Sure, you knew teenagers sent a lot of text messages.

But did you know that among American teen texters, half send more than 50 text messages a day, and a full third send approximately 100 text messages a day? That's the news today from the Pew Research Center, which has published a long study on the texting habits – we're tongue-tied, too – of America's most text-happy teenagers.

Just so we're all on the same page: Researchers are not saying that a third of all American teens send 100 text messages a day. In fact, a substantial portion of US teenagers don't send any text messages at all. Zip. Zilch. Nada. The Pew statistic comes from a somewhat smaller pool: the 88 percent of American teens who text regularly.

So what does the study say about the nation's top teen texters? Well, for one, we now have proof that the fingers of many teenage girls are bonded to their keypads. According to the Pew Research Center, 14- to 17-year-old girls are the most active texters, often sending 3,000 text messages a month.

Let's do some quick math. Say it takes about 30 seconds to send a text message. At 3,000 text messages, these girls are spending 25 hours a month texting. We're getting tired just thinking about it. Then, of course, there's the 2009 LG US National Texting Champion, Kate Moore, who admits to sending 14,000 texts a month.

In other news, it turns out your mom really is more than happy to click through your sent message list. 64 percent of parents regularly peruse the contents of their child's cell phone, the Pew Research Center reports. 62 percent of parents have taken away their child's phone as punishment. And why not? 58 percent of cell-owning teens text at school – even though their school doesn't allow text messaging in the classroom.