By Jacqui Cheng
October 09, 2008 - 05:05PM CT

Hate on the kiddies and their SMS speak all you want, but text messaging is taking off among the masses. AT&T has released data from two studies it recently commissioned, showing that both families and romantic partners are using SMS more and more to communicate.

Parents think texting with their kids makes them cool, while lovestruck texters are finding themselves using SMS to flirt and send romantic notes. We'll start with the families. AT&T conducted 1,048 online interviews with parents and 1,022 online interviews with children and young adults to get a feel for their usage patterns.

They found that 76 percent of parents feel that their children are more likely to keep them abreast of their activities through text messaging than other methods. 73 percent said that their kids were more likely to respond to a text message than other methods of communication, and a full half of parents feel that texting with their kids makes them "cool." Kids, of course, love text messaging.

Large majorities feel that it's easier to communicate with friends this way and keep their parents up-to-date on their activities (84 percent and 82 percent, respectively). 48 percent of kids said that texting was a better use of their time than calling. I'll be honest: I wish my parents would text me too. "Texting is sometimes the easiest way to keep track of my kids," stated mother Janet Sturley.