The Reality of “Sexting”

There’s a lot of buzz in the news lately about teens and “sexting” – sending sexually explicit pictures over a cell phone. This meant-to-be-personal content often gets shared and passed around, and that’s when things get really complicated. Besides the obvious issue that pushing the “send” button can’t be undone and that these images will be floating out there in cyberspace forever, recently, teens caught sexting are facing legal charges of obscenity or child pornography.

I did a little digging and found this interesting new study from CosmoGIRL! and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and was surprised to find out just how common sexting is:

• 22% of teen girls say they have electronically sent and/or posted online nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves
• 37% of teen girls are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages
• 21% of teen girls say they’ve sent such content to someone they wanted to date or hook up with
• 15% of teens who have sent or posted nude/semi-nude images of themselves have done so to someone they knew only online

Legal charges and media buzz aside, sending any personal, explicit electronically is bad news – for your self-worth, your self-esteem, and your self-respect. Even if your messages and pictures are meant for the eyes of your loved one only, there’s no guarantee the material will remain private (as Vanessa Hudgens would be the first to admit).

Here are some other things to think about before you hit the send button, courtesy of CosmoGIRL! and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy:

• There is no changing your mind in cyberspace – anything you send or post will never truly go away
• Don’t give in to the pressure to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, even in cyberspace
• Consider the recipient’s reaction (something you mean as a joke might be taken the wrong way, etc.)
• Nothing is truly anonymous

UPDATE: The issue of “sexting” has gotten a lot of media play, but a recent article featuring teen online expert Anatasia Goodstein (author of Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online and creator of Ypulse) points out that this phenomenon isn’t as rampant as we’re being led to believe. Check out the article here.