Chaz Millican holds his lifeline to the world in his hand every day.
The 17-year-old Gordon Lee High School student is part of a growing majority of teens who use text messaging as their primary form of communication, surpassing phone calls and face-to-face conversation, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center.
“I can be sitting here talking to you and still text,” said Mr. Millican, of Chickamauga, Ga., between sending text messages while at Hamilton Place mall. “When I’m talking on the phone, I have to ignore everything else around me. But to text I can still pay attention.”
More than half of those ages 12 to 17 sampled during the Pew study said they contacted friends daily via text. Just 33 percent contacted friends daily face-to-face outside school, the study showed.
Children also have steadily been getting cell phones at younger ages, with about 66 percent of teens receiving a phone before the age of 14, the study states.