Teenagers are now hacking computers more than they're having sex or smoking

It turns out, kids these days are more likely to be hacking into your computer than trying to get cigarettes or sex.

This is according to the Millennial Cohort Study, run by University College, London. which found that five per cent of 14 year olds of either gender had hacked a computer in the past year. Just under one per cent had sent some sort of virus.

Computer hacking therefore was more common than the two per cent of survey respondents that said they had engaged in sexual intercourse, while three per cent said they were regular smokers.

However, 11 per cent said they had experienced a type of intimate sexual contact, and 14 per cent said they had smoked a cigarette at least once.

Comparatively, three per cent had graffitied without permission, four per cent had vandalised, two per cent were part of a gang, one per cent said they had stolen from another person, and four per cent said they had shoplifted in the past year.

However, the trend shows alcohol and cigarettes are increasingly unpopular among young people.

In 2014 only five per cent of eight- to 15-year-olds said they had ever tried a cigarette, compared with 19 per cent in 2003, the Health Survey for England, which surveyed more than 2,000 children in England, showed.

Over the same period the number who had ever tried an alcoholic drink fell from 45 per cent to just 17 per cent.

Among 15 year olds, 23 per cent ate five or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily, compared with just 11 per cent in 2003. Over the same period, the average number of portions eaten by children in England rose from 2.5 to 3.5 per day.

HT Telegraph

More: What Activate say really happened with their 'hacked' account, and how they want to grow from 'over 200' members