Sexting Epidemic

Sexting is the newest epidemic facing parents with children between the ages of 11-18. Within the past year, there have been national cases of sexting in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Alabama, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Texas.   Sexting refers to sending nude or barely nude pictures via cell phone text messages. Unfortunately, two of the world’s largest female pop icons, Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens, were involved in two separate instances of sexting within the past year. Now 1 out of 5 teenagers are following their lead and participating in sexting.  A national study from the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that 20% of teenagers are involved in some form of sexting. The study also reported that 51 percent of teenage girls reported pressure from guys is the reason girls send sexy messages or images. The recent explosion of Web 2.0 sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Youtube has provided a springboard to this epidemic.  Social websites such as Facebook now have mobile applications of their site that allows for users to download the site to cell phones. These mobile applications allow teenagers to upload pictures of them at an alarming rate.

Sexting and Schools

The majority of sexting takes place on school campuses around the United States.  Teenagers are sexting pictures of each other to fellow students.  Let’s say that Mike meets Sarah in 10^th grade Literature and finds her attractive. He communicates his interest and they swap cell phone numbers with each other. Mike begins to send Sarah text messages with pictures of himself in underwear. Sarah in return sends him picture of herself in underwear. This back and forth sexting gradually grows to more sexually graphic pictures of private parts and Mike and Sarah are now sexting on a regular basis. Some parents may feel that this is a normal part of teenage courtship but the problems arise when Mike and Sarah fall out or break up. They both now have nude pictures to send out to numerous friends or post on their favorite social website of choice. The majority of sexting cases have taken place like the scenario above. Boy and Girl meet and start sexting then they break up and distribute pictures out of anger. Once school officials are involved law enforcement is soon to follow.

Sexting and the Law

Due to the recent epidemic of sexting, prosecutors in the United States are starting to utilize child pornography laws to prosecute teenagers involved in sexting. In most states there are codes that prevent the distribution of nude picture of minors. One of the most disturbing trends is teenagers who are taking nude pictures from their cell phones and burning them to a DVD for mass distribution. This type of distribution is a felony in most states and prosecutors are holding teens accountable. There are even cases where teenagers involved in sexting are being classified as sex offenders.  Teens who receive sexting messages without actually taking the picture are also hot water. Local communities are not only prosecuting the teen that took the pictures but also all of the teens that received the pictures. In Alabama, four middle school students were arrested for exchanging nude photos. Here are some of the most recent examples.

·         January 29, 2009 Six Cape Cod, Mass teenagers between the ages of 12-14 are now facing felony charges for sending nude pictures of a 13 year old classmate

·         February 2009, In Greensburg, Pa. three high school girls sent seminude photos to four male students.  The three girls were charged with child pornography and the four boys whom received the pictures were charged with possession of child pornography.

How to Prevent Sexting

1.      Communication- Parents should talk to their teenagers on a regular basis about the nature of the text messages they are sending and receiving from other teenagers. Parents need to explain the impact of sexting on future employment and college admissions. Employers and admission counselors are routinely checking applicant’s social websites to gauge character questions.

2.      Learn your child’s phone- All cell phones come equipped with disabling features. Learn how to disable certain features on your child’s cell phone.

3.      Monitoring Software- Purchase a SIM card reader to access your child’s deleted text messages and pictures. Cell Phone monitoring software can be found at www.spyparent.net. You can also contact your local service providers to determine what monitoring services that may be available. Parents do need to keep in mind that these monitoring services through your phone company can add anywhere from $10-20.00 dollars extra to your phone bill.