Texting & Sexting

Part III : Technology Gone Crazy.
Minors Sexting Minors

Although they are aware of risks, many teenagers choose to expose personal information about themselves online in public forums and places.  About ¾ of teens have a profile on an on-line social media site of some kind where they have posted themselves, their friends and other personal information.

When asked about whether or not they are concerned with posting personal information on social media sites and on-line profiles, a whopping 68% of teens were not overly concerned about publicizing personal information.

Teens today are extremely technologically connected and much of their life experience is via the internet, social media texting, photo sharing, email, texting and now sexting.  20% of teens’ media consumption occurs on mobile devices: cell phones, iPods or other devices and according to the January 2010 Generation M2, Media in the Lives of 8-18-year olds; Kaiser Family Foundation Study,  teens spend about 49 minutes a day listening to, playing, or watching other media on their phones – they also spend about an hour and a half a day texting. It is estimated that teens who text average 118 texts per day.

The technology infiltrates everything teens do and is often the vehicle they use to express themselves.  They use email, social sites and their cell phone to share, describe and explore their feelings – frustration, joy, excitement – and now their sexuality.

73% of teens today have cell phones. It is not, therefore, surprisingly that 1 in 5 teens engages in sexting, most commonly sexting boyfriends/ girlfriends, because they believe it to be fun or because they were asked to.  Shocking, however, is that about 1 in 10 teens have sent sexts to individuals unknown to them.

About one-fourth of the teens surveyed think don’t see any problems and that sexting is fine as long as the people both sending and receiving the sext think it’s okay.  Over one-half of the respondents surveyed agreed, “people my age are old enough to decide for themselves whether it is all right for them to send nude or sexually suggestive photos of themselves to other people.”  Slightly under one-half think that adults are overreacting when teens send sexually suggestive text messages and emails to each other.

The majority of both teen senders and receivers sent sexually suggestive text messages to a girlfriend or boyfriend, thinking it would be a fun and intimate thing to do without considering the global implications of the technology and its far reaches into the world-wide-web.

Many teens admit to sending sexual images with a romantic partner, in lieu of, or as a prelude to, or as a part of sexual activity.

However, these images shared innocently enough between these love interests can easily be forwarded without the others’ knowledge or permission to friends/classmates, other individuals or posted on a website in a public forum.

Sext senders are more likely to be teenage girls than boys (65%) and while approximately 74% of teens think that receiving or sending nude or nearly-nude/sexually suggestive photos of someone under 18 is wrong, the sexting continues.

In other scenarios the teens are sending sexual images to someone they would like to “hook-up with” as a form of flirtation.  They wish to become romantically involved and it a flirtation.

Sexting | The New Teen Relationship Currency

While many teens are willing sending and receiving these sexual images, other teens are feeling pressured to do so. Moreover, sexting has become a form of relationship currency and is being leveraged in dating and relationships, e.g., for instance if you don’t comply with the request to send sexually suggestive photos to the requester you are ignored and the requester moves on to the next girl.

One older high school teen said, “I haven’t [sent sexts] but most of the girls who have are usually pressured by a guy that they like or want to like them, or their boyfriends. It’s probably more common than what it seems because most people who get involved in this were probably pressured by someone to do it.” (Pew Research Center, December 15, 2009 Report on Teens and Sexting).

Teens Take Notice | Teen Sexting is Illegal in Arizona

Arizona is the seventh state to make sexting a juvenile misdemeanor offense with a bill that went into effect on May 7th, 2010.  It is a misdemeanor for a juvenile to use a computer or cell phone to send or possess “explicit sexual material” from another juvenile in the form of a photo or video.

• Recording, filming, photographing, developing or duplicating any visual depiction in which a minor is engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct.
• Distributing, transporting, exhibiting, receiving, selling, purchasing, electronically transmitting, possessing or exchanging any visual depiction in which a minor is engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct.

Sexual exploitation of a minor is a Class 2 felony and punishable with a presumptive five year term of incarceration.

Pursuant to A.R.S. §13-705, however, sexual exploitation of a minor under 15 years of age is classified as a dangerous crime against children, and punishable with a presumptive 17 year term of incarceration. The maximum term of imprisonment for a class 2 misdemeanor is four months.

A.R.S. §13-3560 defines electronic communication device as any electronic device that is capable of transmitting visual depictions and includes computers and cell phones.

A.R.S. §13-3551 defines visual depiction as each visual image that is contained in an undeveloped film, videotape or photograph or data stored in any form and that is capable of conversion into a visual image.

What Happens If You’re Caught Sexting a Teen?

