We are often told that teenagers are the front runners when using the latest technologies. But is it really so? And how are mobile phones used by kids and teenagers in Sweden today?

In the beginning of the spring term 2006 a number of school classes were asked to answer a web based questionnaire about mobile phone use. The classes contacted were our contacts in the project “the young internet” which investigates the safer use of the internet and new technologies,. The questionnaire was answered by 130 pupils aged 10 to 18.

We found out that 97% of the pupils have their own phone and 80% of them use it daily. As expected, the most common usage is calling (90%) and sending/receiving SMS (78%). Other functions used were games (27%), photos (44%), MMS (21%) and email (4%). One out of four pupils had received SMS or photos that had made them upset, sad or scared. However, only 3% of them had told a grown up about it.

Another part of the questionnaire was about rules regarding the use of mobile phones in schools. One out of three pupils didn’t know if the school had any such rules.

Even though mobile phones have become very common, more than one out of four of the phones do not have a camera and very few of the pupils have got phones with the latest features such as 3G.

Christina Szekely, the Swedish Agency for School Improvement