Hays High School's Official Student Newspaper

The Guidon Online

Hays High School's Official Student Newspaper

The Guidon Online

Hays High School's Official Student Newspaper

The Guidon Online

Students feel pain from excessive texting

The fingers are flying and buttons are clicking. The screen suddenly lights up with the much anticipated “New Message.” With another round of flying fingers and clicking buttons, another message is returned.

A Pew Research Center and the University of Michigan study says nearly one out of every three kids between 12 and 17 years old send more than 100 texts a day. That’s nearly 3,000 texts a month. But most teens don’t think about the consequences of texting 24/7.

“I have 200 in my inbox on a good day,” senior Jasmine Cohen said. “Sometimes my fingers start cramping and I have to crack them.”

In a American Journal of Psychiatry report, Dr. Jerald J. Block says that like excessive gaming, e-mail and texting may be part of a compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder and a form of addiction. It can cause social disorders and prevent teens from having normal interactions with other teens. In fact, counselors are starting to be trained specifically for internet and texting addiction. Unfortunately, social disorders are not the only problem of compulsive and addicted texters.

“I’m definitely addicted,” Cohen said. “And it is a problem but it is the main way to communicate with people.”

While the students may be feeling the pain, they may not be showing it.

“It’s not something I see a lot but there certainly is a risk,” School Nurse Jill Pollock said.

“I send around 200 text a day,” sophomore Citlatli Armendariz said. “My thumbs get really sore and I pop them to relieve the tension.”

The preference of texting to calling on the phone is obvious when talking with teens. According to Pew Research, nearly 80 percent of teens surveyed preferred to text rather than talk.

“I prefer texting,” Cohen said. “I’m superfast and I can text without looking.”

“I like to text people because that’s the main way to communicate with people,” Armendariz said.

Some student though, despite texting constantly, seem to have no side effects.

“I text all the time,” junior Taylor Biskie said. “I text in my easy classes, like seminar, but I don’t text enough to get cramped up or sore. I’m not addicted, it’s just a hobby.”

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