Mobile Youth- UK kids get first mobile at 8 yrs old on average – report
The average age that a British child obtains their first mobile phone is down to just eight years old, according to a report released today.
There are now 13m young people in the UK with a mobile phone, and as many as 9m of them are under the age of 15.
The statistics are being revealed as part of Wireless World Forum’s annual research into young people and published in the Mobile Youth 2005 report.
Some 95 per cent of under 14 year olds have received their mobile phone from their parents, and mobile phone sales will continue despite 63 per cent of parents expressing concern about the possible health risks to their children and 72 per cent worrying that their children may be getting into serious debt, according to figures in the report.
Some UK teenagers now spend up to £300 (over €400) a year on their mobile phones, ring-tones, text messaging and downloading games.
Parents concerns over being able to keep in touch with their children and security are the main reasons behind their decision to give their child a mobile phone. The report notes that 78 per cent of children and young people surveyed claim that they feel safer with a mobile and as many as 73 per cent have actually used their mobile phones in an emergency.
