Bernie Goldbach in LSAD-Clonmel | Image of our digital native.
THINKHOUSE PR SURVEY results clearly show a comfortable relationship between Irish youth and mobile phones. They are "very firmly co-dependent". [1]
Thinkhouse discovered "mobile phone ownership is getting younger" because "most of today’s teenagers (15-18) ... got their mobile phones between the ages of 11-15." From what I see in primary schools, the age of a pay as you go phone has dropped below the age of 10.
Since a lot of smartphones are being handed down to young people in family homes, it's no surprise to discover that "83% of teens own a smart phone." We count on more than 90% of our creative multimedia students owning a smartphone before the end of their first semester since we distribute a large amount of course material through online channels easily synchronised with smartphone applications.
It surprises me to discover the Thinkhouse PR teens showed more iPhone ownership than Android ownership (59% for iPhone).
It doesn't surprise me that most of the young people in the survey use their smartphones in all sorts of places. I saw that with Bebo teens a few years ago. [2]
Given the dominance of smartphones in the pockets and purses of young people, I hope schools around Ireland have a crisis notification plan in effect that involves more than sending out bulk text messages. From all accounts, young Irish primary and secondary school students refer to their phones for information more than they read written notes or listen for broadcast updates. Schools and clubs don't need to produce new versions of their websites to serve these information requirements but young smartphone users need to add schools to their smartphone notification centers so they can quickly get and share newsworthy information.
1. Thinkhouse PR -- Youth Report 2012, December 2012.
2. Previously -- "A message to Bebo Teens" on my blog, March 7, 2007.
Bernie Goldbach teaches social media for the Limerick Institute of Technology in an Honours Creative Multimedia Degree programme.
