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

A recent 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 images of themselves either via mobile phone text messaging or by posting online. Teen girls are a little more likely to do this than boys and a very disturbing 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 point to a handful of factors that should be troubling to parents and guardians. These issues are also an opportunity for solution providers. There is an increase in the number of young people that use cellular phones, the amount of texting they do, and more troubling the percentage of teens that participate in “sexting” – the sending of potentially illegal images or text messages from mobile phones.

What’s the fuss?  Just innocent fun, adolescents exploring their new sexuality? 

Think again.  Sending a sexually explicit picture of someone underage 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, charges of sexual misconduct can result in getting suspended and expelled from school, losing scholarships, 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 isn’t anything innocent about it.  Consider that if a sixteen year old sends a sexting photo of themselves – they could be breaking child pornography statues in most states. 

Getting convicted in criminal court for “sexting” may have other serious consequences.  In addition to the potential jail sentence and/or fine imposed by a judge, registration may be stipulated 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 cellular phones has become a focus in teenager social life, parents, educators and advocates have grown increasingly concerned about the role of cell phones in the sexual lives of young people.   A fresh research study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (pewinternet.org/topics/Teens.aspx) concluded that four percent of cell-owning teenagers ages twelve to seventeen say they have transmitted sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to other people using SMS text messages.  This practice is typically known as “sexting” in the current vernacular. Additionally, 15% say they have received these kinds of images images of someone they actually know via SMS.

According to research from market researchers The Nielsen Company (blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/under-aged-texting-usage-and-actual-cost/) American youths transmit an unimaginable average of ten SMS text messages every hour that they are not in school or sleeping – and most likely a lot during class too!

By studying more than 40,000 monthly US mobile mobile bills, Nielsen found that American teenagers sent an average of an incredible 3,146 text messages every month during the third quarter 2009.  

Their younger counterparts – tweenagers – ages 9-12 years old sent about 1,100 text messages every month.   That equates to four every hour they were in school or not sleeping.  In comparison, the average number of monthly texts sent by all cellular users combined was a little more than five hundred. In the fourth quarter 2009, tweenage users aged nine to twelve increased text usage by eight percent and almost doubled their text message volume.

Focus group findings show that sexting occurs usually under one of three typical scenarios:  The first, involves exchanges of images solely 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, but with one person hoping there will be one hopes to be}.

Teens were interviewed and gave researchers various 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 starting or maintaining 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 revealed that youths that are intensive users of  cellular phones are more likely to to be sent sexually suggestive images.  For these young people, the phone has become such a common means for communication and a variety of content that doing without it is unlikely.

The desire for risk-taking and sexual exploration during the teenage years mixed with regular connection via 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 the indications that per user usage has peaked, Nielsen forecasts that overall text messaging usage will increase as the heavy text messaging population ages and entices the older generations to text with them in order to keep in contact with them.  Existing SMS users will continue to use texting 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 you’re probably not surprised by the usage statistics. But chances are you’re also either in denial that your teens are involved in sexting, or you’re actively seeking solutions to the problem. In all probability most parents don’t believe their teenagers 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 are going to break the bank, Nielsen research shows the average cost of a single text message is just one cent.  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 a very complicated issue.  As a result, it is very hard to offer 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 person seen in the picture, someone  who took the photo, 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 child 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 teenagers are doing~what’s going on with their children}  is mobile monitoring technology. 
Celebrated rights lawyer Gloria Allred addressed the legal penalties of “sexting” that parents and teens may not know:
Teens participating in “sexting” activities – those that transmit 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
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Sexting can be illegal.  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 handset settings, and combines Mobile 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 .