Kingsbridge

Just over half of all 10-year-olds in the UK own a mobile phone, a survey has revealed.

The survey, which interviewed 1,250 people aged between 11 and 17, also found that a whopping 91 per cent of 12-year-olds have a mobile.

Fifty-four per cent of parents believed that it was okay for an 11-year-old to own a mobile, while only a third disagreed.

The poll, commissioned by The Carphone Warehouse, shows that young people prefer to text than call.

Young people send or receive an average of 9.6 texts a day, and make or receive 3.5 calls a day. In contrast, adults make or receive 3.6 texts and 2.8 calls a day.

Seventy-eight per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds say that having a mobile phone gives them a better social life, because they can more easily maintain contact with their friends.

One in three young people use their mobile to talk regularly with people they do not want their parents to know about.

And a quarter of 11 to 17-year-olds have received a text inviting them on a date.

Charles Dunstone, chief executive of The Carphone Warehouse Group, said: "The mobile phone has become the most important electronic device for young people in the UK today with 91 per cent of children having a mobile phone by the time they go to secondary school at 12-years-old.

"It provides them with a social network, a sense of security and access to entertainment. But most importantly it provides them with a sense of belonging to their peer group."

The article Half of 10-year-olds own a mobile originally appeared on 999 Today