According to a study conducted by the University of Southern California and published in the journal Pediatrics, middle school students who have engaged in “sexting” — sending or receiving sexually-suggestive texts or photos — are more likely to become engaged in sexual activity.
These new results focus more on adolescent behaviors, according to Eric Rice, assistant professor at the USC School of Social Work and lead author of the study. “These findings call attention to the need to train health educators, pediatricians, and parents on how best to communicate with young adolescents about sexting in relation to sexual behavior,” Rice said. “The sexting conversation should occur as soon as the child acquires a cell phone.”
The study found that junior high students who received a “sext” were six times more likely to report being sexually-active, while adolescents who sent sexually-explicit messages were four times more likely to report being sexually-active. Those who reported receiving a “sext” were 23 times more likely to have also sent one, according to the research.
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The study also found that youths who thumbed away at texting over 100 times daily were more than twice as likely to have received a “sext” and almost 4.5 times more likely to have sent one.
“Our results show that excessive, unlimited, or unmonitored texting seems to enable sexting,” Rice warned. “Parents may wish to openly monitor their young teen’s cell phone, check in with them about who they are communicating with, and perhaps restrict their number of texts allowed per month.”
This just solidifies the argument that parents who are in their children’s business frequently have more of a voice in the decisions their children make. Parental involvement is a necessity!
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