New Study on Youth Sexting Shows Arrests Are Rare

There is a disturbing new trend involving young adults. Studies have show that sexting has become popular among teens. Sexting is the act of sending or posting sexually explicit images. An article in Pediatrics magazine conducted a study of teenagers 18-19 years old and revealed that 20% of teenagers have posted or sent semi nude, nude, or beach photos. These numbers would make it seem that sexting is a common occurrence.

There was a study led by Kimberley J. Mitchell, Ph.D., that used a larger pool of age groups. KMSpico for windows 10 She studied children from the ages of 10-17 years old. Her definition of sexting was more accurate, and whether the photos were of the children themselves or others became an important factor. This was done as a telephone survey of a cross-section of the country, adding up to 1,560 Internet users. This survey lasted from August 2010 to January 2011.

The degree of nudity was taken into consideration, as was who originated the photo. The findings of Mitchell’s survey found that 149 (9.6%) respondents admitted to receiving, creating, or appearing in nude or nearly nude images. Of these youths who reported they had participated in sexting, 39 (2.5%) appeared in or created photos and 110 (7.1%) had received photos. Even though the survey found there to be 2.5% of youth posting partially nude or completely nude photos or videos, once the definition was changed to sexually explicit (“naked breasts, genitals, or bottoms”) the figure came in closer to 1%.

Even though youth sexting is not as widespread as initially thought, it is still a serious problem. About one-third of sexting messages included an “aggravating component.” There were such things as drugs or alcohol use in them. Teen Internet safety is a concern with this type of behavior.

In a second survey done from 2008 to 2009, out of the 560 people surveyed, two-thirds of the cases were found to involve an “aggravating circumstance.” In these, such things as adult participation or abuse were found. In 62% of cases involving an adult, arrests were made. Sexting arrests were also made in 36% of cases that involved only youth, but also including some type of aggravating circumstance. 9apps apk In most cases (63%), the images were found on cell phones and did not make it to the Internet. Researchers found that an arrest is more likely if an adult is involved.

The study also showed that sexting is a diverse phenomenon. There are some episodes that involve more serious criminal dynamics, including such behaviors as a young person blackmailing others or an adult interacting sexually with an underage person and other malicious criminal behavior. It is because of this behavior that more information needs to be available. School speakers need to tell young people why this is dangerous and who they can go to for help.

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