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Some teens are online "almost constantly," a Pew report says.
Some teens are online "almost constantly," a Pew report says.
It’s official. Your teenager is attached to his or her cell phone.

    A study by the Pew Research Center finds that 92 percent of teens go online every day. They are talking. They are texting -- often with apps. They are surfing the net and posting updates about themselves on social networking websites. And naturally, many are playing video games.     
    More than half, 56 percent, use the Internet several times a day, the report said, and 24 percent report being online “almost constantly.”
    They can do this because most of them have smartphones. Mobile phones have become downright common: 88 percent of American teens have access to one, and 73 percent have smartphones. A typical teen sends and receives 30 texts a day, according to Pew. Only 12 percent of teens report having no cell phone.  
    But the way teens use the Internet differs by gender.
    “Girls use social media sites and platforms — particularly visually-oriented ones —for sharing more than their male counterparts do,” according to the report, “Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview 2015,” released April 9. And despite the fact that Facebook is considered old school, it is still the most popular social networking site: 71 percent of teens surveyed use it. Slightly more than half use Instagram, 41 percent use Snapchat and 33 percent have Twitter or Google+ accounts.
     While girls are all over social networking, boys are more likely to play video games. Indeed, 84 percent of boys and 59 percent of girls play video games either online or on their phone.
     The report is based on an online survey of 1,060 teens ages 13-17 (along with a parent or guardian in each case).
     The survey showed that the overwhelming majority of teens either own or have access to a computer. Fully 87 percent – roughly 9 out of 10 – have access to a desktop or laptop computer, and 81 percent have access to a gaming console. More than half, 58 percent, have a tablet computer.  

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