Mobile phone ownership and usage among pre-adolescents

Research has revealed that the mobile phone is, for adolescents, a medium which permits communication without the surveillance of parents, families and teachers. Indeed, the current study found this to be the case with younger pupils, too. However, communicating with family members appeared just as important, if not more, for these primary aged children. This study focused on the ownership and usage of mobile phones in a sample (N = 351) of 10- to 11-year-old children in Gloucestershire primary schools (N = 7). Some 45% of the sample possessed mobile phones. Nearly half of their calls (47%) were used for chatting with family or friends; 26% were to let their parents know their whereabouts; and others (20%) were "convenience" calls, i.e. to ask to be picked up etc. Other uses of the mobile in addition to chatting and making arrangements, although not always positive, were also made apparent. Thus, some two fifths of the children reported that they had made an "emergency" call (examples were given), about 17% had received "frightening" calls. A sizeable minority (20%) reported that their mobile had been damaged or stolen. This research also considers the amount of money that the pupils claimed to spend on their mobile calls every month as well as their means of purchasing the mobile and its up-keep.

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