In a new nationwide survey of 1,280 teens and young adults, researchers found that one in five teens are using technology to do what else? Send sexually explicit pictures of themselves to others — either posted online or sent via cell phone. One in five teens and one-third of young adults had said they had send a nude or semi-nude image of themselves to others.
It doesn’t really get any better…
The survey found that nearly half of all teens have received a sexually suggestive message via email, text or IM, and that nearly 40 percent of teens have sent such a message. Most young adults have sent one (59 percent) or received one (64 percent).
Of course most survey respondents say they are sending this stuff to their boyfriend or girlfriend, but some of them (around 15 percent) have posted this sort of thing for an online friend.
The scary part is that most respondents agreed that engaging in this sort of behavior “can have serious negative consequences,” but do it anyway.
Although respondents realize how easy it is to save these images and share them (about 40 percent of respondents said they did so) with one’s friends or post them online (perhaps long after they’ve broken up), it doesn’t appear to be stopping anyone. While an old love note passed around might cause embarrassment, a sexually explicit image passed around could cause much more trouble than mere embarrassment if it surfaces years later as one is applying to graduate school or for their first job.
The online disinhibition effect is also strongly at work here. Nearly one quarter of teens say that technology makes them personally more forward and aggressive. Nearly 40 percent of teens believe that exchanging sexually-suggestive content with others makes dating more likely. And nearly one third of teens believe that such exchanges lead to an expectation of dating or hooking-up.
Before Pressing “Send”…
The report has a few suggestions to think about before sending sexually explicit material to a boyfriend or girlfriend:
1. Don’t assume anything you send or post is going to remain private.
Your messages and images will get passed around, even if you think they won’t: 40% of teens and young adults say they have had a sexually suggestive message (originally meant to be private) shown to them and 20% say they have shared such a message with someone other than the person for whom is was originally meant.
2. There is no changing your mind in cyberspace — anything you send or post will never truly go away.
Something that seems fun and flirty and is done on a whim will never really die. Potential employers, college recruiters, teachers, coaches, parents, friends, enemies, strangers and others may all be able to find your past posts, even after you delete them. And it is nearly impossible to control what other people are posting about you. Think about it: Even if you have second thoughts and delete a racy photo, there is no telling who has already copied that photo and posted it elsewhere.
3. Don’t give in to the pressure to do something that makes you uncomfortable, even in cyberspace.
More than 40% of teens and young adults (42% total, 47% of teens, 38% of young adults) say “pressure from guys” is a reason girls and women send and post sexually suggestive messages and images. More than 20% of teens and young adults (22% total, 24% teens, 20% young adults) say “pressure from friends” is a reason guys send and post sexually suggestive messages and images.
4. Consider the recipient’s reaction.
Just because a message is meant to be fun doesn’t mean the person who gets it will see it that way. Four in ten teen girls who have sent sexually suggestive content did so “as a joke” but many teen boys (29%) agree that girls who send such content are “expected to date or hook up in real life.” It’s easier to be more provocative or outgoing online, but whatever you write, post or send does contribute to the real life impression you’re making.
5. Nothing is truly anonymous.
Nearly one in five young people who send sexually suggestive messages and images do so to people they only know online (18% total, 15% teens, 19% young adults). It is important to remember that even if someone only knows you by screen name, online profile, phone number or email address, that they can probably find you if they try hard enough.
Imagine your mom, big brother or sister, or a best friend who looks up to you finding this sort of thing online… Or how about a future employer or Harvard school applications processor? Imagine running for public office or becoming an actor or newscaster or writer and having such pictures turn up 10 or 20 years from now… I know, I know, it’s hard to imagine the future and we shouldn’t let the future completely rule how we live our lives today. But still, these kinds of things do have a future impact and it’s important for folks to not only realize this, but act accordingly.
The survey was commissioned by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com of teens and young adults to explore electronic activity. 653 teens (ages 13 through 19) and 627 young adults (ages 20 through 26) nationwide took part in the online survey at the end of September.
Reference:
Sex and Tech: Results from a Survey of Teens and Young Adults (PDF)
39 comments
I highly doubt a college admissions is going to get a court order to go through your SMS messages.
