Teens run relationships by mobile

Nearly half of all high school students have started a relationship by text message - while almost a quarter have broken up that way.

That's one of the results from "The Text Generation" - New Zealand's most comprehensive survey on teen cellphone use, released today by NetSafe, the Internet Safety Group.

The results, from 1528 teenagers at a decile four Auckland high school will surprise many parents.

"(Cellphones) are integral to children's social lives now, in a way that many adults just can't understand," said NetSafe director Liz Butterfield.

"It is an essential cultural tool. So you can't assume, even if you haven't bought your child a phone, that they don't have one."

New Zealand's mobile phone market has exploded over the past five years, with text-messaging teens driving much of the growth.

Between them, Vodafone and Telecom have more than 3.1 million cellphone customers. Around 10 million text messages are sent each day - up from fewer than 60,000 in 1999.

Of the 1528 teens surveyed by NetSafe, almost three-quarters used cellphones, with many owning more than one.

For 56 per cent the most important reason for owning a phone was "to talk and text friends", with "safety" rating highest with 23 per cent and 17 per cent preferring to text or call family.

However, two per cent said their parents did not actually know they had the use of a cellphone.

While many students paid their own phone bills without relying on their parents, 41 per cent had "no idea" how much they racked up each month. Of those who could estimate the monthly charges, four per cent spent over $100, with the biggest bill coming to $1900.

Although the highest bills generally belonged to international students who made frequent toll calls home, one Kiwi boy admitting he spent $1800 a month calling phone sex lines, and also stole money to pay his bill.

He was not alone, with three per cent admitting to stealing their cellphones and 13 per cent saying they stole money to pay their phone bills.

Twenty-nine per cent reported using their phones during class time, a figure researchers said could indicate plagiarism or cheating, electronic note passing, or even students downloading pornography from the internet.

Prolific text messaging had a downside for 23 per cent, who reported receiving messages that were offensive, threatening or abusive.

Despite a public perception that it was a minor issue, text-bullying was a "very serious" problem at high schools, Ms Butterfield said.

Thirty-four per cent of those who had received bullying messages hadn't told anyone about it, often because they were afraid the phone would be confiscated.

The researchers said anecdotal evidence showed students were also using phones to torment their teachers, either by taking photos or by using voice-recording phones to tape teachers' outbursts and play them back later.

NetSafe researchers said while cellphones were a very useful way for parents to keep tabs on kids, there was also the potential for young people to use them in inappropriate ways.

RESULTS

73 per cent of teenagers use cellphones.

41 per cent had "no idea" how much they spent on their monthly cellphone bills.

For 56 per cent, the main reason for using a cellphone was to talk and text with friends.

46 per cent started a relationship via text message and 23 per cent ended one that way.

29 per cent used their phone during school hours.

23 per cent had received an offensive, pornographic or threatening message via text or picture message, and 14 per cent had sent one.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY