If the words “sending” and “delivered” are the most common words you see on a screen everyday, you may be a compulsive texter.

Texting is the most popular form of communication among teenagers, with 75 percent of people in the cohort texting regularly according to a 2012 Report by the Pew Research Center. Typing short messages on a screen and pressing a send button is easy and convenient, however teenagers that do this numerous times a day develop low attention spans.

According to the New York Times, warning signs of compulsive texting include constant phone checking, distractions during homework time, agitated behavior during interruptions and sleep deprivation.

Checking messages and texting round the clock leads to lower academic performance. When teens are preoccupied with sending texts, they are likely to push aside homework assignments and become sleep deprived trying to finish them late at night.

According to a study published science journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture, the average teenager is distracted every six minutes because of texting and social media during study hours.

Girls are more likely to engage in compulsive texting as older girls send an average of 100 texts a day compared to 50 texts for boys according to the Pew Research Center.

Once teenagers become college students, texting during lectures correlates to students taking notes with fewer details, thus leading to an inadequate recalling of information on quizzes and exams according to the PPMC. On the other hand, students that do not text in class correlated to taking more detailed notes and are able to recall information from lessons with greater accuracy.

With this in mind, teachers at AHS continually remind students to stop staring at their crotches and put their phones away during class time.

Teachers want students to be focused and comprehend materials delivered in class. A text message is not going to give a student an A on a test.

Now that smartphones are on the rise and texting has become more appealing to teens through various downloadable applications, compulsive texting will likely replace ordinary person to person communication in the near future.

In order to better focus on assignments and boost attention spans, make sure to power off phones in class and at home during study hours, put phones away before going to bed and engage in more face to face conversations.

When a teacher yells at you for smiling at your crotch, the best way to respond is to put your phone away and pay attention.