June 11, 2013 at 5:24 am, by Carl
Think culture isn’t changing? Take a look at today’s teen/young adult, those born between 2000 and 1993 (the middle cohorts of the Millennial Generation [1984/85 – 2004/05]), through the lens of various data points. Below you will see various data info points from various research agencies along with my commentary on the data.
- 78% of teens now have a cell phone, and almost half (47%) of them own smartphones. That translates into 37% of all teens who have smartphones, up from just 23% in 2011.
- 23% of teens have a tablet computer, a level comparable to the general adult population.
- 95% of teens use the internet.
- 93% of teens have a computer or have access to one at home. Seven in ten (71%) teens with home computer access say the laptop or desktop they use most often is one they share with other family members.
- 80% of teens have their OWN desktop or laptop computer.
Technology is omnipresent. Period. It is not going away. There is no “digital divide” at least not in terms of who does and who does not have a computer. At best, there is a slight divide between those who have their OWN PRIVATE computer and one they have to share with others. Almost one in four (23%) have a tablet, a growing number in the few years since the iPad came out, and indicates teens actually have multiple access points to the Internet (many have not only a way to access the Internet via a phone, a computer and a tablet, but also other devices like an iPod, mobile gaming devices like Nintendo’s DS, Internet enabled TVs or Blu-ray player and finally through gaming systems like X-box or Playstation). However, this lack of digital divide does not indicate true comfort or user activity online; the real divide lays there between those who merely use their devices to reach Facebook and others who know many of the core basic ideas of technology usage.
Readwrite.com article, based also on Pew Research
- Among teens with a smartphone, however, 50% access the Internet primarily via the mobile device.
- 74% of teens ages 12-17 are “mobile internet users” who say they access the internet on cell phones, tablets, and other mobile devices at least occasionally
- Girls are more likely than boys to rely on their smartphone as their primary Internet access device.
This data continues the information from the previous data that Pew showed. Here we see that Internet usage no longer is a stable proposition, something done in a “place” (work, home, school). Now it is mobile. I have always thought the term “smartphone” was a silly term. What people are buying is a mini-computer that happens to have an application that allows for voice talk (and probably a few different such options). The “phone” is merely an underused tool of the mini-computer, especially among teens. However, having a computer that you can put into your pocket means that access is everywhere, all the time. For professors and parents, this demands a massive shift in what has been done with computers and/or to limit Internet access. This shift will be difficult since, according to Pew, less than 34% of adults over age 50 own a smartphone (37% of teens plus 66% of young adults 18-29 own a smartphone).
U-M Transportation Research Institute Teens getting driver’s License declines:
Here is some of the data for 17-year-olds:
• 1983 – 69% had their licenses
• 2008 – 50% had their licenses
• 2010 – 46% had their license
This is perhaps the most stunning piece of information, though I did hear something similar earlier in the 2000s. The bottom line is that teens either see no real good reason to get a license, parents have decided all the info about dangerous teen driving is true, or teens believe that the idea of “self freedom” no longer demands a set of wheels. Perhaps it is all three, but I would put my money on the last one. The idea of getting your license “back in the day” was almost totally connected to finally achieving a freedom from the parents. Now I could drive myself to school or to see friends. My parents were actually excited that I could drive as now they wouldn’t have to come to the high school to pick me up late after basketball games, and I could drive myself to youth group and church choir practice. Today’s teen finds that sense of freedom and connection from the Internet.
The article linked above from U of M shows that back in 1983, about 87 percent of 19-year-olds, 80 percent of 18-year-olds and 69 percent of 17-year-olds owned a driver’s license. I was one of the 87% of 19 year olds. Twenty-five years later in 2008, the percentages were 75, 65 and 50, respectively. The almost 20% drop among 17 year olds is perhaps the more startling. In 2010, those numbers plummeted even more: about 70 percent of 19-year-olds, 61 percent of 18-year-olds and 46 percent of 17-year-olds had a driver’s license. While this shows that as young drivers age, they do get their licenses (so in 2008, 50% of 17 year olds had it, two years later that had risen to 70%) that still means 17% less 19 year olds had a license than in 1983.
