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A recent report from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy indicates that about 20% of teens (ages 13-19) and an incredible 33% of young adults (ages 20-26) have shared nude or semi-nude images of themselves either using mobile phone SMS text messages or by posting on the internet. Teen girls are a little more likely to do this than boys and a very distressing 11% of the young teen girls (ages 13-16) admitted to sending suggestive photos of themselves.

Recent reports from The Nielsen Company and the Pew Research Center indicate several factors that should be troubling to parents and guardians. These topics are also an opportunity for software solutions companies. There is growth in the percentage of teens that use cellular phones, the amount of texting they do, and more troubling the percentage of teens that are occupied with “sexting” – the sending of potentially illegal images or text messages from mobile phones.

What's the fuss?  Just innocent fun, adolescents exploring their emerging sexuality? 

You might want to reconsider.  Sending a sexually explicit picture of a child is a sex crime.  Young people are being arrested, convicted and having to register as sex offenders.  They are gambling with more than emotional distress and humiliation, convictions can trigger a restriction of school activities, such as sports, denial of college admission, and denial of student loan eligibility, and losing jobs.  A felony conviction may also affect future employment opportunities, including law enforcement and other high-security clearance positions.   In other words, they’re ruining their lives over a little "innocent" fun.

There isn't anything innocent about it.  Consider that if a young teen sends a sexting image of themselves – they could be breaking child pornography statues in most states. 

A conviction in felony court for “sexting” may have other serious consequences.  In addition to the potential jail sentence and/or fine imposed by a judge, they may be required to register with the Sex Offender Registration Board for the next 20 years.  Additionally, the felony court may order the forfeiture and destruction of the computer or digital devices used.

As sending text messages from mobile phones has become a centerpiece in youth social life, parents, educators and advocates have grown increasingly concerned about the role of mobile phones in the sexual lives of young adults.   A fresh research study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (pewinternet.org/topics/Teens.aspx) found that four percent of cell phone owning youths between age 12 and 17 indicate they have transmitted sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to someone else via text messaging.  This practice is typically known as “sexting” in the current vernacular. Additionally, fifteen percent say they have received these kinds of images images of someone they actually know by way of text message.

According to research from market researchers The Nielsen Company (blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/under-aged-texting-usage-and-actual-cost/) American teenagers send an unimaginable average of 10 SMS messagesSMS texts every hour that they are not in school or sleeping – and most likely a lot during their classes too!

By examining over than forty thousand monthly US mobile cellular bills, Nielsen concluded that American teenagers sent an average of an astounding 3,146 texts each month during the third quarter 2009.  

Their younger counterparts – tweenagers – from age 9 to 12 sent an average of 1,146 texts every month.   That equates to four per hour they were in school or not sleeping.  In comparison, the average number of monthly texts sent by all mobile phone users collectively was just slightly above 500. In the fourth quarter 2009, tweenage users from age 9 to 12 increased messaging usage by eight percent just about doubling the quantity of text messages.

Focus group findings show that sexting occurs most often during one of three specific scenarios:  The first, exchanges of images only between two romantic partners;
the next, lists exchanges between partners that are then shared outside the relationship; followed by, exchanges between people who are not yet in a relationship, person hopes to be}.

Teenagers were interviewed and gave Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist and author of the report various reasons surrounding the impulse to get involved with sexting.  These included the researcher’s interpretation that “…sexually suggestive images had become a form of relationship currency,”; that sexting images “… are shared as a part of or instead of sexual activity,” and that SMS text message sexting is a way of starting or maintaining a relationship.   Sensitive images are also passed along to friends “… for their entertainment value, as a joke, or for fun.”

Teenagers also described to researchers the pressure they feel to share sexual pictures.  Not surprisingly the report revealed that young people who are more intense users of  cellular phones are more likely to receive inappropriate images.  For these young people, the phone has become such a common means for communication and content of all kinds that turning it off is nearly unthinkable.

The combination of risk-taking and sexual exploration during the teen years mixed with regular connection using mobile phones and other mobile devices “…creates a ‘perfect storm’ for sexting,” said Pew’s Amanda Lenhart.  “Teenagers have always grappled with issues around sex and relationships, but their coming-of-age mistakes and transgressions have never been so easily transmitted and archived for others to see.”

Despite some indications that per user usage has peaked, Nielsen predicts that overall text messaging usage will grow as the avid user demographic ages and entices the older generations to text with them in order to stay in contact with them.  Current SMS users will continue to text extensively and as tweenagers age they will increase usage.  The average number of text messages per user has increased every year, and there is room for growth.

If you’ve got kids then you’re probably not surprised by the usage numbers. But chances are you’re also either in denial that your children are involved in sexting, or you’re actively seeking solutions to the problem. In all probability most parents don’t believe their kids are involved with sexting, or they are looking for ways to find out.   While parents may fume that all the texts their teens and tweens are sending are going to break the bank, Nielsen analysis indicates the average cost of a single text message is only about one penny.  The real issue concerning parents is not so much how often teens use their phones but has more to do with how they use their phones, and when they are texting.

Sexting is a very complicated topic.  As a result, it is very hard to provide guidance on how best to manage these situations.  The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children policy talks about that there are four roles to every sexting case: the individual seen in the image, the person  who took the image, the distributor(s) of the photo, and the recipient(s) of the image.  In some cases one person may assume more than one of these roles (e.g., a youth takes a sexually explicit photo, of herself and sends it to a classmate). In other situations, multiple people may take on a single role (e.g., a child takes a sexually explicit picture of himself and sends it to a classmate who then forwards the photo to the entire high school senior class). It is important to consider the intentions and motives of each of the parties in every situation.

The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children advocates parents monitor cell phone use.  A workable technological solution available for parents and guardians to discover what kids are doing~what’s going on with their teens}  is cell phone software. 
Celebrated rights attorney Gloria Allred revealed the legal consequences of “sexting” that parents and teens may not know:
Teens participating in “sexting” actions – those that transmit sexually explicit pictures, are at risk of potential felony charges for child pornography OR criminal use of a communication device, and in some states, face the exposure of having to register as a sex offender – a disgrace that could haunt them the rest of their lives
mandated] reporting of the sex offender in various public records and very burdensome notification requirements that the sex offender must comply with – which may remain with the sex offender for the rest of his/her life.

Sexting can be against the law.  Parents have responsibility to do something about it.  Especially when low cost solutions can be ordered over the internet.     A really great software package that includes remote control of cell phone settings, and combines Cell Phone Tracking  with SMS text message, Call Log,  MMS multi-media message monitoring, and a web account for storage and review is PhoneBeagle.  

Follow this link if you are interested in    Mobile Monitoring Software that works with with BlackBerry  and  Android  Smartphones,.    Visit this link for more information regarding the latest software for 
Parental Monitoring of Mobile Phones .

Tags: cell phone monitoring, mobile phone monitoring, parental monitoring, sexting, texting