Wednesday, November 17, 2010

More Texting = More Sex

Teens who text 120 times a day or more — and there seems to be a lot of them — are more likely to have had sex or used alcohol and drugs than kids who don't send as many messages, according to provocative new research.
 I heard this on the news the other day, and my first thought was, who came up with the idea to study this?  Second, with all that time they're spending on sending and receiving text messages, how do they find time for sex or any other risky behavior?

After reading through the article, I see they're not saying that texting actually leads to sex or other risky behavior like drinking and using drugs, but just that they found an apparent link.  Is it just a coincidence?  Or is it as the study concludes - that a significant number of teens are very susceptible to peer pressure and also have permissive or absent parents?

What do you think?  How do we find that line between keeping an eye on our teenagers and stepping back and letting them grow up?