Sexting
Sexting is sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or videos, primarily between mobile phones.
There have been several cases where teens have sent photos over these applications, expecting them to disappear or be seen by the recipient only, yet are saved and distributed, carrying social and legal implications.
Snapchat's privacy policy on sexting has evolved to include sending content over new smartphone applications because of their appealing features such as the anonymity or temporary elements.
According to Albury and Crawford, sexting was not only an activity occurring in the context of flirtation or sexual relationships, but also between friends, as a joke or during a moment of bonding.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) surveyed 1,560 children between the ages of 10 and 17 and caregivers, reporting that only 2.5 percent of respondents had sent, received or created sexual pictures distributed via cell phone in the previous year.
Strassberg, McKinnon, et al. said the UNH study was technically accurate, but that the inclusion of younger children in the sample misrepresented the prevalence of the practice among mid- and older teenagers.
While there are many possible legal avenues for prosecution of people who knowingly breach the confidence of those sending sexual messages, in practice, nude images can be widely propagated without the consent of the originator.
[43][44][45] In a study conducted by Drouin et al. analyzing sexting behaviours among young adults, it was found that men would show the sexually explicit photos of their girlfriends to their friends.
[17] Family members, acquaintances and intimate partners make up the mass majority of perpetrators for digital media sex crimes.
[49][50] The University of Utah study (with a population sample of 606 teens aged 14 to 18) stated that about one third of respondents did not consider legal or other consequences when receiving or sending sexts.
Albury and Crawford (2012) argue that adolescents are well aware of the differences between consensual sexting and distribution of private images with negative intent.
[citation needed] Creation and distribution of explicit photos of teenagers violates child pornography laws in many jurisdictions (depending on the age of the people depicted), but this legal restriction does not align with the social norms of the population engaging in the practice, which distinguish between consensual activity and harassment or revenge.
[58] While mainstream media outlets, parents, and educators are rightfully worried about the negative legal, social, and emotional ramifications of teen sexting, much less is said about the issue of sexual consent.
Much like the discourse surrounding "abstinence-only" education, the prevailing attitude towards sexting is how to prevent it from occurring rather than accepting its inevitability and channeling it in healthier ways.
A 2019 Journal of Adolescent Health article authored by scholars Justin Patchin and Sameer Hinduja entitled "It's Time to Teach Safe Sexting" offers specific, actionable strategies towards this end within a harm reduction framework.
[60] According to a study done by the health journal Pediatrics, more than one in five middle school minors with behavioral or emotional problems has recently engaged in sexting.
The images involved in sexting are usually different in both nature and motivation from the type of content that anti-child pornography laws were created to address.
[63][64] A 2009 UK survey of 2,094 teens aged 11 to 18 found that 38% had received an "offensive or distressing" sexual image by text or email.
"[17] The University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center estimates that 7 percent of people arrested on suspicion of child pornography production in 2009 were teenagers who shared images with peers consensually.
A girl who agreed to send her girlfriend a naked picture is not as dangerous to the community as a child molester but the charge of sex offender would be applied equally to both of these cases.
[67] In a 2013 interview, assistant professor of communications at the University of Colorado Denver, Amy Adele Hasinoff, who studies the repercussions of sexting has stated that the "very harsh" child pornography laws are "designed to address adults exploiting children" and should not replace better sex education and consent training for teens.
She went on to say, "Sexting is a sex act, and if it's consensual, that's fine..." "Anyone who distributes these pictures without consent is doing something malicious and abusive, but child pornography laws are too harsh to address it.
[17] Alvin J. Primack, who draws from Amy Hasinoff's work, argued a media production model may be useful for distinguishing between child pornography and sexting from a First Amendment perspective.
The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor for children under 18 to send or receive text messages with other minors that include nude or sexual images.
[92] Vermont lawmakers introduced a bill in April 2009 to legalize the consensual exchange of graphic images between two people 13 to 18 years old.
The proposal was supported by the parents of Jesse Logan, a Cincinnati 18-year-old who committed suicide after the naked picture of herself which she sexted was forwarded to people in her high school.
