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But even many of those who know there are potential consequences say they still "sext."
Most studies on sexting ask
about sharing explicit or provocative photos. The new study considered
only sharing of explicit photos, said lead researcher Donald S.
Strassberg, professor of psychology. "Provocative doesn't get kids into
legal trouble. Nude pictures can. We asked about sending sexually
explicit photos to other teens or to adults."
The research has just been published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
The researchers surveyed more
than 600 students at a private high school in the Southwest. Students
answered questionnaires anonymously with parental permission. When the
researchers followed up by comparing the findings against a survey of
1,200 college students about their own previous high school sexting
practices, they found very similar results, lending credence to the
numbers, he said. "We think it is generalizable" to the broader high
school-age population.
About 18 percent of the
students, both girls and boys, some as young as 14, said they had sent
images of themselves that were explicit, using cell phones. Asked how
many received them, about 30 percent of the teenage girls had, while
half the boys said they'd received such images. The difference between
the number sending and the number receiving is probably because of
"forwards," Strassberg said.
When the researchers asked the
students, all freshman to senior age, what they thought the possible
legal consequences of sexting were, many left it blank. "Our best guess
is that most don't really appreciate what the legal consequences could
be," he said. But almost a third said they continued to sext despite
believing there could be serious legal ramifications.
"It's like texting while
driving," said Strassberg. "Most don't recognize the seriousness. But if
they do, they somehow don't think it will happen to them. They feel
special in some way. But there are serious legal consequences and most
don't know it."
Actual charges that have been
filed in sexting cases: In some jurisdictions, kids sending sexually
explicit pictures of a minor could be charged with trafficking in child
pornography, even if sending a picture of himself or herself. And having
such a photo on a phone or computer — something many of the surveyed
youths didn't recognize — could lead to criminal charges, too. "It's
not my fault if someone sends it to me" was a common attitude that
failed to recognize that reality, Strassberg said. Some, though not all,
jurisdictions level a charge of possessing child pornography, he noted.
There have been cases where youths who were sexting faced the possibility of being listed on a sex-offender registry, as well.
Adults face prison time for having such images.
The most dire potential
consequences are not legal, but psychosocial. At least two American
adolescent girls killed themselves after their boyfriends forwarded the
photos they provided of themselves once the pairs split up.
Experts say such images frequently, perhaps even usually, outlast the romances that sparked them.
The researchers said that
parents need to step up and have the conversations with their kids that
will fully inform them about the dangers. And schools should address it
as well.
"To pretend this is a rare event — that hardly anybody is sending or getting these pictures — is not true," Strassberg warned.
Because of the importance of
the topic, the journal is making the full study available to anyone who
wants it at no charge for 30 days.
Other researchers listed on
the paper are Ryan K. McKinnon and M.A. Sustaita, also of the University
of Utah, and Jordan Rullo of the University of Minnesota Medical
School.
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