In a world where everything is computerized, it’s normal to spend most of our times in front of the computer. Whether we play games, see a cartoon or a movie, or chat with our friends, the computer has become indispensable. Many previous studies have shown that there are people who cannot live in the absence of a computer. Others have warned parents to pay attention to their kids’ activities when they are at the computer and they couldn’t be more right.

 

The most recent studies published in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine reveal that 54 percent of teens talk about behaviors such as sex, alcohol use and violence on social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook. The situation is risky even if it’s just mere talk.

 

Dr. Megan A. Moreno, the lead author of one of the two studies explained that teens may talk about sex, substance use or violence because they are contemplating doing those things or because they want to brag about them online without actually doing what they say.

 

“MySpace is a place where teens are feeling comfortable talking about these kinds of behaviors and displaying them,” said Moreno.

 

According to the study, more than 90 percent of adolescents have Internet access, and about half of these use social networking sites, such as MySpace or Facebook. The study involved 500 18-year-olds. Twenty-four percent of the teens had references to sex on their pages and 37 percent discussed about alcohol abuse, the study found.

 

The bad news is that teens don’t realize that such information may attract sexual predators or repels employers, Kimberly Mitchell, a researchers at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, said.

 

Jamie Schumacher, a MySpace spokeswomen, declined to comment on the study, as she hadn’t reviewed the full findings.