Is Teen Sexting Something to be Concerned About?

The answer is yes.

Adolescence is an intense time of biological, psychosocial and sexual change, during which teenagers explore their sense of self and issues of gender/sexual identity. Developmentally, the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain responsible for impulse control and advanced reasoning - continues to develop until around the age of 25. This can mean that reasoning and decision-making skills are not fully developed in teenagers, and as Muldavin (2019) said, “short-term rewards are more influential than long-term consequences” (p. 456).

Additionally, mobile technology has given teenagers access to information and other people in ways that were not possible before. According to Anderson and Jiang (2018), nearly ninety-five percent of teenagers today own or have access to a smartphone and report being on the internet ‘almost constantly’ (p. 8). Over half of children now own a smartphone by age 11, with one in five children owning a smartphone by age 8 (Rideout & Robb, 2019).

For these digital natives, social media and texting are natural ways to communicate, form social networks, and develop relationships with peers. On average, teenagers send more than 100 text messages each day, mainly communicating through Snapchat and TikTok (Rice, 2021). The internet provides an environment of anonymity, accessibility, and asynchronicity where adolescents feel safe to communicate, express themselves, and engage in sexual experimentation (Holoyda, et al., 2018). Additionally, smartphone applications such as Snapchat became popular specifically because they give users the ability to send photos or private messages to others for a specified amount of time before disappearing.

This perfect storm - an increase in smartphone ownership and accessibility, low impulse control due to a developing prefrontal cortex, and apps that allow content to disappear, has resulted in the rise of teen sexting (Harvard Law Review, 2020). According to Barry (2010), sexting is best summarized as "the practice of sending or posting sexually suggestive text messages and images, including nude or semi-nude photographs via cellular telephones or over the Internet" (p. 129). Sexting can also take place over smartphone applications and social media.

Those who participate in sexting often see it as a way to have fun, address boredom, and engage in sexual experimentation. However, the same factors that make teenagers feel safe online also carry risks, such as cyberbullying, online harassment, and sexual exploitation (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). Additionally, sexting has potential grave legal consequences that many teenagers and their parents may not understand.

• Read the Cormega Copening Case Study

• Read the S.K. Case Study

Teen Sexting & the Law

Both cases mentioned above illustrate the difficulty authorities face with teen sexting cases – the law views teenagers in these situations as both victim and perpetrator. All 50 states have passed laws against the possession of child pornography, however, only 26 states have passed laws specific to teenage sexting (Hinduja & Patchin, 2019). When there is no current legislation specific to teens sharing sexually explicit media, state officials must utilize current child pornography laws. Violations could potentially lead to criminal charges, jail time, and placement on the sex offender registry, a life-altering punishment that does not fit the crime.

The purpose of this website is to explore the prevalence of teen sexting, identify the legal consequences of teen sexting, and discuss teen sexting prevention and interventions so that parents of teenagers can have a centralized resource for information about teen sexting. This is an important topic because teenagers can suffer potentially lifelong consequences as a result of sexting.

References

1. Anderson, M. & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018 [PDF]. Pew Research Center.

2. Barry, J. L. (2010). The child as victim and perpetrator: Laws punishing juvenile sexting. Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, 13(1), 129-154.

3. Harvard Law Review. (2020). Criminal Law - Child Pornography - Maryland Court of Appeals Holds Minor Criminally Liable as Distributor of Child Pornography for Sexting. Harvard Law Review, 133(7), 2419-2426. Hinduja, S. and Patchin, J. (2019). State Sexting Laws. Cyberbullying Research Center.

4. Holoyda, B., Landess, J., Sorrentino, R., & Friedman, S. H. (2018). Trouble at teens' fingertips: Youth sexting and the law. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 36(2), 170-181.

5. Muldavin, K. (2019). Cruel to be kind: The societal response to technology and youth sexual expression. Lewis & Clark Law Review, 23(1), 425-463.

6. Rice, N. (2021). Does your teen talk? No, but they text, snap & TikTok: 10 subjects every parent should ask their teen to get them talking more in a digital world. Self-published.

7. Rideout, V. & Robb, M. (2019). Media use by tweens and teens [PDF]. Common Sense Media.