Hyper-texting teens more likely to have sex, drugs
November 10th, 2010 - 2:14 pm ICT by IANS
London, Nov 10 (IANS) Teenagers who text 120 times a day are nearly three-and-a-half times more likely to have sex and resort to alcohol and drugs.
Researchers said there was a definite link between excessive messaging and risky behaviour. They suggested that those who were ‘hyper-texting’ were likely to have lax or absent parents, reports the Daily Mail.
Lead author Scott Frank from Case Western Reserve University in Denver, US, said: “If parents are monitoring their kids’ texting and social networking, they’re probably monitoring other activities as well.”
The study was based on confidential surveys taken by 4,200 students at 20 high schools in Cleveland, according to a Case Western statement.
It revealed that around one in five students were hyper-texters and about one in nine were hyper-networkers — those who spend three or more hours a day on Facebook and other social networking websites. Both conditions were more common among girls.
Hyper-texters were also more likely to have been involved in physical fights, binge drinking and drugs.
Compared to the heavy texters, the hyper-networkers were not as likely to have had sex, but more likely to have been involved in other risky behaviours like drinking or fighting.
- Teens texting 120 messages a day 'likelier to indulge in sex, drugs, booze' - Nov 10, 2010
- Hyper-texting kids more likely to smoke, booze, have sex: US study - Nov 30, 2010
- Homeless kids' use of social networking can up risky sex behaviour - Mar 06, 2011
- Teen drinking linked to higher internet use - May 10, 2011
- Children aged five to be taught sex in Britain - Jun 18, 2010
- For some, benefits of drinking outweigh flip side - Jul 05, 2011
- Media exposure prompts risky behaviour - Mar 08, 2011
- Witness to violence makes women prone to risky sex: Study - May 11, 2012
- Study-abroad students increase alcohol consumption - Oct 11, 2010
- Sex addiction is controllable, says expert - Dec 17, 2010
- Teens keeping late nights might be into risky behaviour - Mar 05, 2012
- Anxiety, depression accounts for risky driving - May 18, 2011
- Teens junking healthy lifestyle kiss happiness away - Mar 04, 2012
- Early friendship with males ups chances of substance abuse in teen girls - Mar 11, 2011
- Teacher shocks pupils with wild posts on Facebook - Feb 09, 2012
Tags: absent parents, alcohol and drugs, author scott, behaviours, binge drinking, case western reserve, case western reserve university, confidential surveys, daily mail, definite link, drinking and drugs, facebook, half times, high schools, physical fights, risky behaviour, sex drugs, social networking, texters, western reserve university