Why Teens Exchanging 60 Texts A Day Feels Low

Lead researcher Amanda Lenhart and the Pew Internet team released new statistics March 19 on teenage texting rates, putting the median texts sent and received by teenagers at 60. The number has caused some people who work with youth to question that. If you are one of those people and are thinking a typical high school student could not possibly be exchanging only 60 texts a day, well you would be right...sort of.

© Francisco Hernández Vega | Dreamstime.com

For those of us who took a mandatory stats class a long time ago, perhaps in what seems like a galaxy far, far away, it is good to be reminded that median does not equal average. Median means the mid-point user of the sample group, and the researchers take the time to try and explain this. In this case, half of the surveyed teens exchanged less than 60 texts, the other half exchanged more. The data group creates a statistical skew however as the surveyed teens include 12 year old boys and 17 year old girls, developmentally two very different beasts.

Only in the last few years have researchers been making an appeal to avoid treating adolescents as one monolithic culture when it comes to Internet use. The Pew Internet research is one of the few that provide us with a snapshot of how early and mid adolescents differ in their texting use. In this regard the difference between the two groups is quite striking, and so is the difference between boys and girls.

The research suggests that half of younger teen boys exchange less than 20 texts per day (the other half would therefore send more). In contrast, half of the 14-17 year old girls exchange less than 100 texts per day (the other would be above that number). For boys in the older age group, the half is split at 50 texts per day - which is half the amount of girls in their own age group, yet more than the younger girls who are split at 35 daily exchanged texts. This fits our often preconceived notion that girls are sending a lot of texts to each other, and in fact they are.

The actual average number of texts exchanged daily between girls aged 14-17 is 187. For boys of the same age group it is 176. For 12-13 year old girls the average is 116, while in a surprise stereotype reversal, for boys in that age group the average lands at 131. Why are the averages so much higher than the median? Because hyper-texters are skewing the results upward.

The American Public Health Association defines hyper-texters as those who send more than 120 texts per day. The APHA study places hyper-texters at 19.5% of high school students and suggests that group is mostly female. In Lenhart's study, once a 12-17 year old breaks the 100  exchanged texts barrier, the majority are exchanging over 200 per day. The number above 200 is 18%, and considering most texts are an exchange, half of that would place the student sending more than 100 texts per day, a number consistent with the APHA's research.

Texting is an ongoing activity and teens can often text without being noticed. However, if we were to allow 7 hours of sleep per night, 6 hours of class time and 2 hours of homework per day, hyper-texting high school students would have to exchange a text every 2 minutes, 15 seconds. With 1 in 5 students texting every other minute, it is little wonder that 60 texts a day feels low.

To look at these numbers more closely, follow these links:
Pew Interent Research Study
APHA

Let me know what you think, does 60 texts per day seem low to you?