Text messaging has become the primary way that teens reach their friends, surpassing face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging and voice calling as the go-to daily communication tool for this age group.
I first saw this information in a recent Wired article about the current 20 years olds (those born in 1993, the same year the magazine came out). As you can see, less than 40% of teens use their phones for the point…for actually phoning someone to talk them. They will call their parents (or more likely their parents call them), but the communication tool most used is texting. And at the bottom, the least used way of communication? Email. This fact is more disturbing than the phone info, especially for industries like “Higher Education” who think they are being “cutting edge” because they provide students with a school email.
Worse, this bodes ill when a large percentage of older adults 65 or older never go online at all (48% according to Pew) and only 77% of 50-64 do so. 77% seems high till it is compared to the 95% of 18-29 and teens. A very large majority of professors and upper administrators are in that 50-older category. They are the ones making the determination about connection with students.
There is obviously more to be mined from this data. I will write more later about the Wired article, but for now, just see this data as key information for understanding the changing, shifting culture in which we live. There is no going back. We are on their planet now. Get used to it.
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5 Comments to Teens, Technology & Change
JamesJune 15, 2013 at 7:28 am
Nice post Carl! Love the bit about age related communication preferences. As I was reading, I couldn’t help but think about how most of the legislation that guides practice (i.e. FERPA) was written long before these communication mediums existed, and the age cohort of the legislators who can change that is a generation beyond the profesors. Nearly 3 generations out from today’s students.
RobertJune 18, 2013 at 9:13 am
Well, the 50 – 64 demographic will see its numbers climb steadily, I’d guess, since all of us writing or commenting on this post will be in that demographic in 10 years or less.
: )
CarlJune 18, 2013 at 9:44 am
LOL—love it Rob! James made much the same point (“nearly 3 generations out from today’s students”). But actually the Gen X generation, while not tiny, is dwarfed by the Boomers on the one side and the Millennial Generation on the other side. All of the historical research about our generation continues to point to it being the “ignored” generation, the generation that makes significantly less money than its parents, the “unwanted” generation. Heck, even in the popular literature when you read about Generations, often GenX gets squeezed. I hold with the Demographers who put our years into the historical 20 year-ish size—so, 1963/64 to 1984/85. But, if you read the literature on it, often we are pushed to something like 1966-1979 or I’ve seen 1964-1976…its as if (not surprisingly), people don’t want to have too many people stuck in the “Nomad Archetype.”
Kim LaughmanMay 12, 2014 at 6:09 pm
I’m not so sure about this digital age. I really think that for many it has created a social distance and a failure to really interact. I see a generation who cannot communicate face to face anymore because they are too wrapped up in their “screens”. I have a teen who I punish by taking away her screens and forcing her to go outside and enjoy the sunshine, a walk or a bike ride……pure torture.
Research is showing that we cannot multitask and that all of the technology that we use is actually taking away from our creativity. Hmmmmm. Have we gone too far in the opposite direction?
CarlMay 12, 2014 at 8:04 pm
I agree completely Kim…..BUT, I don’t think we have a choice. That’s the position I came to about 3 years ago. There is no force on earth that could shut down the desire for mobile computing (“smartphones” tablets) or connection over space and time (Twitter, FaceTime), anymore than people back in the ’50s and ’60s could stop TV. I can show clearly the detrimental effect of TV on our culture…yet, there is no way to stop it. That is why I have gone with the metaphor of no longer being on my planet. I wish I could go back…I can’t. So, then, to me, I take your excellent and correct concerns and I look for a way to hopefully merge them with the current world’s views. They can’t put down their smartphone, but maybe I can encourage them to use the smartphone as a camera to capture the beauty of the outside world. It’s a struggle…I see it in my 3 daughters all the time…but its a struggle worth engaging.