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According to a University of
Utah-led survey published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, one in five teens
admit to “sexting,” or sending sexually explicit photos, typically of
themselves, with their cell phones. Twice as many reported receiving such
images.
“It has become so easy to do this,
and kids are largely oblivious to all the kinds of legal and important
personal, psychological, interpersonal consequences this can have,” said lead
author Donald Strassberg.
Sexting among teens is criminal
under Utah law. In the past, a Davis County teen was accused of threatening to
distribute nude photos of a classmate unless she granted him sexual favors.
“Once you put it out there, it’s out there. You don’t have any control over it
any more,” said Verne Larsen, a safe-schools specialist with the Utah State
Office of Education. Tragic cases have been reported of teenage girls
committing suicide after their photos were passed around the phones of
classmates.
Public school districts would not
allow Strassberg’s team to survey students, so the survey was done at an
Intermountain state private school. A 10-minute questionnaire was administered
to 606 students, asking if they had ever received, sent or forwarded sexually
explicit images, defined as photos showing bare genitals, breasts, or
backsides.
Thirty percent of girls and 50
percent of boys reported receiving sext messages. Of those, one in four said
they had forwarded such an image. Barely a quarter of the students described
their thoughts on potential legal consequences; of those, only 58 percent said
the consequences could include criminal charges.
Strassberg believes his results from
a single school can be generalized to US society. His data agree with a
yet-to-be-published study based on interviews with 1,200 University of Utah
undergraduates regarding sexting when they were in high school.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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