# Thumb-sucking among teen girls? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004 "2008-03-11T19:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/21 "2008-03-12T10:56:02Z")
[QUOTE=Edward The Head] My aunt told me that she sucked her thumb until she was 12 or so. My wife also told me she was just told that someone she knows husband sucks his while he’s asleep. . [/QUOTE] His THUMB right? He sucks his thumb while he’s asleep? ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/22 "2008-03-12T20:36:54Z")
[QUOTE=pkbites] This is coming from a law enforcement background and training, and may not be the answer to the OP. But thumbsucking and pacifier use among teens has been known to signify ecstasy and/or meth use. [/QUOTE] Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/23 "2008-03-12T21:43:06Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Why is that? [/QUOTE] Some “club drugs” cause the users to clench their teeth tightly which causes discomfort. The pacifier or even thumb sucking helps eliminate this discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/24 "2008-03-13T01:29:50Z")
God! As if being a meth addict wasn’t indignity enough. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/25 "2008-03-13T01:48:04Z")
[QUOTE=Sierra Indigo] Why am I admitting this? [/QUOTE] Lifelong thumbsucker here. Esp. when I’m tired or reading. I can manage to not do it in front of my kids, but I suspect my husband’s caught me once or twice. We don’t mention it. You’d be surprised how teased I _wasn’t_ in school. The grown-ups always said I would be, and used that as justification for some pretty horrible aversion therapies (which all failed - except that I can no longer suck my right thumb, only my left), but the kids never mentioned it except to express genuine and gentle concern for my well-being. (“Are you sad?”, most commonly.) I think I stopped doing it at school in about fourth grade anyway. For those saying it’s a “fad”, do you mean it’s a popular thing to do, or it’s a phase a lot of middle schoolers go through? Do you have any articles or news reports or anything that discusses this fad? ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/26 "2008-03-13T02:08:26Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] Behold the product of a generation of permissive parents. The girls probably started sucking their thumbs as toddlers, and never lost the habit because mom and dad couldn’t discipline it out of them. [/QUOTE] A-freakin’-men! I have a niece who suffers from that problem, for that reason. What ever happened to the good old days? Back in my day, the “cool” middle schoolers picked their noses. The _only_ excuse for inserting one’s thumb into one’s mouth was to make the booger disappear. Damn kids. Get offa my lawn! Saliva-covered thumbs–ewwww! ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/27 "2008-03-13T17:09:49Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] Another thought: **CHTT** , are you a man? The girls who do this after getting scolded could be trying out the doe-eyed, sweet and pout-y routine to get out of trouble. [/QUOTE] Yes, I’m a man, and having subbed for about two years now, I know the doe-eyed, sweet-and-pouty routine very well. The thumb-sucking in these cases (after a reprimand) appears not to be part of that routine, but a personal comforting/reassurance thing. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/28 "2008-03-13T17:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] Behold the product of a generation of permissive parents. The girls probably started sucking their thumbs as toddlers, and never lost the habit because mom and dad couldn’t discipline it out of them. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure it’s that simple. [This slate.com article](http://www.slate.com/id/2185363/) (granted, it’s fingernail biting, but an equally difficult to cure compulsion) suggests it’s harder than you think to just “discipline” someone out of an oral fixation. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/29 "2008-03-13T19:32:40Z")
I’m actually in middle school, and I must say, what are you guys talking about? I’ve never seen any of this. Thumbsucking, toddler stuff, none of it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004/30 "2008-03-13T22:04:18Z")
[QUOTE=Tabula Rasa] Given that 1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD, I’d say the boys are plenty clueless. [/QUOTE] Sounds to me like the girls might be sucking on more than just thumb [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thumb-sucking-among-teen-girls/441004.md?page=1)