Too much Texting leads to smoking, drinking and sex??? whua?!?!

[Chibibar]

BBC News - Texting 'health risk' for teenagers

Ok. This is a bit over the top for BBC (IMO) I'm not a teen, but I do text a lot (since I got the iPhone) and use social media (thanks for my wife with Facebook and games) but I never pick up smoking and drinking.

I guess I'm doing it wrong.

 

[Shegokigo]

Let's see, I do all three.

Sex flows like wine here.

I'd say that's about accurate.

 

[Dave]

There is such a thing as coincidence.

Texting does not cause this - BEING POPULAR causes this. And popular people text more. I doubt they could show causality.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Here I thought ambiguous morals and low self-esteem lead to early sex...

 

[Hylian]

So the reason I am a virgin still is becuase I don't text enough? Welp I best get to texting like crazy.

 

[phil]

Haha fuck the first couple lines are already making me think this thing is a joke.

Teenagers sending 120 text messages a day are more likely to drink, smoke and have sex, claims a US doctor.

I feel like it should follow up with

"the doctor added it may also lead to listening to rap music, disrespecting elders, and socializing with dark.... Erm I mean the wrong crowd"

 

[sixpackshaker]

going to school and meeting boys will lead to sex, or girls for that matter...

 

[Wahad]

going to school and meeting boys will lead to sex, or girls for that matter...

Meeting boys will lead to girls? I guess I have been doing it wrong after all.

But yeah, I'm not even a scientist and I am wondering how this even got published. Damnit people, correlation does not equal causation.

 

[mlanewal]

Correlation does not equal causation. I hate how the media reports on science.

 

[Hailey Knight]

I knew it!

 

[SpecialKO]

I'm wondering whether the stupid was added by BBC or was originally present in the doctor's findings.

The only direct quote they have from him is:

Dr Frank 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."

This is a substantially more measured and less ridiculous statement than the BBC byline. There's still an implication of partial causality which I don't like, but I question how much of that article is BBC either being stupid themselves or disrespecting their readers to the point of injecting stupidity for the ease of consumption.

 

[evilmike]

Random thought of the day:

This warning is more entertaining if you parse it out ala Yoda in Phantom Menace.

Too much texting leads to smoking...
Smoking leads to drinking...
Drinking leads to sex...
Sex leads to suff-er-ing.

 

[Shegokigo]

Sex leads to suff-er-ing.

You're doing it wrong.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Sex leads to suff-er-ing.

You're doing it wrong.[/QUOTE]

You've changed Shegs...

 

[Shegokigo]

Sex leads to suff-er-ing.

You're doing it wrong.[/QUOTE]

You've changed Shegs...[/QUOTE]

I don't ever recall mentoning that I enjoyed involving any pain in my sex life.

 

[Ravenpoe]

Sex leads to suff-er-ing.

You're doing it wrong.[/QUOTE]

You've changed Shegs...[/QUOTE]

I don't ever recall mentoning that I enjoyed involving any pain in my sex life.[/QUOTE]

Not in yours, no. Others, however...

 

[SpecialKO]

For perusing pleasure...

This is a news website article about a scientific finding | Martin Robbins | Science | guardian.co.uk