'GR8!' Adults texting more than kids

WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- Parents are joining teens in the cell phone text-messaging revolution, becoming the fastest-growing group thumb-typing the abbreviated texts.

Parental text messaging is outstripping the growth rate among younger generations, The Washington Post reported Friday.

During the past two years, use of the technology by those ages 45 to 54 jumped 130 percent, market researcher M:Metrics. By comparison, those in the 13-to-17 age group increased their text messaging by 41 percent.

"Parents like the immediacy of it and that it is not intrusive, said Ralph de la Vega, executive director of AT&T Mobility. "It's become an important way of communicating with their kids."

A 2006 study commissioned by AT&T indicated 50 percent of adults who used text messaging said they started because of their children.

And carriers are helping parents learn texting shorthand. AT&T offers a four-page guide on lingo. Verizon Wireless's Quick Text feature allows parents to choose from a menu of stock phrases such as "On my way," so they don't have to type the same message every time.