Where it is illegal, and does make it hard to keep track of ‘child porn’. I personally believe there is no reason why someone who is legally to make media of themselves shouldn’t be aloud to.
But one thing is right, NOTHING, on the Internet is private.
FYI, a college admissions clerk doesn’t ~need~ a court order to find your SMS messages. Any base-pay computer security employee can dig up enough dirt to put a dent in your college admissions presentation.
Also, this article isn’t questioning the legality of posting nudity – it’s pointing out the stupidity of it.
you know, not all teenagers do this. some of them don’t even know thier picture is being passed around. think about that.
sorry, i’m in the minority opinion here, but I just don’t care and probably wouldn’t want to know whether or not my future employees had nudie pics of themselves floating around the internet. same would be true if i were in charge of college admissions.
honestly, just get over the sex stuff. being worried about nudie pics says a lot more about the worrier’s sexual maturity than it does anything else.
I can’t believe how nonchalant some of the commenters are on this topic…all I can think is that someone must be very young, very naive, or both, to believe that a wayward pic would not cost them a job or spot in a college, or that an employer ‘wouldn’t care about nudie pics.’
Think again–the people who will be hiring you in the next 20 years will NOT be people your own age–it will be those in their 30s and 40s right now–THEY did not grow up in the “myspace” generation. Get over yourself, young people–you’re not the ones in charge!
I can’t believe how nonchalant some of the commenters are on this topic…all I can think is that someone must be very young, very naive, or both, to believe that a wayward pic would not cost them a job or spot in a college, or that an employer ‘wouldn’t care about nudie pics.’
Think again–the people who will be hiring you in the next 20 years will NOT be people your own age–it will be those in their 30s and 40s right now–THEY did not grow up in the “myspace” generation. Get over yourself, young people–you’re not the ones in charge!
I can’t believe how nonchalant some of the commenters are on this topic…all I can think is that someone must be very young, very naive, or both, to believe that a wayward pic would not cost them a job or spot in a college, or that an employer ‘wouldn’t care about nudie pics.’
Think again–the people who will be hiring you in the next 20 years will NOT be people your own age–it will be those in their 30s and 40s right now–THEY did not grow up in the “myspace” generation. Get over yourself, young people–you’re not the ones in charge!
It is a pleasure to be part of the group
same here(:. how old are you
same here(:. how old are you
Cincha you have me cracking up! You are sooooooooooooo correct! I am apart of the GenX crowd and am appalled at my peers and younger generations nonchalant attitude and lack of personal awareness. This is a serious issue, what is fun today might not be so funny when your kid googles you and finds a naked pic, or a drunken video of you! Also think about if you ever have legal issues, that will be someones job to find dirt on you….just open the door to smearing you name. Im not even talking about criminal things, in a child custody battle do you want a wishy washy trail of irresponibility following you! I don’t! Young people need to be careful and parents need to get more involved!
The thing about this is that teens dont care. Instead of being socially moral they find more “awkward” ways to get attention. ITS NOT PEER PRESSURE! the main thing is that teens need attention and 40 year old pedofiles are better than nobody. Im a teen myself and im disgusted by my generation thinking this is normal or okay. ITS not and I do think parents need to step in. if your teen posts images of themselves at all you should check them and if they are explicit your kid shouldnt be on a computer. A new arrising dilemma is the rise of the “internet sex offender” and these people should be charged just like a normal sex offender because talkjing about it is the first step to actually doing it. These images lure these people towards teens!
Something happened recently to a friend of mine in which pictures of her leaked on the internet. She has been freaking out and understandably scared out of her wits. I’m concerned about her. Does anyone know of any support groups or something for other people who are going through the same thing or have before?
Julian……….. firstly, dont be concerned. your friend was asking for it and if she is freaked than let her be. secondly, if there was a support group for stupidity I’d recommend her to it, Is her stupid action supposed to make me feel sympathy?
