick up the phone in person. Most Atlanta area schools ban cell phone use during school hours, with consequences such as taking the phone away, detention or in-school suspension.

Cost is a huge factor for families when choosing to own a cell phone or deciding how to use it efficiently. “If Ely needed a cell phone, he’d borrow ours,” Reyes says. “And who is he going to call? We are with him at basketball games and practices, and he hardly uses the phone at home anyway.”

“I turned off the more expensive options, like text messaging,” says Thompson. “We have a family share plan, and they know their limits and stay within them. The main way we use our cell phones is communication within our family for all five of us.”