A cellphone is a girl's best friend

Increasing numbers of youngsters tucked up in bed with their mobile phones are, in effect, sleeping with a whole bunch of strangers, research from Victoria University shows.

The phenomenon is the result of "cold calling", where teens text unknown friends of friends to gauge the possibility of romance or friendship, then leave their phones on overnight in case they get a call.

An estimated 95 per cent of high school students now own a cellphone.

Senior psychology lecturer Ann Weatherall, who spent two weeks reading the text messages of 16 year nine and year 10 students (third and fourth formers) and their phone partners, said the study highlighted big changes in the way young people interacted.

Mobile phones, and text messaging in particular, had become a part of youth culture. Many youngsters slept with their phones.

"What was surprising was how important texting is to young adults in conducting their social lives. They relied on their phones as a means of meeting people, to start relationships, to nurture them and to end them."

All the students said they carried their phones with them almost everywhere and most always had them on.

In class or at the movies, when calls were not appropriate, most had their phones on silent or vibrate.

Dr Weatherall said there was now a set of social norms and etiquette surrounding texting which opened up "incredible possibilities".

Cyber-bullying was also common and has been implicated in several teen suicides, including that of Oamaru teen Daniel Gillies a year ago. Friends said Daniel, who suffered from a progressive bone disfigurement to his face, had received many nasty texts about his appearance.

Internet Safety Group director Liz Butterfield said texting was a perfect example of the positive and negative effects of a neutral technology.

It had become a crucial way for young people to keep in touch with their peers, but was also a tool for "antisocial behaviour".

Girls, in particular, used texting to hook up with a potential date and most said they had received, or had sent, "cold calls".

Text rules

* Research showed there were strong expectations that messages should be returned almost immediately.

* In extreme cases, students would send follow-up messages within a few minutes asking why a text had not been answered.

* Flooding - text or cyber-bullying, where an inbox is inundated with messages, making it impossible to send texts - was relatively common.

- NZPA