I think people get too riled up about this stuff. This shouldn’t be an “old people” vs. “young people” battle. Over half of teenagers out there DON’T send those kinds of things. And being a teenager who doesn’t I’m a bit offended at people saying my whole generation is irresponsible. If you think about it, what kinds of kids send those anyway? They could be from a bad home that doesn’t care what they do, and they are so desperate for attention (that they should be getting from their parents) they do whatever it takes. Not all parents are perfect. I’m tired of all adults acting like they are. Maybe, instead of judging these kids, we should take a look into their family lives and try to help them. Why do we have to attack each other all the time over things like this instead of try and help?
wow this is very interesting guys im young && i do believe its not peer pressure. but it life and all children go thru it i havent && dnt plan on it but you kno wat they say SH*T happens rite. && if ant child is dumb enough to do that they the blame no one else.
In doing some research here lately, there is a legal issue to be concerned with as well.
Take this senerio:
16 year old boyfriend takes a nude pic of himself and sends it to his girlfriend from his phone.
He can now be charged with production and distribution of child pornography and she can be charged with possession of child pornagraphy. Cases like this are popping up all of the US now. Our laws are not setup to distinguish between a couple of kids playing around and the pediophile they were meant for. This could have a much greater impact on a college application because you are a registered sex offend.
Please talk with your teens about this.
Cotton Candy Friends: 6 Ways Net-Gen Connections are Changing
http://www.radicalparenting.com/2008/07/24/cotton-candy-friends-6-ways-net-gen-connections-are-changing/
Im 20 years old and from what I remember,even when I was in middle school, girls were having sex at a very young age. I didnt plan to save myself for marriage. I lost my virginity at 15 and didnt have sex for the next year. So once again it all depends on the person. Teens need to learn to respect themselves and think of the consequences before getting naked. Im confident in myself and I dont see it as I have to please a guy for him to like me. Word of advise… guys don’t like easy girls. They’ll have sex with you, but when it comes to getting serious, they’ll never go for a girl who’s been around.
John M Grohol PsyD at 7:31 pm on October 8th, 2009: “I don’t begrudge the fact that not everyone can study such things, but I wish people would spend a little time learning about history before suggesting that *this* particular moment in history is completely unlike any other. History is a great teacher and teaches me — all the time — how none of this is really new.”
While I believe the information technologies of today do more good than harm, I feel your logic here is contradictory. The widespread use of the internet IS unlike no other moment in history for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, television and radio are not analagous to the internet; they are used primarily for entertainment. TV and radio are passive – people do not live out social relationships through these venues. While the internet is also used for entertainment, it does not make sense to compare it with past technologies that do not facilitate the manifestation of human relationships. Even so, history teaches us how mass media has transformed our lives – the milestone being the WWII era and beyond. I would naturally expect the internet to transform our culture – but for different reasons leading to different outcomes. Will the aggregate population become homogenized due to the internet? Never before have people so easily and routinely communicated with others all over the world.
It is not difficult to cherry pick a study constructed perhaps no better than a middle-school science project and use it as a tool to argue a point. However, I believe it’s important that implications for society that ensue from the dynamics of the internet not be dismissed.
Take a look at the online disinhibition effect, for example. There are formal research articles on the subject, but Wiki gives a good overview of the concepts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect
Is the propensity to be bullied much greater for a teen living today than for those of prior generations? Do people tend to lie more often online than in person? If so, how does this affect the reality of our social relationships? Does the veil of anonymity ascribed to the internet alter the way we behave? I look forward to research on these and many other technology related topics.
The average person now has quick and easy access to scientific and other specialized information once reserved for professionals. I really could go on. History also teaches us about the adverse impacts from herd behavior, groupthink, etc. I am really suprised by your comments here, but at the same time, appreciate the discussion.
Please disregard my previous comment – posted on wrong blog!
Is it possible to have a copy/print the article and the links; and even some comments that I consider useful? Could we have a “Print friendly” version; without photos but with the URL of article on each page? I was able to do it going on the first link that you provided “Links to this Article” but not for this one with all the links. Thank you for it!
Sorry, I didn’t look around the “advertisement” space.
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You need to look at their phone every month and delete any nude pictures if they are present. Have a talk as needed.