There was a lot of moral panic when surveys a few years ago came to the conclusion that a significant percentage (the numbers were somewhere between 20% and 50%) of teens do what was coined as sexting: sending each other sexually explicit or suggestive photos.
And while there’s an obvious risk of having your photos spread if you send them to the wrong person the most dangerous aspect of sexting for many was the law. Charging 17-year-olds with production and distribution of child pornography because they sent someone a photo of their own dick isn’t exactly what you would call “protecting children” (which, one would think, is the purpose of laws against child porn).
Sorry, we couldn't illustrate the post with naked 14-year-olds ;)
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have now completed and published (in Pediatrics Journal) a major new study on “youth sexting” in the U.S. and their conclusions could hardly be more different from the older online surveys. After 1,560 30-minute interviews with kids ageed 10-17, the study found that only 1% of respondents had distributed sexually suggestive nude photos of themselves.
The truth can likely be found somewhere in-between this study and the older surveys. Including pre-teens like the study did might very well distort the findings for example. And the number of people who send nudies or at least suggestive photos of themselves to someone is probably a lot higher among the average milkboys readers ;) Let’s find out!
