## Step 2 - Reading

Texting teens

You are going to read a text about teens and phones.

- Read the text.
- While reading, think about the following question:
  - In hoeverre komt de conclusie van deze tekst overeen met die van de luistertekst hiervoor?

Texting Teens Who owns a cell phone? If you look around you, the answer seems to be everybody – and it nearly is among young adults 18-29 years old. In fact, 96% of young adults own a cell phone. You might wonder: Do they really have that much talking to do? Actually, it seems not so much. Young adults are very active texters, exchanging over 100 texts a day, and 3,200 texts a month. Other adults average only half as many texts. And what about teens? Well, three-fourths of teens 12-17 years old own cell phones and they text even more than young adults do. That is, girls do: on average, they send 3,952 messages a month, while boys send ‘only’ about 2,815 messages a month. It won’t be surprising then that texting and picture taking are the most common ways that U.S. youth and young adults use their cell phones. And although there’s a well-known stereotype of teens talking on the family’s landline and driving up the phone bill, talking on the telephone has actually declined most among teenagers. While teens still talk on the phone, they much prefer to send dozens of rapid-fire texts every day, carrying on a virtual conversation full of abbreviations. There’s even an abbreviation for “parent over my shoulder” (POMS)! To parents, this new language may seem like a secret code. In truth, perhaps it is a modern way of keeping teens’ private conversations private within public spaces. Other than texting and picture taking, what are teens and young adults using their phones for? Music and games are popular, as is posting an update on socials, watching a video, reading the news, etc. Half of young adults have smartphones, as do one-third of teens, so they really have mini-computers at their fingertips. To teens and young adults this must feel like freedom—they can virtually go anywhere they want and still stay connected with family and friends! (Naar: innovativepublichealt.org)

Do the exercise.