Stockbyte
DCL
If your teen text messages incessantly you may have more to worry about than just your cell phone bill. According to a study at Case Western Reserve University reported in the New York Times, high school students who spend the most time texting or on social networking Web sites (or both) are at risk for other risky behaviors like smoking, risky sex, depression, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and absenteeism.
The study posed a variety of questions to 4,000 students from 20 different urban high schools in Ohio. Twenty percent of students questioned sent more than 120 text messages a day and 10 percent were on social networking sites for more than three hours a day. And 4 percent did both.
According to the study:
Those 4 percent were at twice the risk of nonusers for fighting, smoking, binge drinking, becoming victims of cyberbullying, thinking about suicide, missing school, and dozing off in class.
One researcher Dr. Frank Scott had this to say:
It does make sense that these technologies make it easier for kids to fall into a trap of working too hard to fit in. If they're working that hard to fit in through their social networks, they're also trying to fit in through other behaviors they perceive as popular, like smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol, having sex, and other risky activity.
Although the study didn't say that one caused the other this isn't really that surprising. Sending 120 text messages a day takes a lot of time and sitting on Facebook for 3 hours a day is ridiculous. This is all time that teens could be spending playing sports, heading outside, or working on activities that add meaning to life instead of taking it away. Text messaging and Facebook have a place in society but they should in no way take over a teen's life and create a false reality where misbehavior seems acceptable.
Like this? Stay up-to-date on all my foodie tips and get great holistic health info by following me on Twitter.
