A survey of more than 1,500 teenagers and preteens found that:

  • Cell phone usage jumps by more than an hour a day in the summer (i.e., to more than three hours and 45 minutes) compared to a normal school day.
  • 44% use text messages as their primary form of communication from a number of locations.
  • More than half—52%—say they send text messages from movie theaters.
  • 28% have sent text messages from the dinner table.
  • For 26%, texting is one of the first things they do in the morning, within 10 minutes of waking up.
  • Almost every respondent—96%—percent said they communicate with a parent on a daily basis via cell phone.
  • 20% said they use a cell phone to connect with Mom or Dad at least five times a day.
  • A third of the respondents said they’d rather give up the radio, video games, or a trip to the mall before giving up their cell phones.
  • Nearly 25% said they’d rather give up an mp3 player before giving up their cell phones.
  • About 20% said they’d rather give up TV than their cell phones.