American teenagers cannot live a single day without their smart phones, internet and spending time on social media platforms, study shows.
Smartphones that help you connect to social media and on all the “goodies” from the virtual world are one of the most important parts from the life of a teenager, explained lead author of the Pwe survey Amanda Lenhart.
The survey from the Pew Research Center, was conducted on over 1,000 teens, out of which 92% of them said that they are browsing the web on a daily basis and 24% admitted that they are practically online very hour of the day.
A small percentage of 12% of the teens, stated that they go online just once a day and as low as 6% stated they browsed the internet just once a week.
But as damaging as this disconnection from the real world may sound, some parents feel like the internet is helping them communicate better with their children. Giving their children a smart phone allows parents to have a better perception of their child’s life, by looking at their virtual life and the posts or the tweets they are posting. For some parents this works in getting to know their children better and being informed of their moods.
At the opposite pole, the survey discovered that there are still teens in America who don’t own a smartphone, but a standard cell phone that cannot access the online world. This group is formed mostly by teens who belong to families with lower income.
However, there was a large percentage of teens (16%) whose parents were college graduates but didn’t have a smartphone. The percentage is similar to the teenagers whose parents were just high school graduates or went to college but at one point their dropped out,respectively 15% and 12%.
This came as a strange fact for researchers who expected that teens with parents who graduated from college to own smartphones instead of a standard cellphone. The explanation may be the fact that most of these teens have a computer at home which is connected to the internet, and parents might consider giving them a smartphone unnecessary.
Another factor parents take into consideration is the fact that smartphones are quite expensive and their children can break it or it can be stolen while they are in the bus, for example. A large number f the parents don’t believe in the concept of giving their children everything they want, nut more into giving them what they consider they need and don’t see the point on spending money on smartphones for their children.
The survey showed that Latino and African-American teenagers very more present online than white teens.
But what do teenagers do when they are online? Facebook is the most popular social media platform out of all and defeats Twitter and Instagram, and this is where most of the teens spend their time. 41% of them admitted that they were browsing Facebook more than any other social network. The report showed that boys spend more time on Facebook than girls who prefer social platforms that are more visual, like Instagram.
Teenagers aren’t using a single social platform, but more, as almost 45% of them admitted it.
However, teens seem to be very careful with the information they offer about themselves on the social platforms, because whatever they upload can be seen by their parents, teachers and school officials, people who have an influence on their lives.
The report was intended to share information about how teenagers interact online, what are their thoughts and how do they use technology and the internet when it comes to relationships and their romantic interests.
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