How many eight-year-olds have a mobile phone?

THE first time I saw any of Emily and Melissa's friends with a mobile phone was at their eighth birthday party.

The two girls who brought them along didn't know how to make a call.

My daughters regularly ask for a phone as a present as a birthday or Christmas approaches. Now 10, they haven't got one yet.

The following is a post from Camilla Chafer on her blog about family-friendly gadgets and stuff, Technoglam. It has amazed me so I'm going to go away and find out more about the research, I'm wondering how big the poll was.

Camilla says she's also surprised by the figures and reports that 40 per cent of eight to 11-year-old girls are using a mobile phone every day, while 22 per cent of boys the same age are busy on their handsets.

I can't quite believe it - can you?

I WANTED to follow up yesterday's child-friendly Samsung Tobi phone story with some research I gleaned from their press release.

The study looked at four groups of children split into the eight-11 and 12-15 age ranges and also into girls and boys. I was quite surprised by the results that found 22 per cent of eight-11 year-old-boys used a mobile phone every day while 40 per cent of girls in the same range also used a mobile every day. The figures increased significantly for the older age bracket.

Included in the research was how many children owned or had access to a phone. I'm a bit hazy about this bit as I would have thought many children had access to a mobile phone via their parents anyway, even if they didn't use it, so I'm none the wiser about how many children actually own a mobile.

My ten year old son asked only a few months ago if he could have a mobile and I said no. I'm not exactly sure at what age (his, not mine) I'll reconsider. I imagine I might try having a pay-as-you-go phone that he can take on occasions. Here are the stats provided:

Eight-11 year old boys
61 per cent own or  have access to a mobile phone
22 per cent use a mobile phone every day
 
eight-11 year old girls
65 per cent own or have access to a mobile phone
40 per cent use a mobile phone every day
 
12-15 year old boys
89 per cent own or have access to a mobile phone
65 per cent use a mobile phone every day
 
12-15 year old girls
95 per cent own or have access to a mobile phone
74 per cent use a mobile phone every day.

Source: Ofcom research, fieldwork carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in April to May 2008.

Comments

[Alison]

Hey where has my comment gone? Waaaha

[Camilla]

Thanks for mentioning Technoglam, Linda. My son has only asked a couple of times for a phone but I really don't see why he'd need one (I just asked him and he says no one in his year 5 class has one). As I mentioned above, I may get a cheap pay-as-you-go when he's in secondary school but not for him specifically as one he can take out when needed, if that makes sense. His dad, however, suggested he can get one when he can pay for one.

[Linda]

Hi Camilla,

No worries, it looks great. I suppose one of the reasons a child would be more likely to have a mobile would be if they aren't in daily contact with their mum or dad if they have separated.

I think Emily and Melissa will have a phone before they have earrings, at least :)

[imobile]

Nice article