Although recently the media has highlighted prevalent teen sexting, new research from the University of New Hampshire Crimes against Children Research Center actually reveals that these concerns are overblown.
One study found that a very low percentage of youth actually send nude pictures of themselves. The other found that when teen sexting images do get to police, it is unlikely that the youth are arrested or treated like sex offenders.
Published online today by the journal “Pediatrics,” the studies include specific results like:
• 2.5 percent of youth surveyed have participated in sexting in the past year, but only 1 percent involved images that potentially violate child pornography laws.
• In most sexting cases investigated by the police, no juvenile arrest occurred. There was an arrest in 36 percent of the cases where there were aggravating activities by youth, such as using the images to blackmail or harass other youth. In cases without aggravating elements, the arrest rate was 18 percent.
• Sexual images of youth rarely were widely distributed online as many parents, youth, and law enforcement fear. In the teen survey, 90 percent of the youth said the images they created did not go beyond the intended recipient. Even in the cases where the images came to the attention of the police, two-thirds of the images stayed on cell phones and never circulated online.
“Lots of people may be hearing about these cases discovered by schools and parents, because they create a furor, but it still involves a very small minority of youth,” said lead author Kimberly Mitchell, research assistant professor of psychology at the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center.
And while we already assumed that the majority of teens are not participating in inappropriate behavior like sexting, it is encouraging that credible research validates this assumption.
Nonetheless, because laws differ from state to state, it is important for educators and parents to know how to handle these types of incidents in case they do come up. As always, parents should keep an open line of communication with their teens and proactively have conversations with them about the interactions they are having through their digital devices.
According to a Washington Post article, Dr. Victor Strasburger, an adolescent medicine expert at the University of New Mexico, said parents, schools and law enforcement authorities “need to understand that teenagers are neurologically programmed to do dumb things.” He explained that their brains aren’t mature enough to fully realize the consequences of their actions, including sexting, until early adulthood.
Therefore, he said, instead of prosecution, there should be more emphasis on teaching teens to be responsible with new technology. Kids need to be told “that when you put things online and even when you send them via cell phone, they’re potentially there forever.”
In addition to parents talking with their teens about the consequences of sexting and other inappropriate behavior, schools need to be properly equipped and prepared to handle these types of incidents. It is vital that schools have policies and procedures to ensure minimal risks for themselves and their staff.
Visit GenerationSafe.ikeepsafe.org to find resources and tools that help schools create these policies and procedures.