New Study on Sexting: 1 in 7 US Teens Receive Sexts
A new study on sexting was released showing that 15% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 have received sexually suggestive photos or videos on their personal cell phones. However, only 4% acknowledged sending out a naked image. The poll was conducted by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Check out the story below…
Of course, I would be remiss iff I didn’t point out that the advent of sexting isn’t all too shocking… but what is shocking is the high rate at which it occurs. Forget the impressions of society and our celebrity/sex-infatuated culture, what about the simple lesson a parent teaches their child about not taking naked pictures of themselves and sending it to people? I’m not a conservative either – I am just rational. It’s a pretty common sense thing.
I get it… I was young once too. My generation had the Polaroid camera. Despite only having one hard copy of any picture taken, they certainly weren’t brought to school – it was inevitable that the wrong person would get a hold of it and show it around the halls. That is the equivalent of sexting – you know it will end up that way. But with sexting, that photo gets multiplied with the click of a button. With another click – it’s on the web…
Anyway… parents, PC Pandora computer monitoring software will let you know if those nude images are being placed on the web… another inevitability.
December 15, 2009
In study, 1 in 7 U.S. teens say they’re recipients of ’sexting’
By Donna St. George, Washington Post Staff WriterAbout 1 in 7 American teens with cellphones say they have received nude or nearly nude photos by text message, according to a new survey on the phenomenon known as “sexting.”
Helping to define the little-understood trend in teen life, the poll found that 15 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 17 have received sexually suggestive photos or videos on their personal cellphones. Just 4 percent acknowledged sending out a naked image.
Older teens were more likely to report sexting, with 30 percent of 17-year-olds saying they had received such photos, compared with 4 percent of 12-year-olds, according to the report by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.
The provocative photos are usually sent as part of a romantic relationship — or one that is wished-for, the study found.
“Most people are too shy to have sex,” one young high-schooler told researchers. “Sexting is not as bad.”
Overall, the poll may offer relief to some parents in its finding that a majority of teens are not passing along nude images.
But school and safety officials warn that parents should be vigilant in monitoring how their teens use technology. And researchers say sexting has clearly become a part of teen culture and may have unintended consequences . “It’s a part of teens’ lives. It’s something they deal with, they grapple with, they talk about,” says Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew. “Even though the numbers are quite low, I think it is an important issue to be talking about.”
Lenhart says the poll, based on a telephone survey of 800 adolescents, does not account for instances when teens pass cellphones around for friends to see their pictures. It does not include e-mailed images or those posted on social networking sites.
As part of the research, teens also were surveyed in focus groups.
Wrote one older high school girl: “Most of the girls who have are usually pressured by a guy they like or want to like them, or their boyfriends.”
Said another teen: “Sometimes people trade pictures, like ‘Hey you send me a pic, I’ll send you one.’ “
There were no differences reported by gender, only age.
It makes sense that older teens report more sexting, Lenhart said, because as a group they have had cellphones longer and are more likely to be involved in a sexual relationship.
The Pew poll focused on children younger than 18. In the past year, three other surveys have explored the sexting phenomenon with slightly older age groups or through online surveys.
Among other findings, the report said teens with unlimited texting plans were more likely to receive nude photos or videos.
