No, it's not just your kids. A new poll from Gallup confirms that young people really, really like texting — and barely ever use a landline telephone.
For younger parents looking to connect with their college-aged or twenty-something kids, that is not a problem. Texting is the most dominant form of non-personal (or IRL, in millennial speak) communication for all Americans under the age of 50, the poll showed. For 18-to-29-year-olds, it was more dramatic: 68 percent had texted "a lot" in the past day, compared to 50 percent who had used their phones for talking.
Compare that to Americans between 50 and 64 years old, who are hooked on cellphones (40 percent) but not totally into the whole texting thing (26 percent).
One thing is for sure: contacting someone of any age through a landline is probably a bad idea. Even America's senior citizens — who use home landlines more than any other age group — preferred cellphones as their top form of non-personal communication.
The good news for parents is that young people are pretty easy to reach. More than a third of them reported using seven methods of communication "a lot" on the previous day, beating out 30-and-40-year olds (26 percent) and those over 65 years old (10 percent). That means you can send them a text, phone call or Facebook message and they will probably see it — although they might be too busy playing "Call of Duty" in their dorm room to reply.