Excessive texting and teen sex are two of the predominant nightmares haunting parents today.
It’s fitting, then, that these two parental bugbears have been found to correlate: teens who send 100 or more text messages per day are more likely to be sexually active, a recent study found.
The study from Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, looked at texting frequency and sexual activity as well as — you guessed it — sexting.
Researchers found that about 20 percent of middle-school students have received a sext, while only five percent said they’d sent one. So either kids are really into naughty mass texts, or someone’s lying.
Researchers also found that students who sent or received sexts were more likely to report sexual activity — but it’s important to remember correlation is not causation. Kids have been exploring their sexuality since way before they had unlimited data plans.
The researchers concluded that doctors “should discuss sexting with young adolescents because this may facilitate conversations about sexually transmitted infection and pregnancy prevention.” Actually, it’s more likely that a doctor saying the word “sext” to a teen will only facilitate eye-rolling and embarrassment. But hey, that’s a small price to pay for birth control tips.