It’s bad enough that some teens text 120 times a day or more—now, a new study shows that those who do so are also more likely to have sex, binge drink, use drugs, or get into fights. The study, based on confidential surveys of more than 4,200 students at Cleveland high schools, found that about one in five students hit the 120 texts mark—and are 3.5 times more likely to have had sex than their peers who don't text that much.
“Hyper-texting,” as the practice is dubbed, doesn’t cause riskier behaviors, but is associated with them, the AP notes. The study concludes that a significant number of teens are very susceptible to peer pressure and also have permissive or absent parents, said the study's lead author. "If parents are monitoring their kids' texting and social networking, they're probably monitoring other activities as well." Click here for more on our national love affair with texting.
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