How Kids Today Use Mobile Devices

Today’s younger generation of kids are growing up differently than ever before. Text messages and mobile are everyday use for kids and teens. Pew Research states that cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, and cell calling is a close second. Some 75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in 2004. Those phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns. Fully 72% of all teens or 88% of teen cell phone users are text-messagers.

Just how have classrooms and kids evolved today? Handwriting is being replaced by typing on the computer at school. Cursive is predicted to become obsolete in the future. "It's much more likely that keyboarding will help students succeed in careers and in school than it is that cursive will," said Morgan Polikoff, assistant professor of K-12 policy and leadership at the University of Southern California. So instead of cursive, kids might learn keyboarding. States such as California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Utah are now fighting to keep cursive in the curriculum. Their argument is that "it helped distinguish the literate from the illiterate."

Mobile apps are used instead of an actual Dictionary or Encyclopedia to search for word terms. Google Play Store offers Android apps for Dictionary.com and other search encyclopedia’s for users to easily find word meanings in a timely manner. Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites search on Google to date for word and phrase meanings.

Actual camera photos are now taken through mobile and smartphone devices. Smartphone devices today are not only a trend for the younger generation, the tools to take photos, socially send, communicate and shoot videos are easily integrated in many devices on the market today. Smartphone cameras have now become a standard of our time.

Today there are complex and sophisticated type video games which require higher levels of attention spans to the games. There are many positive benefits and concerns for kids. Having a positive impact from gaming is key. Managing media consumption is still a current challenge. Adolescents are impacted from video games in that they may improve computer literacy and dexterity areas.