Young teenagers who send or receive sexually explicit text messages or photos are six times more likely to be having sex, according to a survey of 1,300 middle school students in Los Angeles. Teens who send more than 100 texts a day are also more likely to be sexually active than their peers.
The statistics suggest that parents should closely monitor their children's mobile-phone behavior and start talking to them about the ramifications of "sexting," according to University of Southern California researchers who conducted the survey.
"Even among kids as young as 11 to 13, those who ‘sext' are also sexually active," said lead researcher Eric Rice.
"Parents, teachers, social workers and pediatricians all need to recognize that sexting is adolescent sexual behavior. We need to be teaching kids about the ramifications of sexting as part of our sexual education programs."
Twenty percent of students with text-capable phones said they had received a sext at least once. Five percent had sent a sext.
Eleven percent of the youngsters surveyed said they were sexually active. Thirty percent of these said that the last time they had sex, it was unprotected.
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The statistics suggest that parents should closely monitor their children's mobile-phone behavior and start talking to them about the ramifications of "sexting," according to University of Southern California researchers who conducted the survey.
"Even among kids as young as 11 to 13, those who ‘sext' are also sexually active," said lead researcher Eric Rice.
"Parents, teachers, social workers and pediatricians all need to recognize that sexting is adolescent sexual behavior. We need to be teaching kids about the ramifications of sexting as part of our sexual education programs."
Twenty percent of students with text-capable phones said they had received a sext at least once. Five percent had sent a sext.
Eleven percent of the youngsters surveyed said they were sexually active. Thirty percent of these said that the last time they had sex, it was unprotected.
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