Confessions Of An Extreme Teen Texter

American teens love to text. A recent study found that on average, teens send and receive more than 1,700 messages every month.

Rachel Schwartzbard, 15, from Edison, N.J. was recently recognized by the NY Post for her excessive texting - 32,063 texts per-month.

"My highest month was 38,000," Schwartzbard admitted to Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez.

"Why do you next so much?" Rodriguez asked.

"It's just the way I have communication with everyone and to stay connected to your friends," Schwartzbard said.

"Does it take over your life?" Rodiguez added.

"I'm on 16 extracurricular activities at school. I don't think so. I kind of incorporated it into my day," Schwartzbard said.

"We're raising a generation of digital natives," said parenting expert Stacy Debroff. "And they are plugged in and texting is here to stay. It's an integral part of how they socialize. The thing is that as parents, we have to see it as just another way that they're plugged in. And we've got to think about, just like we turn off the TV, 'how do we approach them in terms of their texting?'"

"Do your parents put any limits on how and when you can text?" Rodriguez asked.

"I think they would if it affected my grades or class work or anything. But I manage to keep my priorities straight, so they don't put limits on me," "Schwartzbard said.

Parents may wonder if this just how kids are today and if so, can every child juggle it all?

"We look at Rachel. Most kids can't balance as much as what Rachel's doing," Debroff said. "She must be sending a text a minute. And I think that when it starts interfering with homework and with their sleep and suddenly they aren't able to concentrate and they're using it as passing notes, we just have to think about how we approach it."

After parents accept that it's a digital age, then they have to set limits if texting becomes a problem.

"It is not a constitutional right," Debroff said. "We have to lay down some texting rules like 'no texting in the classroom.' It's a real issue. They're using it as note passing. 'No texting in the middle of the night.' And we're going to check your phone bills to make sure. 'No texting at the dinner table.' Remember the 'no talking to each other' and 'no texting when I say, "no texting!'"

Parents must walk the walk and be a role model, Debroff reiterated.

"It is true," she said. "Many times we're saying to our kids, 'I think you're texting too much.' And at the same time, we're rapidly -- our attention is totally glued to our computers. We're on our iPhones, our BlackBerrys. So we have to realize that we have to set limits on ourselves."