Teens text and watch TV more

TODAY'S teenagers are sending twice the number of text messages as they were a year ago, with girls writing more than 30 every day.

A third of pre-school children aged three and four years old were found to be using the internet at home.

A further one in ten use tablets such as iPads at home, with a third having a television in their bedrooms.

Children between three and four years old spent an average 15.5 hours a week watching television, compared with 17 hours a week for teenagers.

Nearly half of school children aged five to 15 years who had access to the internet, had their own social networking profile.

Eight out of 10 children aged 12 to 15 had their own online profile, with an average of 286 "friends" to connect with. They never met a quarter of them, the study found.

Claudio Pollack, Ofcom's consumer group director, said: "Ofcom's latest research shows that children's take-up and use of different media is growing at a rapid pace, with some areas such as texting and smartphone ownership, fast outstripping the general population.

"This highlights the challenge that some parents face in keeping up with their children when it comes to technology and in understanding what they can do to protect children." – The Daily Telegraph