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A recently published study from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that over 20% of teens (ages 13-19) and a hard to fathom 33% of young adults (ages 20-26) have shared nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves either over mobile phone text messaging or by posting online.  A bit surprisingly teen girls are a little more likely to do this than boys and a very distressing one in ten young teen girls (ages 13-16) admitted to sending inappropriate photos of themselves.

The Nielsen Company and the Pew Research Center reports point to several factors that should be troubling to parents and guardians.  There is a rise in the number of young people that own cellular phones, the amount of texting they do, and potentially much more serious the percentage of young people that are involved in “sexting” – the sending of provocative images or text messages from mobile phones.

What's the fuss?  Just innocent fun, adolescents discovering their new sexuality? 

You might want to reconsider.  Sending a sexually explicit image of someone underage might be a sex crime.  Kids are getting themselves arrested, going to court 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, such as those offered in law enforcement and other high-security clearance positions.

Keep in mind if a sixteen year old sends a sexting photo of themselves – they could be breaking child pornography statues in most states. 

Getting convicted in felony court for “sexting” can easily result in other serious consequences.  In addition to the potential jail sentence and/or fine levied by the court, they may be required to register with the Sex Offender Registration Board for the next 20 years.  Furthermore, the felony court may order the forfeiture and destruction of the computer or digital devices used.

As sending SMS text messages from cell phones has become a focus in teen social life, parents, educators and advocates have grown increasingly troubled about the role of mobile phones in the sexual lives of youths.   A new survey from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (pewinternet.org/topics/Teens.aspx) determined that four percent of mobile phone using young people ages 12-17 indicate they have transmitted sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to someone else via text messaging.  This activity is commonly referred to “sexting” in today’s slang. Furthermore, fifteen percent say they have received such images of someone they actually know via SMS.

According to a study from marketing research firm The Nielsen Company (blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/under-aged-texting-usage-and-actual-cost/) American teens transmit an inconceivable average of ten SMS messagesSMS texts every hour that they are not in school or sleeping – and probably a lot during class too!

By studying more than 40,000 monthly US mobile mobile bills, Nielsen concluded that American teenagers sent an average of an astonishing 3,146 texts each month during Q3 2009.  

Their younger counterparts ages 9-12 years old sent about 1,100 text messages every month.   That that averages out to about four per hour they were in school or not sleeping.  To put that in perspective, the average number of monthly texts sent by all cell phone users combined was a little more than five hundred. In the fourth quarter 2009, tweenage users from age 9 to 12 increased messaging usage by 8% just about doubling the quantity of text messages.

Focus group findings show that sending provocative images occurs most often under one of three typical scenarios:  The first, involves sharing of images only between two romantic partners; the next, points to sharing 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}.

Teens were interviewed and gave Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist and author of the report numerous reasons behind the motivation 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 establishing a relationship.   Sensitive images are also passed along to friends “… for their entertainment value, as a joke, or for fun.”

Teens also described to researchers the pressure they feel to share these types of pictures.  Not surprisingly the report also reveals that teenagers that are intensive users of  mobile phones are more likely to to be sent sexually suggestive images.  For these teens, 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 teenage years combined with constant connection using cell 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 the indicators that per user usage has peaked, Nielsen forecasts that overall text message usage will increase as the avid user population ages and entices the older generations to text with them in order to stay in contact with them.  Existing SMS users will continue to text extensively and as tweenagers age they will increase usage.  The number of text messages sent per capita has grown every year and should continue.

If you’ve got kids then in all likelihood 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 children are involved with sexting, or they are looking for ways to find out.   While parents may be upset that all the texts their teens and tweens are sending will land them in the poorhouse, Nielsen research indicates the average cost of a single text message is only about one penny.  The real issue affecting families is not so much how often teens use their phones but more about how they use their phones, and when they are using them.

Sexting is a very complicated topic.  As a result, it is very difficult to provide advice on how best to manage these situations.  The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children policy states that there are four roles to every sexting case: the individual seen in the picture, someone  who took the image, the distributor(s) of the photo, and the recipient(s) of the photo.  In some cases one person may assume more than one of these roles (e.g., a youth takes a sexually explicit image, of herself and sends it to a friend). 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 think about the intentions and motives of each of the parties under different circumstances.

The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children advocates parents monitor cell phone use.  A practical technological solution available for parents and guardians to discover what their {children are doing~what’s going on with their teens}  is cell phone technology.

Highly respected rights lawyer Gloria Allred revealed the legal consequences of “sexting” that parents and teens may be aware of:
Kids occupied with “sexting” activities – those that send and receive sexually inappropriate pictures, are at risk of potential criminal 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.

Not only do teens who conducting “sexting” face the {very real prospect of criminal prosecution and the prospects of prison and/or probation, which will potentially remain on their criminal record for the indefinite future, they also face the prospect of the possibility of being required by the Court to register as sex offenders.~This label has [terrible~horrific] consequences for teenagers including [required~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 considering low cost solutions can be ordered online.     A really great software package that includes remote control of mobile phone settings, and combines Cell Phone Tracking  with SMS text message, Call Log,  MMS multi-media message monitoring, and an online 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