Ignore This and You Might Ruin Your Kid's Life - Sexting is a Potential Sex Crime

A recent report from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy indicates that over 20% of teens (ages 13-19) and an incredible 33% of young adults (ages 20-26) have shared nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves either using cell phone SMS text messages or by posting on the internet. Teenage 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 inappropriate photos of themselves.

Recent studies  from The Nielsen Company and the Pew Research Center point out several factors that should be troubling to parents and guardians. These issues are also an opportunity for solution providers. There is growth in the percentage of teens that own cellular phones, the amount of texting they do, and potentially much more serious the number of young people that are occupied with “sexting” – the sending of provocative images or text messages from cell phones.

Why the fuss and bother?  Just innocent fun, youth discovering their new sexuality? 

Think again.  Sending a sexually explicit photo of a child is a sex crime.  Young people are being arrested, convicted and having to register as sex offenders.  They are risking 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 can 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 is very little that is innocent about it.  {Keep in mind|Consider} that if a sixteen year old 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 levied by the court, registration may be stipulated with the Sex Offender Registration Board for the next 20 years.  Furthermore, the criminal 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 youth social life, parents, educators and advocates have grown increasingly worried about the role of mobile phones in the sexual lives of teens.   A fresh survey from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (pewinternet.org/topics/Teens.aspx) concluded that 4% of mobile phone using 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 SMS text messages.  This practice is commonly known as “sexting” in today’s slang. Additionally, fifteen percent say they have received such images of someone they actually know via text message.

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 10 SMS messagesSMS texts per hour that they are not in school or sleeping – and most likely a lot during their classes too!

By examining more than forty thousand monthly US mobile phone bills, Nielsen concluded that American teens sent an average of an incredible 3,146 texts each month during the third quarter 2009.  

Their younger counterparts – tweenagers - 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.  In comparison, the average number of monthly texts sent by all mobile users combined was a little more than five hundred. In the fourth quarter 2009, tweenage users aged nine to twelve increased messaging usage by 8% and almost doubled their text message volume.

Focus group findings show that sexting happens usually under one of three typical scenarios:  The first, involves exchanges of images only between two romantic partners;
the next, lists exchanges between partners that are then shared with other people; 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 various explanations surrounding the motivation to participate in 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 other people “… for their entertainment value, as a joke, or for fun.”

Teens also described to researchers the peer pressure to share sexual images.  Not surprisingly the report revealed that young people who are more intense users of  mobile phones are more likely to receive inappropriate images.  For these youths, the phone has become such a common means for communication and content of all kinds that doing without it is unlikely.

The desire for risk-taking and sexual exploration during the teenage years mixed with routine connection via 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 some indications that per user usage has peaked, Nielsen estimates that overall SMS usage will grow as the heavy text messaging population 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 in all liklihood you’re also either in denial that your kids are involved in sexting, or you’re actively seeking solutions to the problem. In all probability most parents can’t believe their teens are involved with sexting, or they are looking for ways to find out.   While parents may get angry 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 texting.

Sexting is an  extremely complex topic.  As a result, it is very hard to provide advice on how best to handle 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 photo, the individual  who took the image, the distributor(s) of the picture, 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 photo, 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 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 find out what kids are doing~what’s going on with their teenagers}  is mobile monitoring software. 

Sexting can be illegal.  Parents have responsibility to stop it.  Especially considering low cost solutions can be ordered online.     A really great software package that includes remote control of device settings, and combines Phone GPS 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 is compatible with BlackBerry  and  Android  Smartphones,.    Visit this link for more information regarding the latest software for 
Parental Monitoring of Mobile Phones .