Today, I was a guest on Up Close with Diana Williams on WABC TV Channel 7. Diana is an incredibly gracious host — intelligent, warm, and interesting. Below is a screen shot. We discussed sexting, as it relates to Anthony Weiner, as well as how it affects relationships in general. We also talked about teen sexting, and touched on what parents can do to prevent it. I’m glad that at least the Weiner story can used be a “teachable moment.”
Last night’s Nightline story about sexting included some of my comments. Vicki Mabrey, her producer, and the entire Nightline team did a great job telling the different sides to this story. To see the video, click on the photo below, and it will open the video on the ABC News website.
Tonight I’ll be on ABC’s Nightline discussing sexting.
I began discussing sexting when I defined it on this blog months ago. Since then, there have been dozens of reports of teens who have been caught sexting. Sometimes teens have been threatened with — or charged with — distributing child pornography. The cases have run the gamut from the seemingly harmless, not “pornographic” (such as the PA teen wearing her white training bra who was consensually photographed by her friends), to the very troubling new case of an MA teen who videotaped two teens having intercourse and sent the video around a junior high via cell phone. Sexting, thus, becomes a complex topic to discuss because some cases may prove to be relatively innocent private activities, while other cases are extreme examples of exploitation.
There’s another story in the news about teens’ sexting nude pictures. This time, however, the teens are being charged with child porn! Read about it here. (For more on sexting, read my December 4th, 6th, 10th, 12th blog posts.) I talked about the story today in my usual spot with Mike Galanos on CNN Headline News. The other guest was former sex crimes prosecutor Wendy Murphy, who was great. A caller told us that she thinks the reason why teen girls send teen nude pictures is because of our oversexed media culture. Her example: Bikini Girl from last night’s American Idol audition. The media is only a part of the story, as I have previously discussed in this blog. Of course, I couldn’t resist going off-topic to address Bikini Girl, and to say: Why didn’t Paula or Kara admonish her, and let her know that it is completely inappropriate to wear a bathing suit to an audition?! Wendy Murphy agreed, and added that it wasn’t only the female judges’ responsibility, Simon and Randy should have chimed in, too.
With today’s release of “Sex and Tech” the new study from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmo Girl, we now know the realities of the problem of teens “sexting,” sending sexual content via cell phones. We now have statistics to back up the vague sense that many teens are doing something with their cell phones and online that could create a sexual crisis for them.
The study found that at least one in five teens (22% of girls and 18% of boys) say they have electronically sent nude or seminude images of themselves. And 39% of teens have sent sexually suggestive text messages or emails to someone.
Moreover, the study found that what teens are doing electronically affects what they do face-to-face, offline. More than a third (38%) of teens say that exchanging sexy content makes dating or hooking up more likely, and nearly one third of teens (29%) believe those exchanging sexy content are “expected” to date or hook up.
Why are teen girls so eager to pose for scandalous photos? To please guys. An overwhelming 85% of teen girls say that sending sexy photos or messages keeps a guy’s attention. Three-fourths of girls 13 to 16 (76%) say sending sexy images is a “sexy presents” for a boyfriend. Two thirds of teen girls (66%) who have sent sexually suggestive content say that they did to be “fun or flirtatious.”
Many teens don’t seem to understand that sending anything over the cell phone or Internet makes it public. The study confirmed that when sexy content is sent, it is not likely to remain private. More than one in five teen guys (22%) admit to having shared sexually suggestive messages that they received which had been intended to be private. And 39% of boys and 38% of girls have had sexy messages shared with them.
I will be discussing this study on television and I will write more about it here, including what parents can do about this.
Here’s my definition of “Sexting.”
Sexting Definition: “Sexting” means sex texting — sending or receiving a text message that has sexual content. “Sexting” can also be defined as sending nude, semi-nude, or erotic pictures or video via cell phone. “Sexting” could mean sending and receiving a series of sexually explicit text messages for sexual gratification in the same manner as having phone sex. (“Sexting” is not used to refer to having sexual conversations over the cell phone, since that would still be called “phone sex.”) “Sexting” may be intended to be flirtatious or provocative, or it may be used to request or arrange a sexual encounter. — Dr. Sari Locker
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