Facts about today's teens' technology, social media use and sex

"Social media is destroying our lives," a girl from Los Angeles said. 

"So why don't you go off it?" 

"Because then we would have no life."

Journalist Nancy Jo Sales spent 30 months traveling around the United States interviewing teenager girls and boys to find out what it's like to grow up as a teenager in a world saturated with social media.

In her book, American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, Sales highlights some interesting facts about today's American teenager technology, social media and dating habits. 

 It's a fascinating book that's worth reading in full. Here are a few thought-provoking findings:

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A 2010 study found that 92% of American children have an online presence before the age of two.

Teenagers spend up to eleven hours a day staring at one screen or another.

The Pew Research Center found that 73% of teenagers between the ages of thirteen and seventeen own smartphones.