August 31, 2004
Cell phones prompt earlier sexual debut
A professor at the University of Oslo thinks the widespread usage of cell phones among teenagers is prompting them to have sex at an earlier age. Two of three Norwegian teenagers who chat and send frequent text messages on their cell phones have engaged in sexual intercourse, reports Aftenposten.
"The survey, backed by the University of Oslo, is part of a major research project called "Young in Norway".
Professor Willy Pedersen of the university's sociology institute, who has overall responsibility for the project, says the survey suggests that cell phone usage and text messaging represent a new form of contact that makes it easier for teenagers to approach one another.
Results being published Thursday in Norway's major medical journal (Tidsskrift for Den norske lęgeforening) show that:
-- Only 8-9 percent of those teenagers who seldom or never use cell, or mobile, phones have had sex.
-- Around 60 percent of those teenagers who use mobile phones frequently have had sex.
-- Girls with high rates of mobile phone usage had eight times as high probability to have debuted sexually, compared with girls who seldom or never used mobile phones.
-- Boys with high rates of mobile phone usage were six times as likely to have debuted sexually than boys who rarely use mobile phones.
Pedersen says the results were also "corrected" for other factors influencing sexual behaviour, including such things as parental guidance, alcohol usage and partying habits.
Related article:
-- Mobiles linked to teen sex Children with mobile phones have sex earlier - and more often - than phoneless friends.
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