Any 14yo girls who don't own a mobile phone?

[quirkydragon]

Anyone with a 14 year old girl in the family - can you tell me if there's anyone in her class at school who doesn't own a mobile phone? About how many have a smartphone that connects to the Net? I'm an author doing a bit of research so my books for young people are realistic and this looks like a good place to ask people! Thanks in advance!

I would say that at least 90% of 14 year olds have a smartphone. I haven't met any that don't....

I have two 14yo sisters and all of the friends/school mates I have met have smartphones. I think finding one without would be very tricky!

My dsd is 16 and doesn't have a phone or iPod or tablet, her mum won't let her. Well actually she has an iPad at our house, which her mother knows about but won't let her take it home. I think it's awful, poor kid has to use the house phone, her friends think she lives in the dark ages. She has a boyfriend too, so the lack of a phone hasn't hindered her in that respect.

You'd have to have her lose it, or have it confiscated and replaced with a basic brick she's too embarrassed to be seen using. Or it could be broken or out of credit?

I think that 14 year olds should have a phone but they should be able to live without a smartphone! My 18 year old only got a smart phone when he started to work, I also have a 10 year old who is desperate for a phone because everyone in his class has a smartphone but what does he need it for? They are never alone, they get driven to everything and are left with an adult to supervise, he can use the computer when he is at home under adult supervision, I think parents need to take a reality check!

DS is 15 & has no phone, much less a smart phone. He won't cough up for a smart phone (sheesh, they are as cheap as £60, he gets enough for his birthday to cover it) and I won't cough up for nicer than a little £10 folder (so not a smart phone).

Some of DD's mates got thru to yr8 "without a phone" or without a phone they would let anyone see. Uncool phones are social death.

Thanks very much everybody - useful insights!
Seriouslyffs - those are good ideas, I'm thinking about incorporating one or more of them! Thanks ever so much.

Ask me more- I have teenage dds and a ds and work with young adults. They're fascinating!

Ds2 (17) doesn't have a mobile phone. He says he has no need for one. If he needs to call me he gets one of his friends to do it. Ds1 (19) would need surgery to separate him from his iPhone.

I have a 13y. Everyone of her friends, of secondary school age, have smartphones.

Aged 15 I bought myself a phone an kept it a secret for two years as my parents said I wasn't allowed one. This was ten years ago and I often wonder if other teenagers would do the same?

I work in a secondary school and I can't think of a single Y9 child, boy or girl, without one.
All smartphones, many iPhones.
Even the Pupil Premium/FSM kids, the ones who you might think couldn't afford them, have them.
In fact, I felt obliged to upgrade my own phone when I realised the kids had better ones than me . I'm not normally competitive in that way, but something about schoolkids having a phone that "did" more than mine piqued my very latent interest in technology.