Hyper-texting

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11720546

If your teenager send 120+ textss a day, they are going to be more likely to smoke, drink and have sex.
Now, when I was a teenager, I did these things without the aid of a text message.

Personally, I'd look at this from the angle that if your kid has time to send 120 texts a day then you need to be looking at their physical relationships. I don't mean boyfirends/girlfriends, but their relationship to you, their teachers and others. Are they making good social bonds with people who will positively encourage them? Is the reason for their 'text addiction' because they don't feel comfortable sharing vocally? The reason behind all these messages may be the cause of the drinking etc.

Perhaps it's time to start looking at the parents. If your kid is drinking, smoking, having sex and spending a fortune on texts then take the damn phone off them and ground them!

 

I had no idea many people texted that much - teenagers or otherwise. (I figured that sure, there probably were people out there that text this much, but that they represented a negiligible percentage of the population.) I just got my Verizon bill in for the month, so I looked up the number of next messages I sent. The number was 111. But that was for a MONTH.

I too was able to smoke and drink as a teenager before cell phones were ever invented (or at least before I owned one). I do not think owning a cell phone would have made me want to have sex any more or any less with my high school girlfriend, either. So, meh on the study.

 

I think I've sent maybe three texts total in my life -- and I certainly drink and have sex.

 

I think the conclusion's reasonable as far as the sex part goes ... 'sexting' is basically a form of foreplay.

 

Wish I got texts like that then

 

Well tell Rob to snap out of it and start typing! You're missing out.

 

I know a few girls like that, they broadcast their text messages to all their friends. They send about 1500 text messages a month. Startling.

 

I thought that's what Facebook and the Twitter were for.

 

I don't know about that. After hearing about that thing Brett Favre did with that reporter, I tried it with my wife. She just threw away my Crocs and took texting off my calling plan. See? Sexting doesn't work.

 

I've never sent a text in my life

However, on the topic of not feeling comfortable enough to communicate face to face, communicating elsewhere has always been a part of human interaction. Confessions and writing letters, more recently phone calls and even more recently over the internet (e-mails, forums, chat programs) or texting.

Some things should be discussed face to face, but I've never faulted someone for writing a good, well-thought out, letter about a problem they're having. If someone treats texting the same way, well, it could be healthy, as long as they're talking about it with someone worth talking to. (But the same is true for face to face communication).

Regardless, I don't see the point of such excessive texting. I don't have a facebook or twitter, not because I'm protesting any point, but because I don't see the need. And I'd rather not tell everyone everything I'm doing every minute of the day. I blame my introverted self. Then again, that brings up the question of whether or not those people with thousands of facebook 'friends' and thousands of texts every month are extroverted or introverted. I don't know if there's been a study into a modern-age concept of introvert/extrovert, but with the ability to have such a huge 'social network' without going out or being physically 'around' people much... I think it would be intriguing.

 

I seem to spend half my life texting!

 

I send a lot of texts a month but certainly not enough to equate to 120 a day! In my defence though, I send texts rather than call people because I can't always hear on the phone, for work (when the people I need to speak to are deaf) or to my family who are deaf!

 

I send 1 text per day.

 

I would just like to point out that it is entirely possible that the time spend in sending out 120+ texts per day might be less than the time spent by some members reading and posting on SP.

 

Yeah but SP doesn't make people drink, smoke and shag

 

Speak for yourself. After joining SP, I had an irresistable urge to put shag carpeting in my house.

 

I think that's more a generation thing to be honest

 

I average around 120 texts per day and that is not a very high number compared to some of my peers. If you don't really have anything important to say, or enough to call, it's nice to just text a friend when you want to talk to a friend. A couple of my friends and I almost always just have casual texts throughout the day, when you have time you reply. it's a nice boost to have something to look forward too while doing otherwise tedious tasks.

 

I used to reach the grace limit on my texts when I wasn't living with Kev

I text a lot more than phone as I have hypersensitive hearing. Most of the time I struggle to hear people over the white noise and I start getting frustrated and anxious as a result.

Texting can be far more subtle than whispering to someone as well. Hell long distance pick-me-ups too. I've seen people looking thoroughly miserable in class and even just a little text of "smile :¬)" can lift someone up.

It gives you something to look back to as well. Something to remember. I keep my old phones with the old messages on them that I saved. Some for good or bad reasons. Just as memories.