Resources | Sexting

Sexting - A dangerous new craze among teens and young adults.

An alarming number of teens and young adults are engaging in a disturbing new practice called "Sexting", the practice of sending nude photos of themselves and/or sexually explicit messages electronically, primarily through cell phones. They are also taking shots of friends at parties doing certain things while under the influence of alcohol, and then circulating the pictures.
In one study conducted by the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, 500 randomly chosen teenager profiles on MySpace showed 54% contained high risk behavior information, with 24% of those discussing and/or posting photos of a sexual nature. Another study showed that roughly 20 percent of teens admit to participating in "sexting," according to a nationwide survey (pdf) by the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Teens may view this as innocent adolescent behavior, however, some teens around the country are now being charged with child pornography, and more prosecutors are considering this option more often as well as other serious felonies. There are those that disagree, saying those charges should be saved for sex offenders, not teens who may have used poor judgment. Some are calling sexting a victimless crime; however, some photos are being forwarded to other teens or are being posted on the Internet as a way to bully, harass, or humiliate other teens. This has led to a few cases of teens committing suicide because they couldn't handle the embarrassment and abuse. Additionally, sexting may leave teens exposed to online predators and unwanted solicitations.

So, what can parents do? Parental engagement is key. Set ground rules and develop a contract for phone use. Don't be afraid to check your child's phone; make that one of the stipulations for them getting a phone. Install parental controls. Some companies have developed software and several cell phone networks are providing parental control services that parents can use to monitor activity and block or provide notification of X-rated messaging. Many of these include other safety features such as no texting and driving, limits on when and where the phone can be used, blocking unwanted callers, and GPS locaters. You need to check with your phone and service provider for what options are available with what you own.

Please go to the following link for the national survey results. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf