Primary children enter mobile age

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/5357908.stm

Version 0 of 1.

More than half of 10-year-olds in Scotland have a mobile phone, a survey has shown.

The poll, which was commissioned by The Carphone Warehouse, also said that by the time children reach secondary school, 91% of them own a mobile phone.

The survey found that mobiles provided youngsters with access to entertainment and gave them a sense of belonging to their peer group.

The YouGov survey involved 1,250 UK youngsters aged between 11 and 17.

The Mobile Life Youth Report revealed that by a large margin, young people would rather text than talk, with 11 to 17-year-olds sending or receiving an average 9.6 texts a day.

'Sense of belonging'

Charles Dunstone, chief executive officer of the Carphone Warehouse Group, said mobile phones provided youngsters with "a social network, a sense of security and access to entertainment".

"But most importantly it provides them with a sense of belonging to their peer group."

The survey found that a third of adults felt children should have a mobile phone by the age of 11.

However, when parents were specifically asked, more than half (54%) thought it was fine for an 11-year-old to have a mobile phone.

Two thirds of 15 to 17-year-olds would not let their parents look through their text messages.

The Mobile Life Youth Report was written with advice from the London School of Economics and Political Science.