Seven in ten parents (71%) believe the best way to get in touch with someone is by picking up the phone for a chat – but it seems their teenage or Gen Z offspring do not agree, according to research.
One in four 18-25-year-olds say they actively avoid phone calls, with a third finding them “awkward”, according to a survey of 1,000 young adults, in this age group.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) would rather keep in touch through messaging apps such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, or iMessage.
And a separate study, of 1,000 parents, of 13-25-year-olds, found that almost two-thirds (64%) agree they only ever hear from their youngsters via texting or WhatsApp – with six in ten believing their kids are too scared to answer a phone call.
In fact, six in ten of the young adults polled even admit they have ignored calls from their own parents – and four in ten (41%) have muted a group chat with their mum and dad.
When they do have to make calls, 36% say the bulk of these are when they are trying to get hold of their friends on a night out – with 24% saying they would never just ring someone out of the blue.
The research was commissioned by Sky Mobile, which has teamed up with TV star, Jeff Brazier, who has been on campus finding the best way parents can contact their offspring, as millions of students head off to university for the first time.
Jeff said: “I used to think I was up to speed with all the texting tricks of the younger generation, but after I visited some lovely students, I’ve officially been schooled.
“Keeping connected to my kids is super important, particularly as they embark on the big challenges in their lives. So, I’m glad I’ve been given the opportunity to learn from some of the digital natives of our time.”
The research also explored messaging between parents and their children – with 41% of Gen Z noting their parents often reply “ok” to almost everything, while 30% get inundated with a stream of x’s at the end of a message from mums and dads.
It also emerged 35% find it amusing when their parents have no idea what emojis mean – with 27% thinking their parents are clueless about the ones they are sending themselves.
But 38% of parents admitted they hardly ever use emojis, and if they do they try to play it safe – with 40% revealing that getting their head around what emojis mean is like learning a new language.
It’s not just emojis which are puzzling them, though, as 28% have had to turn to Google to work out what their children have sent them.
And 24% think they are trying to baffle them on purpose – with “slay”, “peng”, and “roadman” among the most perplexing terms used.
Despite the difficulties with communication, the study, from Sky Mobile, found two-thirds of parents are currently footing the bill for their teen or Gen Z offspring’s phone contracts.
Nearly six in ten (59%) are doing so to ensure their kids are easy to contact, while 41% want to support them financially where they can – and 64% of those polled, via OnePoll, would even happily share any of their own unused data with them.
Paul Sweeney, managing director for Sky Mobile, added: “As a parent of university-aged kids myself, I know all parents want to stay connected as their kids start a new term.
“All unused data rolls into one Sky Piggybank that can be shared, so students can get a top-up whenever they need it to stay in touch – by message, not phone call.”
TOP 10 AWKWARD MESSAGING MISHAPS PARENTS MAKE WHEN COMMUNICATING WITH KIDS:
- Replying “ok” to everything (41%)
- Signing off texts with lots of xxx's (30%)
- Replying to big news or good news with a thumbs up (29%)
- Being a victim of autocorrect (28%)
- Sending random photos or jokes without context (22%)
- Using proper punctuation in messages (21%)
- Writing “haha” as “ha ha” (19%)
- Using emojis incorrectly (19%)
- Sending images with motivational quotes (17%)
- Using LOL as lots of love, rather than laugh out loud (15%)
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