Texting Is Wrecking Your Teenager's Mind, Destroying Their Thumbs, Killing Puppies, Etc.

from the doom-and-gloom dept

The New York Times says the growing use of texting among teenagers “is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists”. Apparently all the texting kids do creates anxiety, keeps them from getting enough sleep, and causes repetitive stress injuries. Sure, texting could have some some negative impact on some kids, but like with so many things, for every citation of some horror texting causes, you can find studies touting texting’s benefits, too. And finding one girl who texted so much it made her thumbs hurt really isn’t a sign of an epidemic, either. It certainly makes for some good headlines, but is the rise of texting among teens really any different than the growth of any other technology, none of which seem to have killed us off yet?

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Comments on “Texting Is Wrecking Your Teenager's Mind, Destroying Their Thumbs, Killing Puppies, Etc.”

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19 Comments
daddyg33k says:

On Texting...

When I look back into the late nineties, back when the wave of the future was the 2G phone, and the Nokia Bricksters roamed the Earth in the States…the other side of the planet (I.E. China/Japan) had already adopted SMS as the preferred medium of communications amongst the younger generation. This being said, with the Western Hemisphere trailing 10 years behind our Eastern neighbors wouldn’t the damage of SMS already be evident if we a quick glance to the East? I am sure the tabloids are milking the hell out of this one… ‘The dangers of the text message, are YOUR children safe??’ Well my only point to make is this…if SMS was the next Whippet like problem with our youth, wouldn’t the devastation already be measurable by looking at a society that was doing a decade ago what are doing today? Or did they already blame text messaging as the cause of SARS…

Silver Fang (profile) says:

Old as the hills

Ranting and raving over new technology and trends is nothing new. In the early 1900s, phonographs and movies were the target, in the 40s, it was comic books, since the 50s TV has been a favorite target and since the 1990s, the Internet and so on.

Every 20 or so years, a new technology will be embrace by young people and eschewed and reviled by their elders. Even Plato ranted and raved about corrupt youth in ancient Athens.

It’s as old as the hills!

CarleyyJayy. (user link) says:

texting.

well i’d like all of you to know i am a freshman at MGM and i text non stop and i still have straight a’s and yes i do have parents thank you. it’s not making us dumb, or stupid or anything. we text to communicate. and i’m lazy i get about 9 hours of sleep and feel amazing!! and i wake up many times at night to reply back to my messges. so all im trying to say is stop freaking out just ’cause we like to text a lot at least we aren’t jabbering on the phone in our rooms all day. or better yet in the kitchen or living room where you all have to listen to us!!

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