A new trend of sending sexual texts and pictures via cell phone has lead to a number of teens being charged with child pornography. In addition to the legal questions here, there are several sexual and emotional health concerns.
A survey from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy shows that 20% of teens report having sent or posted nude pictures or videos of themselves. Here are some other interesting statistics:
- 21% of teen girls and 39% of teen boys say they have engaged in "sexting" with someone they wanted to date or hook up with.
- 15% of teens who have sent or posted nude/semi-nude images of themselves say they have done so to someone they only knew online.
- 29% of teens believe those exchanging sexually suggestive content are “expected” to date or hook up.
- 51% of teen girls say pressure from a guy is a reason girls send sexy messages or images
edit: video changed 04/15/09 after previous video link was broken
I'm worried about how easy it is for some teens to just send their nude photos to anyone they thought to be trustworthy. And yet find themselves depressed when the nude photos leak out and be spread to the public.
Parents should remind their teens about the harms of sexting and what negative effects it will do to their future.
There should be a law imposed to those who are involved in sending their photos so that they will think twice in doing it.
Posted by: Turning Winds | February 14, 2011 at 08:57 PM