TEENS AND SEXTING
Image via 2.bp.blogspot.com
Most parents buy their teenagers cell phones so they can stay in touch with them and know where their children are at all times. I’m pretty sure that when Mrs. Wilson went to Verizon to buy Lisa the new Droid, she didn’t expect her daughter to send nude pictures to her crush, Bryan. (Although these names are fictional, the underlying meaning is true.)
The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently conducted a new study titled Teens and Sexting to see “how and why minor teens are sending sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images via text messaging.”
The study’s reasoning makes sense. Teens are obsessed with the cell phones. My 19-year-old sister doesn’t go anywhere without it, causing my mom to constantly quiz me about who she’s texting. After reading this study, I’m very curious.
The survey found that 4 percent of cell-owning teens ages 12-17 say they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to someone else via text messaging, a practice also known as “sexting”; 15 percent say they have received such images of someone they know via text message.
Focus group findings show that sexting occurs most often in one of three scenarios:
- Exchanges of images solely between two romantic partners
- Exchanges between partners that are then shared outside the relationship
- Exchanges between people who are not yet in a relationship, but where often one person hopes to be.
Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist and author of the report, explains how sexting works:
“Teens explained to us how sexually suggestive images have become a form of relationship currency. These images are shared as a part of or instead of sexual activity, or as a way of starting or maintaining a relationship with a significant other. And they are also passed along to friends for their entertainment value, as a joke or for fun.”
Teens also described the pressure they feel to share these types of images. One high school girl wrote:
“When I was about 14-15 years old, I received/sent these types of pictures. Boys usually ask for them or start that type of conversation. My boyfriend, or someone I really liked asked for them. And I felt like if I didn’t do it, they wouldn’t continue to talk to me. At the time, it was no big deal. But now looking back it was definitely inappropriate and over the line.”
Read the rest of the report here.
Filed under: children's safety, sex, social media | 2 Comments
Tags: cell phone, droid, iphone, Mobile 2.0, Pew Internet & American Life Project, sexting, social media, teens
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When I was that age I didn’t have a cell phone, let alone know what texting and picture messaging was.Our daughters are only 5 now and it worries me how much more advanced technology will be when they are older. The internet and web cams should be a big concern for parents as well.