'Hyper-networking' endangers teens

Wednesday November 10th, 2010

Parents may be grateful teenagers who spend their time on social networking sites are not hanging around street corners - but a new study claims this would be dangerously complacent.

The most active teenage social networkers and texters are at risk of mental ill-health, substance abuse and physical conflict as well as falling behind on their school studies, researchers said.

Hyper-active texters are also likely to be highly sexually active and prone to alcohol and drug abuse, according to a US study.

A study in the US mid-west found that nearly one in five teenagers admitted sending more than 120 texts a day. These tended to be female, poor and from single parent households.

Some 11.5 per cent were found to be "hyper-networking" - creating problems of stress, depression, substance misuse, lack of sleep and even suicide.

As many as 94 per cent of these had experience of physical conflict.

Researcher Dr Scott Frank revealed his findings at a conference of the American Public Health Association in Denver, Colorado.

Dr Frank believes that excessive texting and time on social networks is aggravating the problems faced by the teenagers who use them excessively.

He said: "The startling results of this study suggest that when left unchecked texting and other widely popular methods of staying connected can have dangerous health effects on teenagers.

"This should be a wake-up call for parents to not only help their children stay safe by not texting and driving, but by discouraging excessive use of the cell phone or social websites in general."

Tags: Drug and Alcohol Abuse | General Health | Infancy to Adolescence | Mental Health | North America

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