HACKENSACK, N.J. — They text in their pockets, they text the person sitting next to them and they even text their parents.

"It's addictive," said Joshua Ortiz, a senior at Clifton (N.J.) High School. "During class and in between classes and even when there's a teacher around."

Texting in class has become widespread — more than 40 percent of teens say they do it despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of schools ban cellphone use, according to a recent survey.

"I'm not naive. I'd like to think they don't do it, but I know they do," said Jack Hurley, principal of Rutherford High School.

Hurley said he runs a "tight ship," confiscating phones when students use them during school. Still, it can sometimes feel like swimming against the tide. "It's epidemic," he concedes.

Cellphone use is ubiquitous. A Pew survey last year found three-quarters of teens and an even higher percentage of their parents have cellphones. And for teens, texting is the thing.

"It's the norm, it's just part of our culture," said Drew Olanoff of textPlus, which conducted the survey that found 43 percent of teens text in class. The California-based company offers a free texting application for phones and other devices.

The survey found that 17 percent of the kids who text in class said they did so "constantly" and more than half say they text friends who are sitting in the same class; 22 percent said they've texted answers to classmates struggling to answer a teacher's question.

"It's a new spin on an old story: Parents will remember when they slipped little paper notes from one desk to another," said Michael Yaple of the New Jersey School Boards Association.

The vast majority of teens surveyed said they've been able to fly under the radar while texting in class.

"I haven't gotten caught," said Adrianna Gonzalez, a senior at Leonia High School who estimated she texted friends a couple of times per period, usually during "busy work."

Gonzalez said she would never text during a test but the pastime helped her get through the day. "You need some time to zone out rather than constant school work."

Parents apparently need their texting to get through the day as well. Two-thirds of teens said their parents texted them during the school day.