Sex Query? Experts Help Teens Via Texting

We use them for texting, not calling

(NEWSER) - The age of texting is upon us—and it’s not just for teens anymore. Sure, the average 13- to 17-year-old sends and receives an insane 3,339 texts per month, but 45- to 54-year-olds are catching up with an average of 323 per month—a 75% increase from just one year ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. And our use of cell phones as, well, phones is down: The average number of monthly calls made by adults is down 25% from three years ago. More»

It beat safe sex program in recent study

(NEWSER) - Abstinence-only sex education is back on solid scientific ground, with a study showing the method may be more effective than safe sex education in discouraging young teens from taking the plunge. Different groups of 6th- and 7th-graders were given short courses in abstinence, safe sex, or a combination of the two. Two years later, 33% of the abstinence students had become sexually active, compared to 52% of the safe-sex pupils. More»

Philosophy thesis is first on text message communication

(NEWSER) - A British graduate student has earned a PhD in texting—an academic first, Discover magazine reports. Caroline Tagg’s doctorate, more specifically, is in the philosophy of texting communication. Tagg studied 11,000 texts from 235 people over four years. Among the findings: The average text is 17.5 words, texters often include features of conversational spoken language like “oh,” “erm,” and “dunno" even though they add unneccessary keystrokes, and they use fewer abbreviations than you'd think. More»

(NEWSER) - Take that, Bristol. The Obama administration seeks to cut most federal funding for abstinence-only sex education programs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama's proposed budget for 2010 would scrap two programs that fund abstinence education—with $145 million—and replace them with a $160 million initiative that funnels 75% of the funds to proven, non-abstinence-based education. More»

'Internet cowboys and cowgirls' twist results of online surveys

(NEWSER) - One in five teenagers have shared naughty pictures of themselves over the phone or online—at least according to reports of the “sexting epidemic” that’s been causing hysteria lately. But the figure might be bogus, the Wall Street Journal reports, because it’s based on a voluntary online survey. “These kinds of samples select Internet cowboys and cowgirls,” said a researcher. More»