Parents ‘fuelling’ teen addictions

Teenagers may face a lifelong struggle with addiction because of their perpetual use of modern technology — and parents are helping them maintain the habit.

As many as 83% of UK teenagers would struggle to give up vices such as texting, drinking alcohol, and using social media for a month according to a report out today.

When asked which behaviours they could abstain from, young people said they would most struggle to live without texting (66%), followed by social networking (58%), junk food (28%), and alcohol (6%).

The average teen checks social media 11 times a day, sends 17 texts, equating to once every 1.5 hours they are awake, said the report.

Moreover teenagers take an average of 7.4 selfies a month, the same as one every four days.

The study, released by Allen Carr Addiction Clinics, questioned 1,000 UK teenagers aged between 12 and 18.

It highlighted a trend of thrill seeking in a growing number of young people, mostly carried out through technology and social media.

The report suggested that several elements involved in this habit — the constant pursuit of stimulation, peer approval, instant gratification, and elements of narcissism — are all potential indicators of addictive behaviour.

However, it seems parents are inadvertently becoming “co-dependents” enabling their child’s addictions by funding them — despite not necessarily knowing where the money is being spent.

Teenagers spend an average of £15.81 (€20.21) a week on vices such as alcohol, junk food, gambling, and technology, meaning they fork out around £62 each month before they even consider other expenses.

Almost half of this (£6.64) goes on texting, mobile phones, and data.

Junk food spending and alcohol ranked as the second and third most expensive habits respectively.

To fund this spending, 14% of teens said they lied to their families to get money, while 7% said they had stolen from a relative at one point to finance their habits.