(CNN) -- As most parents of adolescents know all too well, text
messaging has become the preferred method of communication for
American teenagers, with one in three teens sending more than
100 texts a day, a new survey says. The survey by the Pew
Research Center's Internet & American Life Project illustrates
the indispensable role that text messaging, and mobile phones in
general, play in the lives of today's teenagers. Three-quarters
of 12- to 17-year-olds own cell phones, up from 45 percent in
2004, and daily text messaging to friends has increased rapidly
in recent years. The research, made public Tuesday, confirms
that teens make and receive far fewer phone calls than text
messages. They primarily use their phones for voice calling when
communicating with parents, although they prefer text messaging
when it comes to communicating with their peers. Although teens
make or receive about five calls a day, half of them send a
minimum of 50 text messages a day, the survey found. "Texting is
so functional and ef