Survey: 37% of 8 year olds have a mobile

PRIMARY school principals have asked for a revision of the Stay Safe programme to cover text bullying after a survey showed 37% of eight year olds now own mobile phones.

The striking finding is contained in the results of a survey which also showed that a quarter of eight year olds bring their mobile to school, even though most schools have a policy of either not allowing phones to be turned on during class hours, or banning them altogether.

Mobile phone ownership increases with age, with the survey of 500 parents finding that all 14 year olds owned phones.