A report from the Pew Research Center indicates that 9 percent of Americans with cellphones have used them to send a “sexual suggestive nude or nearly nude” picture or video while 20 percent have received an image (?), That is a significant increase since the last survey in 2012 when only6 percent of cellphone users had texted and 15 percent had received a sext.
The numbers indicate that at least 44 percent of 18-to 24- year old Americans are participating in sexting.
What does this indicate? Are we entering an age where people are using technology to titillate. Last year, California made it misdemeanor crime to forward a sext without the consent of another person. A Steubenville, Ohio football player was convicted in juvenile court of raping a 16-year-old girl but also of distributing images of the assault , his text message doubled his sentence.
There is a section on sexting in my new book, “Creating Safe Schools: A Guide for School Leaders, Teachers, Counselors and Parents” will be published by Routledge on April 3, 2014. It can be pre-ordered on their website, www.routledge. com or from Amazon.