(even if you are another teen)

Along with any public or private humiliation of your family, teachers or friends finding out, the law states that the punishment for sexting is as follows:

• Creates a petty offense for a juvenile who intentionally or knowingly uses an electronic communication device to transmit a sexually explicit depiction of a minor to one other person.
• Creates a Class 3 misdemeanor for a juvenile who intentionally or knowingly uses an electronic communication device to transmit a sexually explicit depiction of a minor to more than one other person.
• Creates a petty offense for a juvenile who intentionally or knowingly possesses a sexually explicit depiction of a minor that was transmitted to the juvenile through the use of an electronic communication device.

Conclusion | Teen-to-Teen Sexting Isn’t Worth Ruining Your Life For

Teens you have a long, happy and productive life in front of you.  Don’t blow it just to get a date or to please someone’s curiosity.

Below are some resources that will be helpful for you if you are a teen or an adult wanting to have the “sexting” conversation with your son or daughter, or others. Sexting Brochure

Together, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the AZICAC have produced materials for adults and teens with tips to help spot potential internet predators and how to best protect your personal information on the world wide web.  Posters and Resources for Educator and Parents

see related posts:
Part I – Unwanted Sexting from a Minor | How to Stay Out of Jail
Part II – Sexting with a Minor | How to Go to Jail
Part III – Minor Flirtation with Danger | Sexting Teenagers | How to Go to Jail

Sexting Series | Be Safe

Part I: Technology Gone Crazy.
Digital Danger – Don’t Get Caught in it!

In 2004 Pew Research Center conducted a study to see how many teenagers owned cellphones and at what ages.  In 2004 18% of teens age 12 owned a cell phone; by 2009 that number had risen to 58%.  Cellphone ownership also dramatically increased in the 17 year age bracket going from 64% in 2004 to 83% in 2009.

THINK ABOUT THIS:

Only 17% of the 17 year olds DO NOT OWN a cell phone. The increase in cellphone ownership may be in tandem with the increasing capacity and functionality of the phones.  No longer is a cellphone merely for making calls – cellphones are now being used to access the internet, visit social media sites, email and video/photo sharing.

According to the June 2009 Harris Interactive Poll 24% of teens have shared nude photos via phone or text.

The 2009 National Pew Survey* found that of 12 to 17 year olds:

•    4% of cell-owning teens ages 12-17 say they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of themselves to someone else via text messaging

•    15% of cell-owning teens ages 12-17 say they have received sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of someone they know via text messaging on their cell phone

•    Older teens are much more likely to send and receive these images

•    8% of 17-year-olds with cell phones have sent a sexually provocative image by text and 30% have received a nude or nearly nude image on their phone

•    Teens who pay their own phone bills are more likely to send sexually suggestive images via text, “sexts” (17%)

•    Just 3% of teens who do not pay for, or only pay for a portion of, the cost of the cell phone send these images.

•    Three reasons for sexting emerged:

1)    Exchange of images solely between two romantic partners
2)    Exchanges between partners that are shared with others outside the relationship
3)    Exchanges between people who are not yet in a relationship, but where at least one person hopes to be

These are frightening statistics. As texting has become a way of life for many, and especially the teenager, many are concerned about the role of cell phones not only in terms of how it has dramatically changed communication, but about the role that texting/sexting has begun to play in the sexual lives of teens, young adults and adults.

Why do teens sext — AND — how likely are you to be the recipient of a sext?

According to the 2009 Communications Teen Online and Wireless Safety Survey** they send texts because they were asked to, to have fun, to impress someone, to feel good about themselves, to try to date someone, as a joke, to make someone jealous, as a dare or for some other reason.

So what’s the harm in sexting?

Law enforcement practices and laws are quickly formulating in a concerted effort to deal with this very issue, and these practices vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  In some cases, prosecutors have begun to charge teens for creating and sharing such images under laws generally reserved for producers and distributors of child pornography.

But, I didn’t ask ____________ to send me a sext?  It’s not my fault! I had nothing to do with this image that was sent to my phone!

If any adult is sent a text photo of a minor that reveals nudity and/or has sexual overtones (to play it safe), immediately write a letter to the parents and/or guardian of the minor identifying the issue and informing them that such image was forwarded to law enforcement. This may seem to be an extreme response, however in the unlikely event that a minor sexts you, it is the safest route to undertake in dealing with this issue.  First and foremost, you must protect yourself as Arizona has some of the harshest sanctions imposed for these offenses.

For more specific information or for a free consultation visit www.criminallawaz.com.
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*Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1440/teens-sexting-text-messages
**Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey: Cyberbullying, Sexting and Parental Controls.  Cox Communications Teen Online and Wireless Safety Survey in Partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2009.
http://www.cox.com/takecharge/safe_teens_2009/media/2009_teen_survey_internet_and_wireless_safety.pdf