An increasing number of adolescents participate in “sexting,” which is sending sexually explicit images of themselves or other minors by cell phone or the Internet.
In the study, “Prevalence and Characteristics of Youth Sexting: A National Study” in the January 2012 Pediatrics (published online Dec. 5, 2011), 1,560 Internet users ages 10 through 17 were surveyed about their experiences with appearing in, creating, or receiving sexual images or videos.
The study found that 2.5 percent of youth surveyed have participated in sexting in the past year, but only 1 percent involved images that potentially violate child pornography laws. If sexting is defined as transmitting sexually suggestive images, rather than sexually explicit images, that number increases to 9.6 percent.
Most kids who have participated do so as a prank or while in a relationship, and a significant number of the incidents (31 percent) included alcohol or drug use. Only a small number of youth admitted to forwarding or posting the images, but half of the incidents occurred more than once.
Study authors feel that more young people need to be educated on the consequences of possessing or distributing sexually explicit images, which is currently treated as a criminal offense.
